Business ProfileforInterTrav Corporation

I went on a 12 day Pomeranian Heritage tour to ****** and *******. The purpose in my eyes was to explore the areas where our ancestors came from. First of all, we had little or no time on our own to even explore the culture. We stayed in a different hotel almost every night and ate all our meals in the hotel buffets. If we had any time to get lunch it was never enough time to find a local restaurant, order, eat and get back to the bus in an hour. The tour consisted mainly of churches, architecture and of course there were some famous well-known historical sights. We had many local guides which we always had to tip which was not included in the cost of the trip. The day before we left to go home we had to take a covid test. One hour before we were to leave the next day, a fellow member of the tour group came to our hotel door to say my roommate and I tested positive along with 5 others and we could not go home with the rest of the tour. I was not contacted by any tour official as to what we were to do. So we all took it upon ourselves to move to another hotel near the airport and proceeded to figure out, on our own, how and when we were going to get home. They will deny this but we were definitely on our own to find an English speaking doctor to issue certificates saying we had quarantined 5 days and were no longer contagious. Not easy in a foreign country. We all had to make our own flight arrangements home and I paid $1300 for my ticket home and flew home alone which was very intimidating in a foreign country when you dont know the language. When asked by me and my travel insurance company where was the refund for the tickets we did not use and was told there was none. In closing I must say that this was a cut-rate, disorganized tour. Please dont ever consider this travel agency.

We have heard from many of Ms. ***** fellow travelers on the Pomeranian Heritage Tour, and they had a wonderful trip, and we also received a positive response from our European Tour ******. InterTrav has been a group travel operator for over 60 years, and as anybody can see, weve not had much in the way of complaints or negative reviews in all that time.As a Heritage Tour the itinerary was established at the request of, and with direct input from the ****************************. While the tour was at times fast-paced, this was in order to allow individuals to explore as much of the Pomeranian region as possible, and there certainly was not a different hotel every night. We also offered and arranged individual side trips (at additional cost) for travelers who wished to explore villages of particular interest with regard to family heritage ************ chose not to take part in this aspect of the tour. Having been a group travel operator for over six decades, we understand that group travel is not a fit for everybody, and it sounds as if this is the case for ************. The tours we plan and operate are based on the requirements of a specific group and/or group leader, and in this case the sightseeing was designed to allow travelers to see as much as possible of the region from which their families hail. With a group, it is also necessary to maintain a schedule, which does not typically allow for endless hours of independent sightseeing. It definitely sounds as if ************ would be better suited to individual travel, although if flying home alone from a foreign country is intimidating, it might also be best to stick with domestic travel.************ stated that when she got a positive Covid test, she was not contacted by any tour official as to what we were to do. We had no way of knowing which travelers, if any, tested positive without first hearing from said traveler(s). When we were notified that 8 of the group would be remaining in ******* due to positive Covid tests, we were in touch with all travelers, including ************, either via email or by telephone. At one point we had two voicemails from ************ the first requesting assistance from our office (we did return the call, but did not get through), and the second stating that the issue had been taken care of. ************ had both our office number, as well as the cell phone number for *******************, President of InterTrav. She also had, and used, our email for correspondence. InterTrav has always offered, and we highly recommend, that any traveler purchase travel protection, which ************ did. Typically, the travel insurance company will assist with arrangements to return home (they do have a 24-hour emergency assistance number), and will cover costs up to the limits listed in the policy for additional hotel nights, food and a flight home. ************ stated she was told there was no refund for the tickets we did not use. This is correct, and is out of our control. When a round-trip ticket is purchased and the first leg is used, there is no value to the return leg according to most airlines they will view it as a voluntary no-show.The tour brochure and the travel documents have detailed information as to what is included in the tour cost and what is not included, such as gratuities to local guides. We will be happy to supply this information if you would like. We also have copies of emails, as well as voicemail recordings, should you need supporting documentation regarding what truly transpired.