Reserving flights through Road Scholar

In reply to alliekenneynyc030737:

Doing it on your own works great. Wouldn't have it any other way.

In reply to hjones022832:

RS may not always be the cheapest. In addition, if you do it on your own, you know what you are getting. Who wants 2-3 stops going international.

In reply to alliekenneynyc030737:

Much better to do on your own.

In reply to archerychampion010427:

It is very easy to do it on your own. Global Entry - the airline website tells you where it needs to be entered. Easy - Do it on your own then you know what you are getting. RS does not let you know until just prior to departure. Who wants to stop 2-3 times

through Road Scholar

This is the first time I booked through RS, but I had already researched flights. I knew the few that would work for me in terms of getting to the program on time. I used RS because they advertised as being able to book for cheaper rates. RS booked me for the flight I had already spotted as "best" and charged me more than I would have paid had I booked it myself.

In reply to saholladay011045:

Lucky you. We are still waiting for RS to process a refund for a taxi voucher that the driver in Quebec could not scan. We have emailed, called, submitted receipts etc. No response other than automated emails.

Booking your own flight often provides much better connection time as well as seating options. I'm traveling to Israel from the Washington DC area and taking Air Canada - great connections and security as well as price considering the exchange rate!

In reply to alliekenneynyc030737:

Absolutely. First time RE trip and thought that they would get me the "best deal" but I have since found out that I could have saved well over $200 if I did it myself

I had multiple problems with Road Scholar travel agency. I used them because the flight for my program was free. When I called to arrange the agent had a hard time finding a flight on the day of the program & asked me to come a day early.
When I said I did not want to she said she would keep looking and call me back. Three days later there was still no call back so I called again & said I could come a day early if needed & this agent told me if I flew any time but the program day I forfeited my free air fare; the first agent had not mentioned that. I agreed on an itinerary with the second agent, but the information he sent had the wrong return; he had booked one leaving at 6 am which would mean I would have to miss the last night of the program & get myself to the airport. This was corrected. When I checked in to return the booking # in the RS check my trip came up as this reservation has been cancelled. I had to look through my old e-mails to find another booking number. My personal information for the return trip had not been entered with the airline which meant I had to recover and reenter it. With all the looking up of information and reentering it took me 45 minutes just to check in. I do not recommend them.

In reply to helen_48895041311:

Hey Helen,

We are so sorry to hear of the difficulty you have had in booking flights with us, this is certainly not the experience we want our participants to have! We would love the opportunity to do some research and see what happened here. Would you be open to one of our supervisors reaching out to you to discuss further?

Best,
Road Scholar

In reply to charlotte.drayer010411:

Did RS schedule your domestic flights to get where they are beginning the international flight? I am going to South America with free flight from Miami. The chat lady said they didn't arrange anything in Miami as far as transportation or hotel

I am really happy booking my own flights. I like to make my own connections.

Domestically, I've always done my own. International, a combination. See what Road Scholar offers; study what you can get; make your decision. For an upcoming trip, RS offered me high prices with extra stops to start with. I studied it; found that I could get a much cheaper and more convenient flight to Europe if I stayed an extra day. Talked with them; they found me a better rate on the flight I wanted. For internal European flights, they don't use the cheapo lines like EasyJet, so I booked my own rather than a more expensive and less convenient Air Croatia flight that hopped me around to several stops.

In reply to saholladay011045:

We were booked on non-stop Delta flights to Cuba this November through RS travel agent. Got an email from them that our flight was changed and we now have to change planes in Atlanta. Because RS has a contract with Delta, we were not to be ticketed until three weeks before the flight, so no charge to us to change flights. We are now booked on United non-stop through RS. Since they do not have a contract with United, we would be on the hook if the flights get changed. In both cases the fares RS charged were exactly the same as I could have gotten online, so why not get the transfer through RS.