American Council for International Studies

This summer, I traveled to France and Italy for my 17th trip with ACIS, and I can honestly say that it was my best trip yet! Top- notch tour managers, thorough planning before I even arrived in Europe, centrally located hotels, and a fabulous itinerary that balanced fun with education for my students and their parents alike! I came home and immediately started planning my next trips with them. Highly recommended!

As the person in charge of Global Education for our school, and with 30 years experience, I have seen it all from different companies and different schools---and after all that, I can tell you that they're the best in the business. The care, the connections and the culture put them head and shoulders above the rest. And every year, they keep getting better and fresher.

ACIS truly goes the extra mile! When my daughter arrived at the airport for her trip, it was only then that we realized her passport was expired - and this was over the Christmas holidays. ACIS helped me overcome this “epic mom fail” by walking us through getting an emergency passport appointment, negotiating with the airlines to reschedule international flights, and being available around the clock to offer advice and wisdom each step of the way. They even helped me while on their personal holiday. This is a company that stands out from ALL the rest, making sure my daughter rejoined her travel group missing only one day of her tour. Thank you, ACIS!

I have been traveling with ACIS since 2006, leading 13 trips and taking over 200 people to Europe. I can honestly say that each and every trip has been an amazing experience for me and, more significantly, a life changing experience for the majority of the students who traveled with me. Because of the service, organization and attention to detail of my ACIS consultant leading up to the trips, the fantastic work of the tireless tour managers who stay with us throughout our travels and the high quality food, hotels and cultural experiences each trip provides has made each trip unique but each one equally amazing.

Obviously, whether traveling alone or in large groups, situations do arise from time to time - the key to survival is flexibility. The itinerary may need to be reversed or changed slightly to accommodate the arrangements of another group but I know that ACIS will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the experience will still be the high quality trip that my students signed up for. There is no "fine print" as ACIS is always open with whatever requirements need to be met for a trip to run or whatever adjustments may need to be made. And if ever I am not happy with any of the arrangements I also know that I have the power of the "Red Card" indicating that I need something (hotel, restaurant even tour manager) to be changed as quickly as possible. I also know that ACIS is never more than a phone call away no matter where I am with my group.

All of this, in addition to the authentic meals and the 3 and 4 star centrally located hotels that allow for my groups to get the most out of every second of their trips (rather than chicken tenders and hours long bus rides in traffic in and out of the cities) does come at a cost but for the value, quality as well as the peace of mind that it affords the parents at home, it is worth every penny!

I have been traveling with ACIS for about 15 years now, and I could not begin to say enough great things about my experiences traveling with this company! I have gone on ACIS trips throughout Europe, South America and Central America. From beginning to end, the ACIS staff in the US and abroad make these trips AMAZING! Everything is so well-planned and coordinated. The tour managers are extremely knowledgeable and helpful, the hotels are centrally located and of excellent quality, food is authentic and varied throughout the trip, and the activities are organized in such a way to maximize your time at each stop. While most trips go smoothly, every once in a while an issue arises such as a lost passport or an illness. ACIS has impressed me each time in those situations with their quick response to the issue. I have traveled with a different (cheaper) educational travel company once before in an effort to save some money for my participants, but I will never do that again! The trips simply do not compare! I currently have three trips on the books with ACIS, and I look forward to MANY more in the future!

I have lead tours with several other tour companies but none has compared to ACIS. From the beginning of the process to the very end, they provide the BEST service around. They won my loyalty the year that a student had appendicitis on tour- and ACIS walked thru every terrifying moment with me, the student, and the parent. I will never travel with another organization. The tour guides are knowledgeable, personable, and fun to be around. They are truly local experts that will enhance every aspect of you experience. My son, with food allergies, traveled with me last year and has been begging to go again. ACIS took his dietary restrictions in to consideration and made accommodations daily to meet his needs and to provide his with a delicious comparable option. I can't recommend them enough!

