Road Scholar

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

Contacts & Login

• Official website: https://www.roadscholar.org/
• Customer service, Mon-Fri 9:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m. ET (company Contact Us page): (800) 454-5768
• General questions (Contact Us page): [email protected]
• Enroll by phone (Terms and Conditions): (877) 426-8056
• From outside the U.S. and Canada (Contact Us page): 1-978-323-4141
• Scholarships and Caregiver Grants: [email protected]
• Trip Protection Plan: how to buy, FAQs, coverage: https://www.roadscholar.org/about/protection-plan/
• File a Trip Protection Plan claim (Aon Travel Claim, linked from Road Scholar): https://www.aontravelclaim.com/
• My Account sign-in (Trip To-Do List, enrollment details): https://www.roadscholar.org/login/

Locations

Road Scholar cancellation, refunds, trip protection and complaint routes (checked October 5, 2026)

Road Scholar's own pages, opened on October 5, 2026, set out the routes below. The legal name in its Terms is Elderhostel, Inc., d/b/a Road Scholar.

Cancelling or transferring an enrollment. The Terms and Conditions (effective January 1, 2026) say: "Road Scholar requires deposits for all its programs, and charges fees if you transfer or cancel your enrollment. Deposits and fees vary between programs." They tell enrollees to refer to the "Deposit, Transfer & Cancellation Policy on program webpages for specific deposit amounts, and transfer and cancellation fee schedules," and add that "enrollments are on a per person basis and substitutions are not permitted." The schedule is therefore set per program. Two program pages opened on October 5, 2026 showed these tiers (the page text is quoted as displayed):

• "Active Yellowstone: Adventure in the Great Outdoors" (program 25252RJ): less than 30 days before the start date, transfer fee and cancel fee are each "100% of trip total"; "59 to 30 days prior", each "50% of trip total"; "up to 60 days prior", transfer fee $0.00 and cancel fee $100.00; the page also shows "Deposit at Enrollment: 100" and "Final payment due: 60 days before departure date".
• "Italy at a Slower Pace: The Best of Rome & Florence" (program page 24818): less than 30 days before the start date, 100% of trip total; "74 to 30 days prior", 50% of trip total; "up to 75 Days Prior to Program Start Date", transfer fee $0.00 and cancel fee $250.00; the page also shows "Deposit at Enrollment: 250" and "Final payment due: 75 days before departure date".

Other programs may differ, so check the policy shown on the page of the program you booked and in your enrollment confirmation. The program pages also have a "Cancel/Transfer Policy" link. The general Contact Us page lists (800) 454-5768 (Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET), [email protected], and mail to PO Box 56033, Boston, MA 02205-6033; that page does not itself say which of these counts as notice of cancellation, so confirm the required method with Road Scholar. For anyone with the optional Trip Protection Plan, its FAQ says: "If you must cancel your enrollment, you must call Road Scholar immediately at (877) 426-8056 to notify us of your cancellation." The Terms add that online programs carry their own rule: "Road Scholar cannot and will not provide recordings, content or materials, or provide reimbursement of any kind, for missed portion(s) of your online program, regardless of the reason."

If Road Scholar cancels or changes a program. The Terms say that when Road Scholar must cancel or change dates, "we will notify you as far in advance as possible and will assist you in transferring your enrollment to another program or refunding your full Road Scholar program payment." For transportation you arranged yourself, the Terms say Road Scholar "will give you a credit good for future travel with Road Scholar to help cover the cost of transferring your travel arrangements for use on a replacement program," with a maximum value of $300, and that "documentation of your paid fees is required before issuance of the credit." The Terms also say that for programs in the United States and Canada, airline change or cancellation penalties "up to 100 percent of the ticket price in certain cases" are the traveler's responsibility, and they recommend buying U.S. or Canada airfare 60 days before the program (90 days for international programs).

Optional Trip Protection Plan. Road Scholar sells an optional plan with "Cancel for Any Reason" coverage. Its FAQ (opened October 5, 2026) gives these dates: the plan "can be purchased no later than 15 days prior to the published program start date"; to be eligible for the Cancel for Any Reason Credit Feature, buy the plan "up to and including Final Payment Date, or within 5 days of enrollment, whichever is later"; the Pre-Existing Condition Exclusion waiver requires purchase "within 14 days of enrollment"; and a purchaser not satisfied "may cancel the plan within 10 days of plan purchase by contacting Road Scholar." The Cancel for Any Reason feature gives, per the Terms, "a credit good for future travel with Road Scholar for the full amount of the program cancellation fee", which is a credit and not cash, and the plan page says it is "a non-insurance feature provided by Road Scholar". Insurance claims for covered reasons are filed through the Aon Travel Claim link on the plan page; the plan page says claims require "examination and treatment at the time of cancellation or interruption by a medical professional, as well as documentation." To the FAQ question whether Road Scholar will waive a cancellation fee for someone who did not buy protection, the page answers "No. We must assess cancellation fees to defray registration and administration costs made on your behalf, as well as any non-refundable program expenses we may be obligated to pay on your behalf."

