Complaint Review: Globus - Cosmos - Littleton Colorado

Hi! First: If you are going on a tour you know where you are going. You have all the information regarding the hotels you will be staying at. I don't know how you booked this trip but in case you booked it through a travel agency you could have asked questions like "Where are the hotels?" Second: Think about the amount you paid for this trip. Cosmos is a "budget" company. Their trips are not expensive. So a little common sense is at it place. You can't expect first class hotels in the heart of every city for the money you paid. I give you one tip: Next trip please check where your hotel is located through Google Earth or maps. It is not that difficult. And yes: Their Excursions are pricey but think about the hassle you spare if you do it yourself. Transport is included, dinner and the guiding as well. You can go out at your own but that gives you a lot more things to think off and an expensive meal as well. Good luck!

Hi! First: If you are going on a tour you know where you are going. You have all the information regarding the hotels you will be staying at. I don't know how you booked this trip but in case you booked it through a travel agency you could have asked questions like "Where are the hotels?" Second: Think about the amount you paid for this trip. Cosmos is a "budget" company. Their trips are not expensive. So a little common sense is at it place. You can't expect first class hotels in the heart of every city for the money you paid. I give you one tip: Next trip please check where your hotel is located through Google Earth or maps. It is not that difficult. And yes: Their Excursions are pricey but think about the hassle you spare if you do it yourself. Transport is included, dinner and the guiding as well. You can go out at your own but that gives you a lot more things to think off and an expensive meal as well. Good luck!

Hi! First: If you are going on a tour you know where you are going. You have all the information regarding the hotels you will be staying at. I don't know how you booked this trip but in case you booked it through a travel agency you could have asked questions like "Where are the hotels?" Second: Think about the amount you paid for this trip. Cosmos is a "budget" company. Their trips are not expensive. So a little common sense is at it place. You can't expect first class hotels in the heart of every city for the money you paid. I give you one tip: Next trip please check where your hotel is located through Google Earth or maps. It is not that difficult. And yes: Their Excursions are pricey but think about the hassle you spare if you do it yourself. Transport is included, dinner and the guiding as well. You can go out at your own but that gives you a lot more things to think off and an expensive meal as well. Good luck!

Hi! First: If you are going on a tour you know where you are going. You have all the information regarding the hotels you will be staying at. I don't know how you booked this trip but in case you booked it through a travel agency you could have asked questions like "Where are the hotels?" Second: Think about the amount you paid for this trip. Cosmos is a "budget" company. Their trips are not expensive. So a little common sense is at it place. You can't expect first class hotels in the heart of every city for the money you paid. I give you one tip: Next trip please check where your hotel is located through Google Earth or maps. It is not that difficult. And yes: Their Excursions are pricey but think about the hassle you spare if you do it yourself. Transport is included, dinner and the guiding as well. You can go out at your own but that gives you a lot more things to think off and an expensive meal as well. Good luck!

My husband & I have completed TWO Cosmos tours and FIVE Globus tours, starting in 1995 and most recently, 2000....and we are contemplating two more tours this year. Specifically, we have completed: 1995--COSMOS "European Masterpiece" 1997--GLOBUS--Arctic Circle 1998--GLOBUS--"British Isles in Depth" 1998--GLOBUS--"London on Your Own" 2000--GLOBUS--Germany in Depth 2000--GLOBUS--Eastern Central Europe 2000--COSMOS--Germany Oberammergau SO, here's my advice and thoughts: #1--READ THE TRAVEL CATALOGS and talk to your travel agent! This person complained that hotels are not centrally located....but Cosmos is advertised as a "budget" tour company and they TELL YOU THIS in their catalog, remote hotels save money. Note that they *ALWAYS* provide a bus to everything they offer as an optional excursion, and most of the time, local transporation is available. #2--FOOD. I would agree that sometimes the food on COSMOS is "cheap and sparse." If you want better food, go first-class. #3--HOTELS. Globus offers centrally-located 1st class tours. Cosmos offers budget hotels in outlying areas. Overall, this is true, but you need to be flexible--and sometimes you get more/less than you paid for. On our COSMOS budget tour, we ended up with a FIVE-STAR hotel in AMsterdam, but on Globus, we had what I'd call budget because we were there during Octoberfest when hotels were sold out. Globus tours are not always centrally located, despite what they say, but they usually provide bus transportation. #4--OPTIONAL EXCURSIONS. Plan on spending several hundred dollars more to do the optionals, BUT we were never, ever pressured to do anything extra. My husband & I did almost everything extra, but others did only a few. This is the way Globus & Cosmos customize your tour. NOTE: You get more rest if you don't do all the excursions....but you don't see as much. #5--TOUR GUIDES. Our two Cosmos tour guides have been minimal, and all our Globus guides have been excellent. This may be random (I've talked with others who've had great experiences with Cosmos guides), but overall, I think you get better guides with Globus. MY OVERALL ADVICE: Take the tour that most sees what you want to see!! And then, if all things are equal, go 1st class for better food, hotels & probably guides, but go budget to save money. On our "European Masterpiece" budget COSMOS tour, we traveled with truly wealthy folks who were buying Rolex watches in Switzerland--but they wanted to see Greece on their grand tour, so they went budget. They knew it was budget, and they didn't complain, because they had read the travel brochures and understood what to expect. I hope this is helpful !! I did not think the person filing the original rip off report did her homework because she purchased a COSMOS "budget" tour when she obviously expected "first class." I'd recommend BOTH GLobus and COSMOS--just understand the difference!

I have been on many different types of tours with Globus and Cosmos and loved them all. You have to do your homework before spending your money and traveling to another country with tour companies. Cosmos is a cheeper tour company geared toward budget travlers. Globus is at the other end of the scope, offering 1st class hotels, meals, and service. Globus also offers hotels that are better located to attractions where Cosmos has hotels that are on the outer parts of town. My only suggestion it to try and book 8 nights of hotels, air fare, and city tours for less than what you paid. You would pay $500-$1000 more if you decided to do the same tour on your own, in adittion, you would not have the benifit of the tour directors.