How to pick a group travel company
Most group travel websites look the same: a sunset, a jumping photo and the word "unforgettable". These seven checks tell them apart.
- Age range and group size change the week more than the destination does.
- Read the day by day plan, not the highlights.
- Add what the price leaves out before you compare two trips.
- Read the three star reviews first.
1Who is in the group?
Find the age range, then find out if it is enforced. Contiki and EF Ultimate Break only take ages 18 to 35. Many other companies publish a typical range and accept anyone. Both approaches are fine. You just need to know which one you are buying.
2How big is the group?
Published sizes run from about 10 people on a small group adventure tour to more than 50 on a coach tour. Size changes the week more than the destination does. A small group is close and calm. A big group has more energy and more people to choose from. If a company does not publish its group size, ask for the number on your date.
3What do you do at 3pm on a normal day?
This is the real product. Read the day by day plan and count three things: hours in a vehicle, hours of free time, and hours doing the thing you came for. A surf trip with one surf lesson is a beach holiday. A culture trip with four free afternoons is a hotel booking with friends.
4Who runs it on the ground?
Some companies design and lead their own trips with their own staff. Others sell a trip that a local operator runs. On creator-hosted trips the host brings the audience and a local operator does the rest. None of these is bad, but you should know who is responsible when the bus is late.
5What does the price leave out?
Flights, insurance, some meals, optional activities, tips and a private room are the usual gaps. Add them before you compare two trips. The method is in what group trips cost.
6What happens if you cancel, or they do?
Read the terms, not the summary. Check what you get back at 60 days and at 30 days, whether the deposit is ever refundable, whether the price can rise after you book, and what the company owes you if it cancels the trip.
7What do past travelers say?
Look at Google and Trustpilot, not the quotes on the company site. Read the three star reviews first. They tend to describe the trip most plainly. Then look at how the company replies when something went wrong.
Warning signs
- No group size anywhere on the site.
- No day by day plan, only highlights.
- An age range in the adverts that is not in the terms.
- A price that is "from" with no clear list of what is extra.
- Reviews that all read alike.