Top 10 Reasons to Travel with Your Alumni Association

1.
Affinity

• Travel with other college graduates who have your same interests
• Network and bond with classmates and new alumni
• Make new friends for a lifetime 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.
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 arrange for you to share (see terms for specific tours).

• 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 Alumni Travel has been arranging educational travel since 1977
• Enjoy reliable, quality programs
• Everything is arranged for you and costs 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

• Don’t always know where you will stay in advance
• Traveling alone or with small group 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. More 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

• More fun events included in price. Examples: Biking in Holland, Rhine River Cruise, banquets in Rome, toga party in Greece, overnight desert safari in Dubai, whitewater rafting in Costa Rica, 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
Less Worry

• Well planned itinerary from decades of research. Shows you most important sites and builds in plenty of FREE time
• You get the best of Europe – no guess work
• Informal, action-packed programming

• 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

• Experienced and professional Tour Director for the whole trip plus local expert guides in many cities showing you their city
• Avoid tourist traps
• Guides are multi-lingual

• 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