FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
 

How does the "Best of Europe" travel experience differ from typical travel agency package tours?

Let me count the ways! Our"Best of Europe" foreign travel tour is a custom tour comfortably paced, and well planned, to show you the best that Europe has to offer. It is offered as a single group tour, once a year, and prepares its participants in the various aspects of traveling overseas before they leave home. Check out our What You Will See page for the many specific differences between ours and other tours.

What age of individuals typically travel on your"Best of Europe" tour? 
Our tour is sponsored by Chemeketa Community College, and as such has a broad range of ages of travelers who choose to take advantage of our tour program. We have had participants between the age of 17 and 75 years of age within the same year. Typically there are a number of like-age participants traveling on each year's tour. We have found that the differing ages of the group add interest and complement each other very well.

How big an annual operation is the"Best of Europe"  travel experience?

Small. We offer one tour each year, and limit its size to 32-40 participants. This allows us to provide our participants with the hallmark personal service that is so important to us, and the limited group size gives our tour participants plenty of extra room on our 51-seat coach.

Is the"Best of Europe"  tour experience competitively priced?

Yes. We encourage you to carefully compare what is included in our tour with all of the items for which you will be charged "extra" on other big tour company package tours. Add up all of those "tour options" on other tours and then compare the real price. We believe people appreciate having all of those things included up-front in the initial price. Our What You Will See page gives you the details.

What kind of travel pace should you expect on your"Best of Europe" tour?

Fifteen cities in as many days is not our idea of the ideal tour. Ours is a comfortably paced, well planned tour, with free time provided on tour to allow you to relax. Over the years we have learned how to design a custom tour itinerary that provides the very best overseas experience and allows our travelers to enjoy it at a practical pace. Where ever possible we try to allow our groups to have multiple-night stays in the same cities. This eliminates much of the stress that so often occurs on tours which repeatedly change rooms, night after night, in the many different cities they visit.

How physically demanding is your"Best of Europe"  tour?

We plan our group time and walking energy most efficiently on tour, and know how to direct our coach driver on precise drop-off and pick-up sites for our group. Recognizing, many of the major attractions in Europe's grand cities remain within the "pedestrian-only" walking areas of each major city. However, our participants need to be physically fit and able to walk, occasionally up to four or five miles in a day. Intermittent breaks are conveniently provided. We also try to make options available each day for those with some limitations. Often we can arrange for them to return to the hotel at midday, to relax in their room, or to explore on their own if they wish.

Can a participant earn college or high school credits for traveling with the "Best of Europe"  trip?

Yes. All of our group travelers have the opportunity to earn up to five college Humanities credits as participants on our"Best of Europe"  tour (these credits most often transfer easily to other accredited colleges and universities). High school students have also been able to earn valuable credits towards their public school graduation requirements, earning college credits at the same time. Let us help you determine if this might be a possible in your situation.

What day-to-day costs should I anticipate while traveling in Europe?

What one spends as one travels is a rather personal thing. However, with all of the things that are already included in our tour package, we have found that over the years, the "average" participant on our"Best of Europe" tours will usually spends between $300 and $600 for souvenirs, postcards and postage, midday meals, photo film, free time activities, etc. while on a 15-21 day trip. We have seen some frugal travelers "get by" spending much less than these estimates. Others wish to spend much more.

What is not included in your tour?

Our "Best of Europe"  tour includes most of the items than are not typically included on other tours. We include such costs as airfare, two high quality meals daily, all activities and "daily options," etc. There are a limited number of things that our tour does not provide. The price does not include individual passport fees or expenses of a personal nature that one may incur while preparing for or during your overseas travel experience, such as free-time activities in which a person might choose to participate. It does not include items of a personal nature such as beverages, lunches, souvenirs, post cards, clothing, etc. While on tour, participants are also responsible for the replacement of their own passport if lost, as well as the cost of replacing any other personal items they may need.

