Adult supplement
If you're 20+, what does EF actually charge?Passports
$0
Adults pay the same rate as students. Always.
EF
$200 + $90/night
EF's published adult supplement. On a 9-night tour: $1,010 per adult.
Side by side
Passports
vs. EF Tours.
EF is the largest educational-travel operator in the world. They run on volume. We don't. Here's where it shows up — meal budgets, hotel locations, on-tour upselling, adult fees, and the customer-service experience after you've already paid the deposit.
Passportsvs.EF
On this page · Passports vs. EF
- EF's $1,010 adult fee on a 9-night tour — verified from their own terms
- The 100%-non-refundable-at-59-days cancellation cliff
- Six recurring complaints from EF reviews
- Where city-center vs. "city-adjacent" actually shows up
- EF's $190 travel-protection add-on and on-tour optionals
- Trustpilot, side by side
The headline difference
EF wins on price before you read the contract. We win once you read it.
The receipts
Specific things you can ask EF 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 EF and ask them to confirm each number. We'll wait.
Cancellation cliff
Cancel within 59 days of departure?Passports
75% refund
Standard refund up to 30 days out. 100% if your group fails to reach 6 travelers.
EF
$0 — no refund
EF retains 100% within 59 days. 50% retained between 60–109 days out.
Overseas medical
Is medical / travel protection included?Passports
Included
PassportsCare medical, trip interruption, 24/7 line — built into the quote.
EF
$190+
Optional Global Travel Protection add-on. Flex plan $440. Plus plan $590.
Tour-Director tip
Is gratuity included?Passports
Included
All Tour Director tipping baked into the per-traveler price.
EF
Not included
EF's terms list Tour Director, bus driver, and local guide gratuities as exclusions — collected separately on tour.
Hotel location
Where do students sleep?Passports
City center
3 & 4-star, walking distance from sights, every night.
EF
May be outside the city
EF: "Some hotels may be located outside the city center." Reviewer reports describe up to an hour each way.
Meal budget
How much per traveler, per dinner?Passports
~€35 / ~$40
Three-course meals at real local restaurants, every night. Photo-archived publicly.
EF
Lower budget
Cafeteria-style group meals — often at the suburban hotel, not in town.
EF adult supplement, travel protection pricing, and cancellation schedule sourced from EF's current published booking conditions at eftours.com. Hotel location language is quoted directly from EF's accommodations page. Verify each number with EF directly before booking.
Common complaints from EF reviews
What real travelers say
after a EF tour.
Six recurring themes from public reviews of EF — Trustpilot, Yelp, education-focused blogs. Not curated for damning effect; these are the things multiple reviewers independently raise.
"Hotel was an hour from the city."
Recurring across multiple EF reviews — groups discovering on arrival that their hotel is in a satellite suburb, not the city the brochure pictured.
Trustpilot · Yelp"Cheap, low-quality meals."
Cafeteria-style group dinners, often at the hotel rather than in town. Several reviewers report ordering pizza after the included meal.
Trustpilot"Chaotic flight routings."
Last-minute connection swaps to cheaper fares. Groups arriving 4 a.m. local at airports with closed transit.
Yelp · Blogs"On-tour upselling."
Tour Directors trained to sell additional excursions in-country. With city-distant hotels, declining feels like punishing the group.
Blogs · Group leader reports"Got passed between sales reps."
Multiple handoffs between booking and departure. Group leaders arrive on tour having never spoken to the person who will run their trip.
Trustpilot"100% non-refundable at 59 days out."
EF's published cancellation grid retains 100% of program price for cancellations inside 59 days, and 50% from 60–109 days. If a kid breaks an ankle two months before departure, the family loses everything.
EF booking conditionsSources: Trustpilot, Yelp, public review aggregators. Refreshed annually. EF is welcome to dispute any line via hello@passports.com.
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
- City-center hotels — walking distance from the sights
- Three-course local meals at real restaurants (~€35 / ~$40 pp)
- Career Tour Directors — 20+ year average, hundreds of tours
- Everything inclusive: tipping, medical, transfers, no upsells
- One Tour Advisor, start to finish, year over year
- $0 adult supplement — adults pay student rate
- 75% refund standard up to 30 days out — 100% if group <6
- Family-owned, Worcester MA, since 1992
- 5.0★ Trustpilot — 0% of reviews are 1, 2, or 3 stars
With EF
- Hotels EF acknowledges "may be located outside the city center"
- Lower meal budgets, cafeteria-style group dinners
- Adult supplement: $200 + $90/night ($1,010 on a 9-night tour)
- Travel protection sold as $190 / $440 / $590 optional tiers
- Tour Director, bus driver, local guide gratuities all excluded
- Tour Directors authorized to sell on-tour optional excursions
- 100% non-refundable inside 59 days of departure
- Multiple sales-rep handoffs — group leader changes hands
- Privately held global education conglomerate (Hult family, Zurich HQ)
The full breakdown
Twelve categories, head-to-head.
