I used GCT in the past, put stopped using them because of their ridiculous amount of stops going and coming. They lured me in again with offering single supplement. I booked two back to back trips with them for this Oct.2011. The first trip they cancelled because of lack of interest. They assured me if I wanted to add the first trip at the end of the 2nd trip the price for both would remain the same. Well, it didn't. They increased the cost of the 2nd trip because they said the air was more, then there were two $100.00 increases in the cost of each trip, and then the final straw came with the air itinery. I live near LAX, they were going to fly me on a 'commuter' jet to Dallas, with a four hour lay over before starting from Dallas to Germany, then another 2 hour delay before flying to Dubrovik, Croatia. The flight between Croatia and Sicily was two days after the tour finished and there was no tour guide to make sure that I had a ride to the airport and my flight was at 6:00 a.m. When I complained, everyone involved had 'lack of memory' a of prior conversations and they were not going to change the air arrangements. I cancelled the prepaid trips and and they charged me $300.00 per trip.
I complained again as the Sicily trip which they cancelled and I agreed to rebook is what caused all the additional charges and I felt that there should have only been one cancellation fee. Well, you know how that all went down. In additional, it has taken them over a month to return my money. I can assure all of you reading this, that I will never use them again and I would suggest that you don't either.

Beware if you are injured on a Grand Circle Trip and have Trip Mate Insurance. In the fall of 2009, my roommate broke her leg on the Scandinavian Capitols Trip. Holland America cruise line was fantastic and supplied all medical care while absorbing all of that cost during the cruise. We alerted Grand Circle, Trip Mate and On Call prior to disembarking in Amsterdam which entailed costs and hours of emailing since there are no collect calls from the ship. Let me note that there was no GCT representative on the cruise for 122 GC travelers. All companies ignored the ship’s physician’s orders for special transportation to the hotel, wheel chair, crutches and a physician to administer medication prior to flight home. The GC agent in Amsterdam was never told to expect an injured traveler and in fact, there was only one representative for 122 people for the land tour in Amsterdam. I had to spend 2 days plus $70 cab fare to arrange all the medical attention as prescribed by the ship’s doctor for my roommate. On Call did arrange special transportation to airport and an upgrade to business class for one flight back to United States.

If you are injured with Grand Circle, be prepared to handle all medical necessities and communication yourself including pushing a wheel chair. Even though GC advertises travel for mature adults- this is overwhelming in a foreign country. You must be very efficient at email with On Call. None of the agencies followed up with the traveler until we sent a certified letter later. The responses and financial reimbursement were far from satisfactory. Perhaps their performances would have been better if she had died!

Please be aware of this travel agency. Their target passengers are retire and elderly travelers and this company use every technique to overcharge hidden fees from them. Their travel rules and policies are very sneaky too.

For your information, Grand Circle Travel and Oversea Adventure Travel are the same companies. They are the same people and location.
It seemed like Grand Circle Travel had too many complained from consumers all the time that GCT’s BBB (Better Business Bureau) Accredited Business was taken away few years ago.
Please check Better Business Bureau website to read their update information before decided to book your travel with them.
For more information, you can check in here.
http://www.bbb.org/boston/business-reviews/travel-agencies-and-bureaus/grand-circle-corporation-in-boston-ma-3848/

I called Grand Circle Travel (GCT), to book a trip, late Friday night (approximately 10pm California time) Aug. 15, 2008 by telephone. The purpose of booking the trip by telephone was to ensure that I could integrate the requested trip with a complex itinerary that required the specific date of April 16, 2009. The sales agent was well aware of this need.

The specific requested trip was to Brussels & Belgium. The sales operator knew I had to co-ordinate this booking with another independently planned itinerary. In fact, although I requested a Brussels to Amsterdam itinerary, I was informed that Brussels to Amsterdam was full but I could travel the reverse direction (Amsterdam to Brussels) on the same date of April 16, 2009. I agreed and proceeded to book the trip. Following completion of the booking, I proceeded to investigate non-refundable airline reservations of a complex itinerary that would place me in Amsterdam in time to commence the April 16 trip. There were only 4 seats available for what would in today’s market would be considered a reasonable fare.

Prior to booking this non-refundable airline ticket, I wanted to confirm my GCT itinerary. Upon checking my GCT reservation at their website on Saturday August 16, I saw that they had my itinerary listed as Brussels to Amsterdam. At that point I attempted to contact customer service by both e-mail and telephone to determine which itinerary I actually had since I needed to make a decision regarding the airline ticket. When they were not available I decided to cancel the GCT trip.

I called to cancel Saturday Aug. 16, 2008 around 3PM PST. Although sales for Grand Circle Travel are apparently open practically 24/7, customer service, which one is required to call for any changes, was closed for the week-end at 3PM EST, so an e-mail was sent.

I called again on Monday morning Aug. 18, 2008 when customer service was available to confirm the cancellation. I was informed at that time, that GCT did not accept e-mail cancellations and that there would be a $600.00 cancellation fee. At the time of the booking, I was never informed by the sales agent of a $300 per person cancellation fee as he took my credit card number for a $191 deposit, knowing the complex itinerary issues.


I wish to file a formal complaint regarding Grand Circle Travel. I know this policy violates CA law relating to 72 hour "buyer's remorse". I want them to either change this policy or to prohibit them from doing business in CA.

Thank you,
Joel E White