Credit limits, claims and delays under the Trip Protection Plan. The FAQ says the Cancel for Any Reason credit must be used for programs that start "within 15 months of the date of the issue of the credit, but no later than 18 months after the date the program was cancelled," that credits are "non-transferable and non-refundable, and cannot be extended, renewed or redeemed for cash," and that the feature "does not apply to independently-purchased airfare or any other costs incurred by participants." For insurance claims, the FAQ says that after notifying Road Scholar you "must then initiate a claim with Aon Affinity, the plan administrator," whose listed number is (877) 846-8806, and that processing is "Typically 15 days upon receipt of a complete claim where no further information is needed," with longer times possible. For trip delay, it says the delay must be "6 hours or more" due to a covered Travel Hazard, with a benefit limit of "$2,000 ($400 per day)."

Included coverage and other help. The Terms say every participant is covered by the "Road Scholar Assurance Plan", bought by Road Scholar, with 24-hour emergency assistance and emergency medical evacuation insurance (insurance benefits underwritten by Arch Insurance Company; assistance services by LiveTravel Assist); it is separate from the optional plan. For financial help, the Financial Aid page lists onsite scholarships, online scholarships, Caregiver Grants and educator scholarships, and the Terms give [email protected].

If you have a dispute. Outside the company, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office says on its consumer-complaint page: "Are you having a problem with a business? File a complaint with the Attorney General's Office (AGO)," and lists a Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400 (8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday). The FTC's ReportFraud site says it is for reporting "fraud, scams, and bad business practices", and adds "We can't resolve your individual report." The Terms provide that Massachusetts law governs and that claims against Elderhostel, Inc. d/b/a Road Scholar "must be brought in the Federal or State Courts located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts"; the Terms as read contain no arbitration clause.

Company background

Elderhostel, Inc. d/b/a Road Scholar is the legal name its Terms and Conditions give for the organization. The Terms call it "a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organization," the site footer gives its EIN as 04-2632526, and its mailing address is PO Box 56033, Boston, MA 02205-6033. The About page says it has been a not-for-profit "ever since our founding in 1975," and the press page says the organization serves "more than 130,000 lifelong learners annually" and offers "4,900 Learning Adventures" (company figures, not verified here). The programs are packaged learning trips by land and sea, plus online programs. The Terms say Road Scholar "neither owns nor operates" the transportation, excursion and lodging suppliers it books, calls them "independent contractors", and says it is "not responsible for any negligent or willful act or failure to act of any Supplier."

The same Terms list seller-of-travel registrations as printed: "state of Washington Seller of Travel Reg. No. 602244658. CST #2068427-40. Florida Seller of Travel Reg. No. ST35594." This page has not independently checked those registrations with the state agencies.

Name history. Older posts and filings use the name Elderhostel. A 2009 federal docket (Explorica, Inc. v. Elderhostel, Inc. d/b/a Exploritas) shows Elderhostel, Inc. then using the d/b/a Exploritas; the current Terms and footer use Road Scholar and still show "Elderhostel" as the copyright holder.

Financial filing, as displayed by ProPublica. ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer page for "Elderhostel Inc Dba Road Scholar" (Boston, MA; tax exemption issued April 1978), opened on October 5, 2026, shows for the fiscal year ending June 2025, extracted from Form 990: revenue $445,959,787, expenses $401,004,482 and net assets $184,053,982, with program services revenue of $419,817,237 (94.1 percent of revenue). These are ProPublica's extracted figures for one year; this site has not audited them.

Recent news. The press-releases page, opened on October 5, 2026, lists releases dated up to September 10, 2026 (for example a women-only Antarctica program and new civil-rights programs). None of the headlines concerns a regulator action, recall or data incident.

Complaint record: USAComplaints.com, Trustpilot and BBB, reported separately

Posts on this site. As of October 5, 2026 USAComplaints.com has no approved posts about Road Scholar or Elderhostel (the archive was searched for both names in the offender field, titles and post text), so this page counts none of its own complaints and shows no complaint themes.

