Can't access discussion boards

Hello Bill,
We have added you as a member of your discussion board for your upcoming trip to Panama so you can begin speaking with others in your group. We apologize for the delay and are available if you need any further assistance.

All the best,
Your Friends at Road Scholar

In reply to Road Scholar:

Still barred from access to the discussion board for the Alaska trip Sept 3. Have spoken twice to RS staff about this. Perhaps there is no one discussing the trip!

In reply to mollysydney012712:

I'm going to Switzerland in Oct, emailed them about the message we get and was told: you may access this from your upcoming trips page in your account. One of the items listed there is "Trip Discussion". If nothing shows, it's because no one has posted yet. If you have a specific question or comment, you can start the discussion! However the weird message we get sounds like there's something wrong with the site. When I took my first trip with RS a few years ago the website was so easy and friendly to use.

In reply to mollysydney012712:

Hi mollysydney012712,
Thanks for reaching out. You are actually already a member of the discussion board for your trip to Alaska.

Please follow these steps to access it now --

1. Log into your Road Scholar online account.
2. Click on your username at the top of the page then from the drop down menu select "Upcoming Trips".
3. Your Trip Card will appear. On that Trip Card is a blue link that says "Trip Discussion". Click it then your discussion board will appear.

Let us know if you need any further assistance.

All the best,
Your Friends at Road Scholar

In reply to betsyhart011102:

Hi betsyhart011102,
We apologize for the error on our part, it appears you were not a member of your trip specific discussion board. We have added you today so you can begin to communicate with others in your group now.

Feel free to reach out if you need any further assistance.

All the best,
Your Friends at Road Scholar

In reply to Road Scholar:

Why does any one feel the need to discuss their trip before hand with fellow travelers!! Just go and be surprised!! Who cares!! That's the fun of it! If you have an important question call RS.

In reply to ellenbuckelew010421:

I sometimes go early to see things in trip start city not being visited on trip. RS call center does not know all that information but people who have been on a trip do. I personally like being surprised by people I will meet on the trip but travel details can come in handy.

In reply to ellenbuckelew010421:

I have several times planned to stay an extra day or two after the trip. As a solo traveler, I would be glad to share a room if there were others that also wanted to stay on. But because the discussion boards are so poorly organized, this is almost never possible.

On my last trip, I tried to post a message to say I had booked a double room for one more night in case anyone else wanted to share after the trip was over. I knew that several people wold likely stay, because flights to the Midwest and East Coast weren't available without taking the redeye. Sure enough, another woman was not only staying over solo, but taking the same flight as me! But because we could coordinate, we each paid for a room when we could have shared.

And some RS trips involve getting to a starting location that is hard to access without a car. If others are coming from the same airport or city, we could coordinate travel.

And then there is just the chance that people actually want to talk about the trip in advance. That makes it fun.

In reply to porchchat011745:

Yes. In 2014 when I did my first trip with RS -- back-to-back programs -- I was able to use the old discussion board to find someone to join me on the 3-day drive between programs. That is no longer doable with this discussion board. It's been several years now on this new platform and there does not seem any movement toward facilitating communication among people signed up for the same program/dates. Disappointing.

I have yet to be able to use a discussion board for any of my trips. I use an Ipad; is this aproblem? Even after I’m told I’ve been added it doesn’t work. Do most travelers not use this function?

In reply to ellenbuckelew010421:

Because RS doesn’t know. I’m going to Scotland and in talking to RS discovered they can’t answer questions about posiible special rates if staying longer at site hotel, or flight plan, until you book! Catch 22 is I’m not going to book until I have an idea of what RS will do for those ‘custome arrangements’. And if you read the other comments Ellen you will understand why people want to use the discussion board. If the function doesn’t work, then get it off.

In reply to mollysydney012712:

Hi mollysydney, we apologize for the difficulty you've had with using our discussion boards. We are working on resolving some issues with the discussion board functionality including one we've had with adding participants to the date specific discussion boards. You are a member of your date specific discussion board for your upcoming trip to Scotland so you can begin to communicate with others in your group. If you have any questions or need further assistance please don't hesitate to reach out to us. Best, Rachel

In reply to Road Scholar:

I have never been able to access the private discussions. I have completed 3 trips and am registered for 4 more. I have emailed RS—no response. What gives???

In reply to Road Scholar:

I have not been able to access our discussion board either - for the upcoming SW Icons trip. I get the message that it is unavailable or under construction.

In reply to Road Scholar:

RS, I reported once not being able to access the discussion board for my program Best of New Mexico September 7-14, 2019, but am still getting the "access denied" reply. I started wondering if I am the only one who has signed up for this program. Is that possible? I really would like to be able to meet and chat with some of the others who have signed up for the same program, particularly finding out how many other solo travelers there will be. Thank you.