program coordinator

group leader

call center representative

book manager

administrative associate

Road Scholar Educational Travel

Overall, my experience working here has been a mixed bag. Unfortunately, I have found that management leaves much to be desired. There is a significant amount of micromanaging, which can feel stifling and counterproductive. Additionally, there seems to be a noticeable presence of favoritism, which can be demoralizing for those not in the inner circle.

One positive aspect of my time here is the opportunity to learn and grow professionally. Despite the challenges, I have developed valuable skills in time management, problem-solving, and customer service. However, these learnings often feel overshadowed by the management issues present within the company.

The workplace culture is somewhat strained due to the aforementioned management issues. There is a palpable sense of tension and frustration among staff members, which can make for a less-than-ideal working environment. Additionally, the workload can be overwhelming, with back-to-back calls and a shortage of staff exacerbating the stress.

Speaking of workload, the hardest part of the job for me is undoubtedly dealing with the sheer volume of calls. It's not uncommon to have over 200 calls waiting at any given time, and with minimal staffing, it can feel impossible to keep up. This constant pressure to perform can take a toll on morale and job satisfaction.

Despite these challenges, there are moments of enjoyment to be found in the job. Interacting with pleasant customers and successfully resolving their issues can be incredibly rewarding. However, these moments are often overshadowed by the frequent encounters with rude and irate callers.

In summary, my experience at this job has been a mixed one. While I have had the opportunity to learn and grow, the poor management, stressful workload, and challenging workplace culture have made it a less-than-ideal environment.

I was in a call-center role at Road Scholar for a little over a year. While we were not entirely scripted in our dialogue like many other call centers, it was still a stressful and underpaid position. We do not make commissions at Road Scholar. There are some incentives for agents, but the goals are difficult to attain without sacrificing quality. 

There is an arbitrarily-picked call-length limit of 12-16 minutes on air calls. Airfare booking can be very complex, and 25 minutes is a more reasonable expectation for a call from start to finish. In order to gain a measly $200 incentive, you must not only meet that 12-16 minute mark average for the entire month, in addition to other relatively east to attain goals. 

They paradoxically request quality and attention to detail on every single call, while simultaneously requesting this absurdly low call length. The steps required on every single call total about 7 minutes or so, which is already half of the call. You then must book their airfare from their home airport (some as obscure as, say, Fayetteville AK) to airports around the world, some of them regional airports. 

Like many call-center employees, you are tied to the phones. They have started requesting that people use the bathroom less frequently, as well. At least you are granted an hour-long lunch. 

You may advance in the call center to become a "level 2" advisor which comes with a measly $2k/year or so pay raise, with the additional responsibility that you must be on call for 24 hours at a time a few weekends per month. 24 Hours. That means that somebody could call you at 3:00 am, and you have to service them until their issue is resolved. Many of the customers will call that number for mundane questions like "should I bring a bathing suit?" and they will call at ridiculous hours of the night or day.

Road Scholar is a great organization for those passionate about educational travel. The company offers well-structured programs that allow participants to explore new cultures while learning from knowledgeable experts. The work environment is collaborative, and the mission-driven nature of the company makes it rewarding to contribute to meaningful travel experiences. Flexibility in remote roles is a plus, though workload can fluctuate depending on the season. Communication between departments could be improved at times, but overall, leadership is supportive, and there are opportunities for professional growth. Road Scholar is a good fit for individuals who enjoy working with travelers and coordinating enriching experiences. Compensation and benefits are fair, though there is room for improvement in career advancement opportunities. Overall, it’s a solid organization for those who appreciate lifelong learning and travel."


If you want to work 2-3 extra hours per day with just a thank you email, this is the place. Overtime is “required” and any pushback because you have a life is frowned upon. Don’t try to change departments or advance yourself, They will find ways to sabotage you, despite asking for help. 

Management is incompetent at best. One manager can’t read or explain company policies. 

If you’re a yes person or a bootlicker you will definitely flourish here.  

You’ll basically be called incompetent all day by retired people looking to spend absurd amounts of money on “educational travel” and be expected to just take an insane level of abuse. Especially by people who want to argue about vaccines. 

The money seems good and they talk a good game about caring, but when push comes to shove they are still a business who does not care in the end. 



Road Scholar is an amazing organization that provides high quality educational group tours.  Because it started as "Elder Hostel", its clientele skews older even though minimum age requirements (your used to have to be at least 50) have been eliminated now.  

I had some amazing, life changing experiences working for Road Scholar.  Sadly, my trust and confidence in the local management declined in my last year there when the office atmosphere became toxic ... they lost several of their highest rated and longest tenured Group Leaders during that period.  

Bottom line... great organization overall, but local leadership will ultimately determine the quality of your working experience.    

The management is awful. I have seen many people wrongfully terminated. The supervisors are a bunch of concided individuals that think they made it in life because they were 'promoted'. The upper management targets employees to become supervisors that can't get a job elsewhere and that they know will follow all their pathetic schemes. You are constantly watched and harassed. One manager wanted to give me "individual training" and told me "I don't know what people say about me, but I'm a good guy". I refused because it was creepy and was terminated a short time later for "'not making my stats". You are told not to use the bathroom and are watched like a child. It was an awful place to work.

Overall the organization has a great mission, a great product, and did it's best to keep employees initially at the beginning of Covid. Unfortunately most employees were let go and if you were not a favorite or perceived as someone who challenges their manager, you were cut. Experience never came into play, just the politics from the more recent hires into the executive positions.
Co-workers at the same level were great, and those who reported to me were also wonderful people.

Booking flights through Amadeus can be tricky, you basically have to learn a new language. They don't give that much time to adjust to phones all day between training and fully on phones. Some leads micromanage and others constantly cancel or reschedule 1x1 meetings that are suppose to help. They don't go by policy on a lot of things, one being if disciplinary action is taken, they skip steps.

A typical day would be to oversee the processing invoices received for Administrative vendors. Handling of vendor questions which would include group leaders overseeing program tours.

I learned to work with various foreign currencies, cultures of other countries

I worked well with all management, they would be responsible for approval of invoices and handling of their budgets

Had a good relationship with co-workers

The hardest part were emails in foreign languages, some were tough to have translated

Love working for Elderhostel, interesting, offers a great service, offers opportunities to employees to go on programs, very customer service oriented.  I would and have recommended this as a place to work to friends.  My department recognizes effort and awards it with incentives for the advisors - I don't get to participate as I am not organizing someone's travel.  Very flexible with employee needs.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Program coordinator 16 salaries reported	$22.54 per hour
Group leader 15 salaries reported	$19.20 per hour
Call center representative 1 salary reported	$19.00 per hour
Book manager 2 salaries reported	$22.00 per hour
Administrative associate 3 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour

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