smarTours Reviews - Read 1,494 Genuine Customer Reviews

Merchant Metrics


Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	3.92 out of 5

About smarTours:

smarTours is a leading provider of direct-to-consumer, affordable travel experiences to exotic global destinations. The Company offers travelers curated, pre-packaged itineraries to over 40 destinations across the globe. By offering tours directly to consumers, the Company provides premium-quality experiences at value prices, and as a result, has cultivated a highly passionate and loyal community of repeat travelers. More than 200,000 travelers have taken a smarTours trip since the founding of the Company in 1996. smarTours is… the smarter way to see the world.

Phone:

800-337-7773

Email:

info@smartours.com

Location:

545 Eighth Ave. Suite 2250
New York, NY 10018

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smarTours 5 star review on 21st May 2020

smarTours 5 star review on 19th March 2020

296

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Helpful None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“smarTours would not refund our deposit after they cancelled our September 2020 trip to Spain because of Covid-19. We will never recommend this travel agency to anyone, and travelers should be aware they do not refund anything because of Covid-19. Do they refund money for any other situation, it is not known.

We will never use this travel agency, and we will never recommend smarTours to anyone.”

Posted 6 months ago

“I had gone on 2 SmarTours to South America and China and they were middle of the road tours that covered most of the sites in good accommodations.However, I had a credit with the company and booked Iceland as it was 1 week and close to NY.
But I was not strong enough to do the tour and cancelled 3 weeks before and the policy was to subtract $1500 and refund the rest. They did not honor their policy-they cancelled the tour afterwards. They ignored my requests to honor their policy-they refused to respond.They said I had to have a credit but I am unable to take another tour.I filed a Trip Mate insurance claim which was denied with documentation,medical statement which I submitted. It took 3 months to deny my claim. This company is a nightmare of non communication and
ignoring their own policies. Buyer beware.”

Posted 9 months ago

“Despicable company and despicable company policy. Obviously they canceled my May 2020 trip to Greece and have forced me to accept rebooking next May. Woe to anyone in my group because I will be very unhappy to have to travel with this company next year or ever. I called, I emailed, I wrote the president a letter asking for a refund. How dare they continue to have the use of my money – full payment – when they fail to provide the services I contracted for?I also requested information regarding travel insurance for the 2021 trip and, no surprise, no response at all! Horrible company, horrible customer service. You are warned. I suspect they are keeping my money because they are close to going bankrupt - Why else would they be so afraid to return what is rightly mine and hope that I will reschedule all on my own?”

Posted 11 months ago

“Although our tour guide in Iceland was extraordinarily good, we will never use SmarTours again. We are telling all of our family and friends about this. SmarTours used to be a good travel company, but something has happened since we used them five years ago. They have devolved into nothing more than an unprofessional, clueless call center. SmarTours lures you in with a $100/per person discount if you pay your deposit by e-check. Six months later, when the balance is due, if you pay with a credit card, you will get an unpleasant surprise: your invoice will have a line that says "Forfeiture of eCheck Discount" and $100/person is added to the balance. You CANNOT pay by phone. The online system DOES NOT ALERT YOU of this "forfeiture." When I saw the invoice, the payment was still Pending on my credit card. THREE SmarTours call center representatives, including a supervisor, said it was no problem to fix this. I just needed to notify my credit card company and call them back, which I did. When I called back, the call center representative said there was nothing she could do. I asked to speak to a manager. She would not connect me but said she would have someone call me back. They never did. I have been BETRAYED, RIPPED OFF, and will NEVER use SmarTours again. You have been warned about this cheapskate, underhanded, chintzy company. BEWARE.”

Posted 1 year ago

“Tour to Egypt was excellent”

Posted 1 year ago

“I have NEVER had a worse guide on a land tour than Sigrun Eiriksdottir. She did not meet us at the Reykjavik airport (5 a.m.)--instead another guide took care of us in the dark & wind & rain, & showed us various attractions for several hours until our hotel rooms were ready, around 12:30-1 p.m., on Friday, Nov. 8. THEN, she decided not to meet us for a possible Northern Lights tour that evening--a notice was posted at the reception desk instead. Saturday was a "free day" anyway, so again she didn't appear. It was rainy, so on Sunday, Nov. 10 she took us to the Blue Lagoon during the morning, & that was it for the rest of the day. Similarly, when she actually DID show up, she never was early--often 5 min. or so late. She seemed to think she was charming enough to ignore the basics of "guiding." No one is. Then on the night of the last dinner, she never thanked us for coming to Iceland, nor did she EVER have us introduce ourselves in her presence (the sub. guide did do that after the 1st breakfast, but that was not a normal way to handle that).
I have taken 3 smarTours, I believe, & this was the worst guide ever. On any extended tour, anywhere. With any company. What a shame, given that the country of Iceland is such a fascinating one.
Also, on the last afternoon, she vanished from the airport before several of us had the chance to give her a tip (obviously it was going to be a modest one, since she barely spent any time with us).
I sincerely hope you will give serious thought to eliminating Sigrun Eiriksdottir from your group of Icelandic guides, as she obviously doesn't care to put in the time to do her job correctly.

Furthermore, I shall never bother to take a smarTours trip again--there's no point in wasting my money on your company. For your information, I have traveled to nearly 150 countries, both singly, with land tours & cruises--I hope I can put this unpleasant experience out of my mind soon. And of course will never recommend smarTours to anyone, anywhere.”

Posted 1 year ago

“The hotel in Fiji had alot of ants in it. That is not acceptable. The tour guide was hard to communicate with. The rest of the tour was good. I loved Cairo and our tour guide was excellent the same with Sydney.”

Posted 1 year ago

“The tour guide was great. I enjoyed the stuff I saw. He picked great sites to take us to. I enjoyed the food. Did not like Jungle Vilas hotel. We passed so many better looking hotels it was hard to believe it was upscale. It seemed like we were the only guests and the hotel was way down a dusty road in the middle of nowhere. If I had wanted a safari I would have picked a different tour. Some of the places our guide took us to shop seemed a bit pricey. Yes, he was guaranteeing quality. But exploring on our own we found shops which displayed comparable reputation and goods at less expensive pricing. The so called farewell dinner was an absolute disaster. The selection of the restaurant and food was so bad we could have skipped it. In fact, that's the kind of dinner you take your guests to when you want to say "farewell, please don't come back again." If it wasn't for the guide, we'd be bad mouthing that part of the trip all over social media.”

Posted 1 year ago

“It was an excellent tour with great travel companion. Yoku, the travel manager, was the best.”

Posted 2 years ago

“I have taken many SmarTours throughout the yrs., and find it a very pleasing way to see the world.”

Posted 2 years ago

“The Antartica trip from November 4th was fantastic. The knowledge and experience of the tour guides from Hurtigruten on the Midnatsol was very enlightening to understand the life of the animals , the need to protect the environment and the history of Antartica. The service staff on the ship was extremely friendly, helpful and accommodated any special requirements.The attention to safety procedures while exploring nature gave a great sense of peace. The tour of Buenos Aires was also very interesting. I highly recommend this trip for people with interest in the environment and nature.”

Posted 2 years ago

smarTours is rated 4.45 based on 1,494 reviews