I have been a group leader with ACIS since 2011. I have used ACIS to take groups to South America, Europe, and central America. I have been in education for 30 years and I have been using travel companies since the 80's and this is the best company out there! Their tour leaders are the best in the business. Almost every tour director has a college degree and are very well trained and knowledgeable. Their trips are by far the most inclusive and the food you receive on tour is exceptional. ACIS cares about their participants and they will do everything they can to make your tour an amazing experience. I continue to use ACIS and most of the parents and students who come on my trips are return travelers because they just love the trips. Thank you ACIS for your fantastic service and I am looking forward to our next trip in 2021!

A very interesting and innovative company! Congratulations and thank you for the opportunity you are giving my daughter.

If there was a sixth star I'd give it. This is the best educational travel company hands down. I've traveled with them across Europe for many years and could not be more impressed.

This summer, I just completed my 16 th tour with ACIS. This particular trip, we went to the Canary Islands and Madrid! This was our first time with this itinerary and it didn't disappoint. The restaurants in Madrid were centrally located. Our 4 star hotels in the Canary Islands had all you could eat buffet which included everything you could possibly think of at a resort-like hotel. Our hotel in Madrid was a few blocks from Callao which made enjoying the evenings and the energy of Madrid after dinner.

My tour consultant Jill was there for me from the beginning with discussing which trip would be best for our group until the very end! With ACIS, you even get a phone call from your tour consultant prior to departing as well as checking in during the trip to make sure everything is going well. Travelling with other companies at first had us at hotels further from the city center and dinners that had less options to choose from at hotels (even when in the city center). We look forward to our next trip in 2025!

Terrible customer service. They say the refund will be provided in cash, unfortunately they credited my card with the refund with no notice. This was a credit card that I immediately paid off so now I have a credit on the account but no way to access the cash.

I went to Spain with this agency and it was a horrific experience. I do not recommend this travel agency to anyone, it’s a waste of money. Our tour manager, Almudena, was incredibly disappointing, unfriendly, and undeniably inflexible. The itinerary’s are packed and “free time” to explore the city on your own are incredibly limited and non-existent. If your looking to explore a country, and have a great experience, this is not the agency for you. Our group was additionally abandoned by the agency following the airline cancelling our flight home.

Customer service is also incredibly difficult to get ahold of; I complained in June and didn’t hear back until August. I also felt my complaint was completely brushed off. Overall, I do not recommend this agency at all.

WISH I HAD NEVER SIGNED UP!!!
It's essentially a pyramid scheme, your group leader is just someone who's getting a free trip in exchange for acting as a customer service blockade, they don't know anything more than you, but you have to go through them. When they can't solve your problem (which they can't because they're just another traveler) ACIS says they can't do anything because you didn't contact them soon enough.
They have fine print detailing that they can change anything and you're on the hook! They make whatever decisions will improve their profit margin. They weren't going to make enough money from our group, so we got added to another group, with different dates. We were given our flight details late, and I realized that I was scheduled to fly out of the wrong airport, my registration said Washington, DC - turns out that they have fine print that "Washington, DC" also includes an airport that is an hour outside the city with no public transportation. When I asked to have my flight changed to the DC airport, I was told that I would need to pay a $300 flight change fee (United Airlines charges $200, so ACIS just wants to make some more money there) and that the $222 dollar flight from DC is $136 more than, what apparently was a $86 flight? - either United gives ACIS a worse deal than the general public, or they're just trying to get more money. Now, I am being told that if I miss that flight, my whole trip will be cancelled...that's not how airlines normally work (I have missed a flight before).
THEY WILL SAY ANYTHING TO GET MORE MONEY. They don't have anything resembling customer service. I will go on this trip because I've already invested significant time and money - but I will tell anyone who will listen to never travel with them!

Absolutely the WORST! LIARS! THEY HAVE A LEVEL 4 STATE DEPARTMENT TRAVEL RESTRICTION CLAUSE THAT CALLS FOR 100% REFUNDS LESS $100 THAT THEY REFUSE TO HONOR. JUST OUR GROUP IN MINDEN, NV OF ABOUT 18 TRAVELERS WILL LOSE IVER $15000. THAT'S THEIR DECEIFTFUL, LYING, PROFIT!
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT US IN THE WORKS. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

Absolutely horrific customer service in response to the corona pandemic