Trustpilot. As displayed on October 5, 2026, Trustpilot shows a claimed profile (claimed December 2022) with 2.0 ("Poor") from 74 reviews, and a notice that the company has no recent history of asking for reviews, so reviews may not be representative. For example, a review dated February 23, 2026 says the reviewer cancelled a Met Opera program booked a year ahead, was not refunded $500 of the deposit, and describes the fee as stated in "the fine print." Road Scholar's published reply of February 24, 2026 says its cancellation and transfer policies are "clearly displayed on our website, thoroughly discussed during enrollment prior to deposit collection, and detailed in your enrollment confirmation materials," that the fees "offset the commitments we've established with our providers," and that the reviewer could have transferred the deposit to a new program or bought the optional protection plan. Both are one side's account; this site has not verified either. Another review on the first page, dated August 21, 2026, from a reviewer who says they took 15 overseas tours, says the issue is not with the programs but with the company's lack of a clear policy (the page truncates the rest of the text); another, dated August 3, 2026, describes a group leader who cancelled. These are individual accounts.

BBB. BBB searches run on October 5, 2026 for "Road Scholar" (nationwide and near Boston, MA) and for "Elderhostel" did not return a business profile for Elderhostel, Inc. or Road Scholar in Boston. The "Road Scholar" results listed other, separate BBB profiles with similar names in other cities and categories, which this page does not cover. BBB states that it does not have every business in its directory, so this is a statement about what the search returned, not about the organization.

Not checked. No ComplaintsBoard page for Road Scholar was found in the search run on that day. CFPB complaint data is not applicable (Road Scholar is a travel provider, not a financial company). The FTC case-database search page did not return a usable filtered result, so no FTC check is claimed.

Court dockets that mention Elderhostel / Road Scholar

The dockets below come from a CourtListener search for "Elderhostel" and for "Road Scholar" Elderhostel run on October 5, 2026; they are listed by what the docket pages show, and the docket entries read do not state the claims in every case. No class action and no case brought by a government agency against Elderhostel, Inc. or Road Scholar was identified in the results.

• Elderhostel, Inc. v. Crystal Cruises, LLC (D. Mass., 1:22-cv-10317): filed by Elderhostel, Inc. on February 25, 2022; the docket lists "28:1332 Diversity-Breach of Contract" as the cause and shows a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal on July 11, 2022.
• Haimark Line, Ltd. (Bankr. D. Colo., 15-22180): Elderhostel Inc dba Road Scholar appears as a party that filed, on January 20, 2016, a motion under 11 U.S.C. 365 to compel rejection of certain executory contracts, followed by a stipulation filed February 11, 2016 asking for an order resolving it. This is a commercial matter in a cruise operator's bankruptcy.
• Explorica, Inc. v. Elderhostel, Inc. d/b/a Exploritas (D. Mass., 1:09-cv-11719) and Elderhostel, Inc. v. Zurich American Insurance Company (D. Mass., 1:10-cv-11463): listed in the search results; their claims were not read.
• Fast v. Coastal Journeys Unlimited, Inc. (D. Or., 6:16-cv-00060): filed January 13, 2016 by Eileen Fast; Elderhostel Inc. was among the defendants. The docket shows an Opinion and Order dated March 16, 2016 granting a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim that Elderhostel Inc. and three other defendants had filed, while the case continued as to another defendant. The docket entries read do not state the claims.
• The search also lists older cases captioned with individuals' names against Elderhostel from 1999 to 2001 (N.D. Cal., D.N.J., D. Or., N.D. Ohio); their claims were not read.

Government and regulator actions: none was identified in the sources checked on October 5, 2026 (CourtListener, ProPublica, the company's press page and legal pages). That is not a statement that none exists.

Is Road Scholar Legitimate?

Elderhostel, Inc. d/b/a Road Scholar identifies itself in its Terms as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, and ProPublica displays IRS data for an organization of that name with tax exemption issued April 1978 and an EIN matching the company's footer (04-2632526). It publishes its cancellation framework, Terms, contact channels and Trip Protection Plan terms on its site, and a public Trustpilot profile (claimed) with replies to some reviews. At the same time, Trustpilot shows 2.0 from 74 reviews as displayed on October 5, 2026, and some reviewers describe cancellation fees and refund communication as unfavorable, which the company answers by pointing to its published schedule and the optional plan. No BBB profile was found in the searches described under the complaint record, and no government action was identified in the sources checked. Whether the fee schedule works for a given traveler depends on the program booked and the date of cancellation, so read the policy on the program page before paying a deposit.

Frequently Asked Questions