Tour price does not include the tuition for the Chemeketa Community College tour class, which is $262. This fee pays for the cost of tuition (3 college transfer credits). Participants may also register for this tour class with either a credit or audit enrollment. Those participants who live out-of-district or out-of-state and wish to join our tour may travel with us without any additional cost over the regular in-district registration and fees. Monthly class information will be accessible online through internet access for those wishing to participate in our college class as distance learners. Each year we also encourage our travelers to consider participating in an optional long-term coach drivers tip (approximately $4 per week is suggested) for the exceptional performance that our professional driver provides the group. This tip will be gladly refunded at the end of the tour if you are not completely satisfied with our driver's exceptional service.

Who makes your overseas arrangements?

TSA Tours, a fully licensed and bonded travel agency in Tempe, Arizona has been handling our tour details and arrangements since 1991. We have found them to be the very best at meeting all of our specific custom tour needs and ensuring that our overseas travel experience is as seamless and trouble-free as possible. When participants enroll in our"Best of Europe" travel tour, they can be confident that their deposits and payments are escrowed in a protective account once received by TSA, to insure the financial protection of their tour investment. TSA is a professional member of ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents), IATA (International Air Transport Association), ARC (Airline Reporting Corporation ), TIA (Travel Industry of America), and USTOA (United States Tour Operators Association). They hold a $1,000,000 professional liability insurance bond as well as well as insurance that covers each member of our tour group.

Who leads your"Best of Europe"  tours while traveling overseas?

Lee Jacobson, the Tour Director of the"Best of Europe"  travel tour has been a full time member of the Art Department faculty at Chemeketa Community College since 1979. During this period of time he has designed and led 17 annual custom"Best of Europe"  travel tours for the college. He also teaches the once-monthly classes that prepare tour participants in advance for their overseas experience.

Our tour also provides a number of small group advisors for the group. These individuals are experienced travelers who assist us in meeting the needs of members of the group while traveling overseas. Continental assistants and couriers will also be available to help the group in each major foreign city. This professional and attentive tour staff insures that each individual in the group has the very best European experience possible. For more information, please visit our Professional Staff page.

What can I expect to see and do on a Chemeketa"Best of Europe"  travel tour?

Our tours will take you to the most remarkable and memorable cities and sites in Europe. The What You Will See page will share with you the very specific activities that make our day-to-day itinerary such a remarkable experience. The Itinerary page will provide you with day-to-day details of all of the items that we will show you.

Can people who live outside of the college district still participate?

Yes.  Each year we have a number of individuals who have heard about our tour from family or friends, or who have discovered our website, and wish to join us for this remarkable tour. With the convenience of our internet class web site, even those individuals who live a great distance from our location in Salem, Oregon, may enroll, joining us from virtually anywhere in the world. They can then meet us for our actual tour journey from any major airport en route. Tour participants who find that they are unable to attend a particular class session, are able to conveniently access most of the information they may have missed in a particular once-monthly meeting on our special tour-class website. For those without web access we can provide this information by mail.

How do travelers from previous year's groups feel about their experience on our"Best of Europe"  tours?

Because of the high quality annual overseas experience that our tour provides, our best advertisement consistently comes in the form of the personal testimonials that are shared with others by our satisfied participants.  To read some of these positive comments visit our Past Travelers' Comments page. Here you will find just a few typical examples of the many positive comments we receive each year on the tour evaluation forms we send out to our participants at the conclusion of each tour. Each of these comments is written in its exact form, as received from members of our travel group. 

Can smokers travel on your"Best of Europe"  tour?

Yes, smokers may participate. Although this is a non-smoking tour, our frequent stops allow ample opportunities for smoking participants to smoke when outside of the coach. Smoking is not allowed in hotel rooms or at group meals.

How does a person sign up to join your"Best of Europe"  travel tour?

Go to the How to sign up page for trip details and for easy step-by-step instructions on how to become a part of this special travel opportunity.

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© 2000 Chemeketa Community College
Website coordinator: Lee Jacobson
Last updated: January 8, 2008