Road Scholar/Costco Travel Tours

[Corporate ORphan]

Has anyone ever done the Road Scholar Tours or traveled through Costco? We had friends who suggested both. One just recently got back from Cuba.

[MBAustin]

I have not done either. Some friends have gone on several Road Scholar trips and had wonderful experiences. They also felt they got extremely good value for the quality of trip.

[ohyes]

DH and I love Road Scholar trips and I pipe up whenever I see them mentioned on ER. We have been on three trips, all US. Our next one is San Francisco in September.


We feel they are a great value. Wonderful experiences. We did not take a RS trip during 2014 and I am sorry. So far, we have done Red Sox spring training in Ft. Myers, San Antonio and GA islands. Each of those was an incredible experience.


Usually, we just go someplace and plan our on itinerary and have a wonderful time. RS trips throw in so much more than you would probably ever get on your own. Hope we get the chance to go on many, many more. Highly recommend RS. (Know nothing about Costco).

[Bamaman]

Since online websites came in, travel agencies are just about a thing of the past. The only one we have left is AAA.

I can go online and find most of the trips offered by Costco--for the same expensive price.

There are some regional bus companies offering organized U.S. ground tours, but I really wouldn't call them travel agencies. My parents spent a bunch of money traveling with one local bus company for years.

We're getting ready to take our fourth major trip in the last 16 months--to Scandinavia. With my wife's bad back and knee problems, we want to see the world while she's able to do the walking.

Someone asked me who my travel agent is. I told them that I'm my own travel agent, and that I can plan a pretty efficient and inexpensive trip--all online.

[bssc]

My parents have done a lot of Roads Scholar trips and loved them.

[donheff]

I have been keeping Roads Scholar trips in my "future possibility" kit for a while. For now DW and I take a couple of bike tours a year and usually go to FL for a few weeks in Feb/Mar to beat the cold. We figure that sooner or later we will tire of so many bike trips and may want to try alternatives. We both like organized trips that pick nice places, good food and lots of opportunity for striking out on your own coupled with knowledgeable guides who can insure that you can see and understand some of the key features of the area. I recognize that you can do better on your own for the same $ with a longer trip and extensive research and organizing but we like the ease of a good organized trip. Different strokes. From what I have read RS offers a shot at what we are interested in. Hopefully more ERers who have travelled with hem will chime in.

I would also be interested in Costco tours. I know nothing about them but I like Costco's "Ben and Jerry's of retail" philosophy and am curious about how they apply it to travel. I would guess that for inherently organized trips (e.g. Galapagos, Antarctica) they might just hit the sweet spot of value like they do for wines, TVs, etc.

[yakers]

Like most things COSTCO you get good things at a good price. We took a trip to our favorite place, Rarotonga, and used them as we already knew the island well and they had a brand new hotel at a steep discount. With some research we can match their prices but their packages are good.
We have not used RS but friends have and liked them.

[Dreamer]

My DH and I have done one RS trip. We really enjoyed it and would like to do more of them in the future. I was not sure how my DH would like it, but he did. We have not done any international trips and will probably use them, in order to take the worry out of something happening overseas.

[Corporate ORphan]

A friend today suggested Caravan Tours. She had taken on to see Yellowstone and some other parks out there. Anyone used them? We were thinking of signing up for some type of tour to see the fall leaves in New England.

[Katiek]

Corporate ORphan, I assume at least one of the "we" is male? I've used a woman's travelling group that I enjoyed, but it's not an option for couples.