For over 43 years, AESU has been the most trusted name in travel, offered unique, exciting travel programs for college students and young professionals. Each trip is action-packed and informal—designed just for people your own age. Make new friends and share the memories. Join AESU for the excitement and adventure of a lifetime.
Compare |
AESU Trip |
Traveling/Backpacking Alone or on Budget Trip |
1.
Connect
|
- Travel with people your own age who share similar interests
- Network and bond with your peers
- Make new life-long friends and share the memories
- No going it alone
|
- Backpacking is a lot of work
- Can be unsafe
- Lonely and frustrating doing it all yourself
- Hostels and budget tours have mixed age groups
|
2.
Better Accommodations
|
- Superior tourist class hotels
- Only two people per room with guaranteed private bath
- Convenient locations
- No hardships or uncertainties and no hassles
- No single supplement if traveling alone. We attempt to arrange for you to share (see terms.)
|
- Budget tours feature one or two star properties
- No private bathroom
- Budget tours require sleeping bags for bunk beds
- Special stopovers have dorm rooms with six or more people
- If hostel full – no place to sleep
- Cabins and camping areas are located outside the cities
|
3.
Best Value
|
- AESU World Travel has been arranging exciting travel programs since 1977
- Enjoy reliable, quality programs
- Everything is arranged for you and costs one at least 40% less than Eurail/hostel “Do-it-yourself” packages
- Hotels, meals, guides, transportation and fun events are all included
|
- Many hostels full in summer and you can’t pre book
- Campsites and hostels are not always safe
- You spend more as an individual. No group discount
|
4.
Security
|
- US and European offices in daily contact with group
- Qualified staff of experts means trouble-free travel
- Tour Director with group for duration of program
- Hotels specifically chosen for safety, location and quality
- Talk with past participants about program
- We protect your trip investment with $5 million in liability insurance
|
- Don’t always know where you will stay in advance
- Traveling alone can be unsafe
- Share room with complete strangers
- Inability to pre-book at many European hostels
|
5.
Transportation
|
- Modern deluxe air conditioned coach with professional driver
- Door-to-door service
- English Channel crossing by ship
- Overnight ship from Italy to Greece
|
- Easily get lost traveling on own
- Sleeping in small cabins with six people.
- Foreign language issues trying to get directions.
|
6.
Luggage
|
- Save your back—and your luggage
- Your luggage goes with you on the bus
|
- You have to lug around a heavy backpack while trying to find a hotel/hostel
- No private bathroom
- Hope hotel/hostel has safe place for your luggage while you go sightseeing
|
7.
Meals
|
- Eat Better
- Breakfast Daily
- More included multi-course dinners than other operators. Fresh local cuisine
- Special meals like French Bistro Dinner, Roman Banquet and Greek Beach BBQ
|
- Waste a lot of time finding restaurants and don’t know if any good or how to budget
- Budget tours – less meals and you help cook at campsite
|
8.
Included Highlights
|
- Get more for your money
- More fun events included in price
- Biking in Holland, Rhine River Cruise, banquets in Rome, toga party in Greece and so much more
- Flexible, informal programming allows for free time to do your own thing
|
- You pay extra for everything: meals, sightseeing, entrance fees, special events and excursions
- Must research and budget for any special excursion
|
9.
More Fun
|
- Your guide to fun
- Native European Tour Director for the whole trip showing you their Europe
- Avoid tourist traps
- Guides are multi-lingual
- Local expert guides in major cities show you the sights
|
- Waste precious time just getting from place to place
- Can’t relax when trying to organize everything and make yourself understood
|
10.
Private Tour Directors
|
- Your guide to fun
- Native European Tour Director for the whole trip showing you their Europe
- Avoid tourist traps
- Guides are multi-lingual
- Local expert guides in major cities show you the sights
|
- Worry about different languages
- Don’t know the best places to go and end up in crowded tourist traps
- Other companies have non-European guides
|