Adult supplement
If you're 21+, what does ACIS charge extra?Passports
$0
No adult supplement, ever. Adults pay the student rate, regardless of age.
ACIS
$100
Per-tour adult surcharge applies starting at age 21 (per ACIS' published terms).
Side by side
Passports
vs. ACIS.
ACIS is the closest competitor we have — same hotel tier, same Tour Manager caliber, same care for the educational arc. Both companies trace back to the same Worcester building in 1965. The differences are real but they're quiet: a $100 adult fee starting at age 21, $40–$55 a day for travel protection, and a few hundred dollars on the final invoice for the same kind of trip.
Passportsvs.ACIS
On this page · Passports vs. ACIS
- Where Passports and ACIS are genuinely similar
- Why both have ALSG roots — same building, 1965
- ACIS' $100 adult supplement (age 21+), in detail
- ACIS' $40–$55-per-day travel-protection plans
- Trustpilot side by side — both rated excellent
The headline difference
We agree on the trip.
We disagree on what should cost extra.
The receipts
Specific things you can ask ACIS to confirm.
Each line below is a number that should appear on either an operator's contract or in their published terms. Bring this list to your next call with ACIS and ask them to confirm each number. We'll wait.
Overseas medical
Is travel protection bundled?Passports
Included
PassportsCare overseas medical, trip interruption, repatriation.
ACIS
$40–$55 / day
Ultimate $40/day; Ultimate-Plus (with CFAR) $55/day. Ten-day tour = $400–$550 per traveler.
Family ownership
Who owns the company?Passports
Markle family
Founded 1992 by Dr. Gil Markle. Now run by his son David.
ACIS
Held by AIFS
American Institute For Foreign Study — multi-brand parent (Au Pair in America, AIFS Abroad, Camp America).
Tour Advisor continuity
Same person from first call to post-trip?Passports
Yes — same person
One Tour Advisor across pre-sale, enrollment, on-tour, post-trip.
ACIS
Department handoff
Program Consultant during planning; Tour Manager on the road.
Trustpilot rating
Independent review platform.Passports
5.0 ★
0% of our reviews are 1, 2, or 3 stars.
ACIS
4.9 ★
Excellent. ACIS earns its rating with happy travelers.
Total quoted price
Same itinerary, mid-tier season, ten-day Italy.Passports
Hundreds less
Same hotel grade, same meal quality, lower number.
ACIS
Higher
Adds adult fee + medical + slightly higher base.
Adult-surcharge figure from ACIS' published terms and support FAQ; protection-plan rates from ACIS' 2026–2027 International Protection Plans PDF. Verify both with your ACIS contact before booking.
Where the two contracts diverge
ACIS is a great company.
Here's where we're different.
ACIS earns its 4.9-star Trustpilot honestly — they ship a high-quality product and their group leaders are largely happy. The differences below aren't about complaints, they're about operational and contractual choices the two companies have made differently. Read them as choices, not knocks.
Adults pay extra at ACIS, not at Passports.
ACIS' published $100 adult surcharge applies to travelers starting at age 21 — a young teacher chaperoning a senior class trip can trigger it. We chose to fold the cost of adult travelers into the base rate so the per-traveler number is the same regardless of age.
ACIS published termsMedical is $40–$55/day at ACIS, included with us.
ACIS sells overseas medical and travel protection as paid upgrades — Ultimate at $40/day, Ultimate-Plus (with Cancel For Any Reason) at $55/day. A 10-day tour is $400–$550 per traveler. We bundle PassportsCare into every quote and don't charge separately.
ACIS 2026–2027 Protection PlansACIS hands off; we don't.
ACIS' published structure pairs a Program Consultant during planning with a Tour Manager on the road — two different people the group leader works with. Each role is staffed well; the structure just means group leaders interact with multiple people. We use a single Tour Advisor end to end.
ACIS organizational structureACIS is owned by AIFS; we're family-owned.
ACIS sits inside AIFS — the American Institute For Foreign Study — alongside AIFS Abroad, Au Pair in America, Academic Year in America, Camp America, and CISI insurance. We're the Markle family — second generation, no parent company, no sibling brands competing for the same operations team.
Public ownership recordsDifferent default cancellation policies.
Our default refund is 75% up to 30 days out, with a 100% safety net if a group doesn't reach 6 paying participants. ACIS has its own schedule and a Cancel-For-Any-Reason upgrade tier — verify against your group's risk tolerance.
ACIS terms · Passports termsBoth descend from ALSG; only one is still in the family.
Both companies trace back to American Leadership Study Groups (1965). Passports was founded directly by Dr. Gil Markle, who started ALSG. ACIS was founded by ALSG alumni who left to build their own thing.
Industry historySources: ACIS' public terms, our own price comparisons, and conversations with group leaders who've worked with both companies. Updated annually.
Side by side
The same trip, two different experiences.
Same destinations, same dates. Here's what your group actually lives through, on each operator.
With Passports
- Same 3 & 4-star city-center hotel tier as ACIS
- Same caliber meals at local restaurants
- Same career Tour Managers with deep regional expertise
- $0 adult supplement (vs. ACIS' $100, starting at age 21)
- Overseas medical included (vs. ACIS' $40–$55/day add-on)
- One Tour Advisor — no department handoff
- Family-owned, second generation
- Hundreds of dollars less per traveler, end of season
With ACIS
- Comparable hotel and meal program — quality is real
- Career Tour Managers — fair to acknowledge
- $100 per-traveler adult surcharge starting at age 21
- $40–$55/day travel-protection plans ($400–$550 on a 10-day tour)
- Program Consultant → Tour Manager handoff between planning and tour
- Owned by AIFS multi-brand parent (Au Pair in America, AIFS Abroad, et al.)
