Read the fine print! Their cancellation fees are nearly as expensive as the whole trip. The insurance provider they use is notoriously bad at settling claims and will bury claimants in a mountain of paperwork. Communication is non-existent (literally nobody answers email), they take your money and run. An absolutely terrible organization that made out like bandits with school trips cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fully intend to escalate my case and get our money back. If your child’s school offers up a trip in the future, please do not sign up if Explorica is leading the charge. They’ll take a trip of a lifetime and make it a costly nightmare.

We had to cancel our trip for our kid because school is closed. This company has decided to keep the money instead of refunding the trip even though it was cancelled well in advance and was mandated by the government. I will be exploring actions to recoup. Meanwhile be wary of these companies that masquerade as education focused but are really about the money. Even during a pandemic.

TERRIBLE. This company should be ASHAMED of how they are treating parents and children right now. My son's grade 8 graduation trip was cancelled, and there is no refund. I am appalled that they would provide no service , but still keep payment. There is no trip... What am I paying for? Empty hotels? Meals not prepared or eaten? Buses not driven? I tell you this... I am a teacher and will never book a trip for my students through Explorica if this is how they operate a business. I will also tell all my colleagues the same message: avoid Explorica. When the chips are down, the customer gets screwed over. I will be communicating my dissatisfaction to the school board with the hopes that they will ban trips with this company in the future.

This travel agency does not even deserve one star. They have taken money from my account since last October, and now the school trip has been cancelled and they sent me an email saying the refund will take 8 to 12 weeks from the original departure date, which was supposed to be in June. So by the time I will get my money, it will have been a year since they used my money for their account, and of course make more money with my money, including the other parents money who would have sent their kids on this trip. This is your warning, when they come to your kid's school, they'll talk so sweet, because they want to collect your money, but they won't say anything about how they'll refund that money. I WILL NOT BOOK ANY TRIPS FOR MY FAMILY WITH THIS TRAVEL AGENCY EVER AGAIN!

My daughter saved money (total of around $3700), for a dream trip to Italy in March 2020. It was cancelled for COVID-fine, no big deal because we had bought the cancel for any reason trip insurance. But here we are, nine months later, and we are getting the runaround from Explorica and Tripmate/Old Republic Insurance Canada. The estimate is that they owe Canadian families and teens in the range of $16 million. Some parents have been able to contact the airline their kids were booked on through Explorica and found out that Explorica has already been issued refunds for the cancelled flights. Shameful behaviour, especially at a time when so many families are in reduced incomes. I would not trust Explorica. STAY AWAY!

A reputable tour company would not partner with bad insurance or they would at least try to make it right! Explorica, Arch Insurance, and old Dominion owe millions of dollars to parents/students across the country from trips cancelled due to COVID! Amazingly all the trips that were booked through EF have been paid out! Guess our school picked the wrong tour company! That won’t happen again!

Cancelled trip due to Covid two months prior to departure. We also had purchased the additional “cancel for any reason” insurance. It’s been 6 months and to date we have received only 30% of our refund. Unfortunately we would never use this company again for a school trip or any other trip as they don’t stand by their own policies.

My son was scheduled to leave for Europe in April. Due to Covid, trip was cancelled. Explorica took my money, the refunds from the airlines and I have gotten nothing back. Left our school group high and dry! I purchased the expensive insurance plan so we would get a refund no matter what...over 5 months waiting!

Very poor customer service. We are one of thousands people involed in canceled school trips from March 2020. I will not ever deal with this company again and will make sure to inform others in the market for group travel to do likewise.

Scammers! Took the money of thousands of kids all over Canada and now 7 months later we are still waiting for our money back! They blame the insurance company, the insurance company blames them... the truth is Explorica got full refund from the suppliers and kept it. They are rude, condescending and, of course, thieves!

This company came to our school and told every parent that signing up was mandatory to secure a place on the trip. And it was fully refundable if there was no space, or if we had to cancel for any reason. They then kept every parents deposit, even though there were too many kids for the trip. You are dealing with a shady company if you choose to use this outfit.

I have taken groups on 5 tours to Europe and each time I have had exceptional service from Explorica. They are very flexible and helpful with designing custom tours, and our reps have gone above and beyond to ensure our parents and kids have outstanding experiences. Our parents have been impressed by the value for the money, and for the excellent security provided by Explorica. I have also found communication with the advisers to be excellent. We just returned from another successful trip two days ago, and will be traveling with Explorica again.

Explorica was fantastic on our student tour of Costa Rica 🇨🇷 Great activities and wildlife viewing. When a student was injured: quick medical attention was organized. Tour director and bus driver were flexible and accommodated extra putting to please the travelers.

Since 2006 I have traveled with Explorica around the world. My students have always come back with great experiences. Many traveled with me twice and enjoyed the services that Explorica provided. The tours are designed very well and the company provides flexibility for us. I would recommend this company to anyone who wants to travel with their students.

What a wonderful company! The customer service has been outstanding! I am chaperoning a trip to London, England and Explorica has gone out of their way to assist my group with every question and concern. Everything is taken care of and I cannot wait to leave for my adventure in the UK with my students. Thank you Explorica!

I have led 2 trips with Explorica since switching from another tour company and have not regretted my decision to switch to and stay with them. I have found their representatives helpful and pleasant to work with, and have been able to continue to work with the same Explorica representatives since I switched from another tour company that seemed to have a hard time keeping employees. I have also been pleased with the overall pricing and so have my student families. I have been gratefully able to organize many amazing experiences for students with the knowledge and expertise of Explorica. Planning and organizing a trip for a group of people can be a daunting task, but with the help and support available through Explorica it is far less complicated than you may think. If you are thinking of organizing a travel trip for a group of people I would really recommend giving them a try.

If you are a school administrator, teacher or anyone who is making the decision to go with a tour group, please do yourself a favour and avoid Explorica. They made promises and reassurances that if our trip would be cancelled, or if we needed to cancel for extenuating circumstances, we would get our money back. This was not the case at all. They leave parents with very few options, except to bicker with a faceless insurance company, and non-responsive account people. I am thoroughly disappointed with how they have chosen to handle our business and I will definitely not be wasting any more time with Explorica. Thank you for taking my money and giving us nothing back but grief.

The staff of Explorica both at home in Canada and our Tour Director abroad continue to exceed expectations! All questions or concerns are addressed promptly and to our great satisfaction. This is our 8th tour with Explorica and our experience continues to be very positive and our Tour Directors continue to amaze and impress! We just took a group of 55 to Europe and the organization was outstanding! If there were problems, we didn't know about them as the Tour Director handled everything with ease and efficiency. The itineraries also continue to impress as well as the hotels and restaurants used by the company. We have stayed with Explorica for 16 years and definitely feel as if we are part of the family!