| Passports | EF | |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel quality | 3 & 4★, city center, every night | EF doesn't publish a star rating; "may be outside the city center" |
| Meal budget per traveler/night | ~€35 (~$40) | Lower; cafeteria-style group dinners |
| Adult supplement (age 20+) | $0 | $200 flat + $90/night (≈$1,010 on a 9-night tour) |
| Single-room upgrade | Available, no penalty | $90 per hotel/cruise/ferry night |
| Overseas medical coverage | Included | $190 / $440 / $590 optional Global Travel Protection tiers |
| Tour Director gratuity | Included in price | Excluded — collected separately on tour |
| On-tour upselling | Never — explicitly prohibited | Optional excursions sold on tour at increased price (per EF terms) |
| Tour Director experience | 20+ years average, hundreds of tours | Highly variable — newer guides common |
| Customer service continuity | One Tour Advisor, start to finish | Multiple departmental handoffs |
| Refund — 60 days out | 75% refund | 50% retained by EF |
| Refund — within 59 days | 75% (or 100% if <6 paying) | $0 — 100% non-refundable |
| Small-group safety net | 100% refund if <6 paying participants | No equivalent published policy |
| Ownership | Markle family, Worcester MA, since 1992 | Hult family, privately held, Zurich HQ |
| Trustpilot rating | 5.0★ | 4.5★ |
| Share of 1–3 star reviews | 0% | ~16% (roughly 1 in 6) |
- Hotel qualityPassports3 & 4★, city center, every nightEFEF doesn't publish a star rating; "may be outside the city center"
- Meal budget per traveler/nightPassports~€35 (~$40)EFLower; cafeteria-style group dinners
- Adult supplement (age 20+)Passports$0EF$200 flat + $90/night (≈$1,010 on a 9-night tour)
- Single-room upgradePassportsAvailable, no penaltyEF$90 per hotel/cruise/ferry night
- Overseas medical coveragePassportsIncludedEF$190 / $440 / $590 optional Global Travel Protection tiers
- Tour Director gratuityPassportsIncluded in priceEFExcluded — collected separately on tour
- On-tour upsellingPassportsNever — explicitly prohibitedEFOptional excursions sold on tour at increased price (per EF terms)
- Tour Director experiencePassports20+ years average, hundreds of toursEFHighly variable — newer guides common
- Customer service continuityPassportsOne Tour Advisor, start to finishEFMultiple departmental handoffs
- Refund — 60 days outPassports75% refundEF50% retained by EF
- Refund — within 59 daysPassports75% (or 100% if <6 paying)EF$0 — 100% non-refundable
- Small-group safety netPassports100% refund if <6 paying participantsEFNo equivalent published policy
- OwnershipPassportsMarkle family, Worcester MA, since 1992EFHult family, privately held, Zurich HQ
- Trustpilot ratingPassports5.0★EF4.5★
- Share of 1–3 star reviewsPassports0%EF~16% (roughly 1 in 6)
Adult supplement, single-room, travel-protection, and cancellation figures sourced from EF's current published booking conditions at eftours.com (verified 2026). Bring this list to your EF representative and ask them to confirm or correct each row in writing — a fair operator should be able to.
Independent reviews
5.0 vs 4.5 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 EF 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.
EF Tours
16% 1, 2, or 3-star reviews
16% of public Trustpilot reviews for EF Tours are 1, 2, or 3 stars — reviewers who said the trip ranged from disappointing to terrible.
That's about 1 in 6 reviewers. Line up 50 of their reviewers in a row; 8 say the trip was disappointing or worse.
Passportsus5.0
1–3★ reviews: 0% — none in our company's history
EF Tours4.5
1–3★ reviews: 16% of reviewers — about 1 in 6
The thing about averages. A 4.5 headline rating sits just 0.5 below our 5.0 — close enough that most people read them as “both excellent.” But to drop from a 5.0 average to a 4.5, 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 EF Tours, 16% of reviewers — about 1 in 6 — called the trip 1, 2, or 3 stars. On ours: zero, across our company's entire history. That's the difference 4.5 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
EF wins the brochure.
Passports wins the trip.
EF runs the largest brochure in the industry and the lowest sticker price. Once you read the contract — a $1,010 adult supplement on a typical 9-night tour, $190+ travel protection, 100% non-refundable inside 59 days, hotels EF itself acknowledges may be outside the city — the per-traveler math flips. And once your group is on the ground, the on-tour experience is a different category entirely. Get a real Passports quote and put the two side by side. Forty-eight hours, no deposit, no commitment.