- Strong Trustpilot rating — fair to acknowledge
- Higher quoted price for the same itinerary
The full breakdown
Twelve categories, head-to-head.
| Passports | ACIS | |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel quality | 3 & 4★, city center, every night | 3 & 4★, city center, every night — comparable |
| Meal program | Local restaurants, ~€35 (~$40)/pp | Breakfast + dinner program — comparable |
| Tour Manager caliber | Career professionals, 20+ year average | Career professionals — comparable |
| Adult supplement | $0 — any age | $100, starting at age 21 |
| Overseas medical | Included | $40/day (Ultimate) or $55/day (Ultimate-Plus / CFAR) |
| Tour Manager gratuity | Included | ACIS marketing now says included; T&Cs still list as exclusion — verify at booking |
| Continuity of contact | One Tour Advisor, start to finish | Program Consultant → Tour Manager handoff |
| Ownership | Markle family, since 1992 | AIFS multi-brand parent (Au Pair in America, AIFS Abroad, et al.) |
| Lineage | Direct continuation of ALSG (1965) | Founded 1978 by Peter Jones, an ALSG Tour Manager under Gil Markle |
| Cancel For Any Reason | Available; small-group safety net included | Available as Ultimate-Plus upgrade ($55/day) |
| Refund — within 65 days | 75% up to 30 days out | Per ACIS schedule: $1,250 fee at 65–89 days, $2,000 at 30–64, $0 at <30 |
| Small-group safety net | 100% refund if <6 paying participants | No equivalent published policy |
| Trustpilot rating | 5.0★ | 4.9★ — also excellent |
- Hotel qualityPassports3 & 4★, city center, every nightACIS3 & 4★, city center, every night — comparable
- Meal programPassportsLocal restaurants, ~€35 (~$40)/ppACISBreakfast + dinner program — comparable
- Tour Manager caliberPassportsCareer professionals, 20+ year averageACISCareer professionals — comparable
- Adult supplementPassports$0 — any ageACIS$100, starting at age 21
- Overseas medicalPassportsIncludedACIS$40/day (Ultimate) or $55/day (Ultimate-Plus / CFAR)
- Tour Manager gratuityPassportsIncludedACISACIS marketing now says included; T&Cs still list as exclusion — verify at booking
- Continuity of contactPassportsOne Tour Advisor, start to finishACISProgram Consultant → Tour Manager handoff
- OwnershipPassportsMarkle family, since 1992ACISAIFS multi-brand parent (Au Pair in America, AIFS Abroad, et al.)
- LineagePassportsDirect continuation of ALSG (1965)ACISFounded 1978 by Peter Jones, an ALSG Tour Manager under Gil Markle
- Cancel For Any ReasonPassportsAvailable; small-group safety net includedACISAvailable as Ultimate-Plus upgrade ($55/day)
- Refund — within 65 daysPassports75% up to 30 days outACISPer ACIS schedule: $1,250 fee at 65–89 days, $2,000 at 30–64, $0 at <30
- Small-group safety netPassports100% refund if <6 paying participantsACISNo equivalent published policy
- Trustpilot ratingPassports5.0★ACIS4.9★ — also excellent
ACIS' 2026–2027 published terms and Protection Plans PDF reviewed annually. We've tried to be fair — comparable categories show as comparable. The differences are real, but they're surgical.
Independent reviews
5.0 vs 4.9 looks close. The breakdown isn't.
A single average score hides what reviewers actually said. The two big numbers below are the share of 1-, 2-, and 3-star reviews on each operator's public Trustpilot page — followed by the full distribution. The contrast is the part Passports and ACIS don't share.
Passports
0% 1, 2, or 3-star reviews
Across our company's entire history, we've never received a 1-, 2-, or 3-star review on Trustpilot.
Line up 50 of our reviewers in a row. Zero say the trip was anything short of excellent.
ACIS
8% 1, 2, or 3-star reviews
8% of public Trustpilot reviews for ACIS are 1, 2, or 3 stars — reviewers who said the trip ranged from disappointing to terrible.
That's about 1 in 13 reviewers. Line up 50 of their reviewers in a row; 4 say the trip was disappointing or worse.
Passportsus5.0
1–3★ reviews: 0% — none in our company's history
ACIS4.9
1–3★ reviews: 8% of reviewers — about 1 in 13
The thing about averages. A 4.9 headline rating sits just 0.1 below our 5.0 — close enough that most people read them as “both excellent.” But to drop from a 5.0 average to a 4.9, you don't lower every review a hair. You add a tail of reviewers who actively had a bad time and balance them with raves. The average smooths out the stories. The distribution doesn't.
On the public Trustpilot page for ACIS, 8% of reviewers — about 1 in 13 — called the trip 1, 2, or 3 stars. On ours: zero, across our company's entire history. That's the difference 4.9 hides and 5.0 reveals.
Distributions reflect each operator's public Trustpilot breakdown; live values can shift week to week. Verified annually.
Compare us to someone else
We've written one of these for every major competitor.
The verdict
Same trip.
Smaller invoice.
ACIS gets a lot right — and we'll be the first to say so. The hotel tier, the meal program, the Tour Manager caliber are genuinely comparable. The differences are line items: a $100 adult surcharge starting at age 21, $40–$55-per-day travel-protection plans, a Program Consultant → Tour Manager handoff. Add it up across a typical group and you're looking at hundreds of dollars per traveler for an experience that's, on the ground, very similar. Get a real Passports quote and put the two invoices side by side.