EF’s industry-leading safety & coverage programs for 2023 tours and beyond

Provided to all groups 

This program was created to provide the safest possible tour experience for our customers.

EF’s unmatched global presence
With 600 schools and offices in 50 countries worldwide, including regional offices dedicated to on-tour support, our global presence is truly unmatched. Our 50,000+ staff and faculty members around the world provide a local presence and are able to react quickly and in person where necessary. Plus, the staff in each office and school are trained to respond to a wide range of emergency situations.

Dedicated Emergency Service and Incident Response Teams
EF’s Emergency Service & Support Team is available 24/7 to resolve any issue, from a missed flight to a lost passport to more serious on-tour incidents. They also facilitate communication between travelers and families in the event of an emergency at home. The Emergency Service & Support Team is made up of highly trained, dedicated EF staff based in our Boston, Denver, and Austin offices who are equipped to solve problems and answer questions that may come up, even outside of regular business hours. This team also maintains direct communication with our Operations Safety & Incident Response Team to jointly solve issues as needed.

Background checks on adult travelers
We conduct background checks on all adults traveling on our student tours. This is meant to help provide a safer tour experience for all travelers, and is a similar process to what many school districts implement for adults who volunteer in schools or chaperone school activities. Background checks take place through a secure process that is meant to specifically identify individuals who could present a risk to student travelers while on tour.

Provided to all groups

We understand that plans can change due to unforeseen circumstances. EF provides an exclusive Peace of Mind program to account for such situations. This program is automatically included for all travelers and can be enacted at the group level for any reason, including terrorism, pandemics, or other world events.

For groups traveling before October 1, 2025, your Group Leader may choose from the following options:

45 days or more prior to departure:

• Work with EF to modify your group’s current tour itinerary and dates, or find a new tour and apply all money paid to the new tour
• Cancel your tour and all travelers will receive a transferable Future Travel Voucher in the amount of all monies paid for the original tour, less the cost of any purchased Travel Protection plan
• Cancel your tour with applicable fees under the Standard Cancellation Policy

44 days or less prior to departure:

• If any location(s) included in the group’s itinerary is newly designated as a Travel Advisory Level 4 by the U.S. Department of State; or a U.S. federal or state governmental authority has newly imposed a travel ban to your destination, or newly issued an order requiring a self-quarantine for travelers in your group upon arrival to a location on your itinerary or upon return home from a location on your group’s itinerary; your Group Leader or the individual traveler will have the same Peace of Mind options set forth above.

For groups traveling on or after October 1, 2025, your Group Leader may choose from the following options:

60 days or more prior to departure:

• Work with EF to modify your group’s current tour itinerary and dates, or find a new tour and apply all money paid to the new tour
• Cancel your tour and all travelers will receive a transferable Future Travel Voucher in the amount of all monies paid for the original tour, less the cost of any purchased Travel Protection plan
• Cancel your tour with applicable fees under the Standard Cancellation Policy

59 days or less prior to departure:

• If any location(s) included in the group’s itinerary is newly designated as a Travel Advisory Level 4 by the U.S. Department of State; or a U.S. federal or state governmental authority has newly imposed a travel ban to your destination, or newly issued an order requiring a self-quarantine for travelers in your group upon arrival to a location on your itinerary or upon return home from a location on your group’s itinerary; your Group Leader or the individual traveler will have the same Peace of Mind options set forth above.

Terms & Conditions
Benefits of the Peace of Mind program are only available to the entire group and not to individual travelers unless specifically indicated. Travelers missing any payment deadlines must pay any incurred late fees to qualify for this program.

Revised tours must depart within one year of the original tour. If the revised tour has a higher price than the original tour, travelers will be required to pay the difference as a condition of traveling on the revised tour. If EF cannot accommodate a revised tour request and/or the group decides not to travel on the original tour, then the group may opt for future travel vouchers. If the group does not travel on the original tour, travel on a revised tour, or receive a Future Travel Voucher, standard cancellation fees will apply.

Travelers canceling from a revised tour will be charged a cancellation fee based on the date that the original tour was revised or the date of cancellation from the revised tour, whichever is higher. EF will make every effort to accommodate revised tour requests.

Future Travel Vouchers are valid up to 25 months from the month of the original tour’s scheduled departure. Future Travel Vouchers are transferrable at the face value of the voucher to members of the traveler’s immediate family or school community. The Future Travel Voucher is not a merchandise credit or a gift certificate and may not be redeemed for cash unless specifically noted on the voucher. Travelers who had booked their program by redeeming a previously issued Future Travel Voucher may have different terms and options available to them based on the originally issued voucher terms.

New travelers traveling on or after October 1, 2024 who enroll during the Early Enrollment period can cancel for any reason up to 7 days after enrollment for a full refund of 100% of the money paid to EF. The early enrollment period is defined as the window in which your program is eligible for an enrollment discount. To be eligible, the traveler must enroll on a tour at least 110 days prior to the scheduled departure date. Travelers must pay in full or enroll in our Automatic Payment Plan at the time of program enrollment and must remain either paid in full or enrolled in our Automatic Payment Plan and in good financial standing at the time of cancellation to remain eligible.