Travel With Penn Staters

Penn State Alumni Association has been offering escorted tours for more than 40 years. Traveling with the Alumni Association allows you to venture with like-minded travelers on authentic and meaningful tours accompanied by knowledgeable guides, naturalists and historians. On some tours, a Penn State representative will accompany the group and serve as a host for a private Penn State reception. The Alumni Association purchases insurance for each of our travelers who are on advertised departures. This complimentary insurance covers emergency medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, and limited medical services for all tours as well as political and natural disaster evacuation, when traveling outside the United States. In addition, all travelers receive special Penn State gifts as mementos of their trip. The Alumni Association staff will interact with the tour operators on behalf of our travelers to obtain answers to questions or resolve problems. If you need any assistance please don’t hesitate to call the Alumni Association travel office at 800-548-5466, option 3.

Most tour operators charge a nominal cancellation fee from the time of deposit to cover expenses incurred in processing a new reservation and mailing out preliminary trip information. As the departure date gets closer, the travel company has made more financial commitments to their suppliers (airlines, hotel, ground transportation) and accordingly, cancellation fees become more substantial. Cancellation penalties are structured to coincide with advance payments that our tour operators must make to their suppliers and the penalties are strictly enforced due to these contractual commitments. Because our tour operators have different policies regarding cancellations, we suggest that you discuss cancellation fees with the specific tour operator prior to making your trip deposit. We also strongly encourage purchasing trip cancellation insurance immediately following your deposit to minimize financial risks.

We strongly recommend that you are adequately insured against a last-minute trip cancellation and other travel-related risks. Trip cancellation insurance can insure you against the loss of funds, should an emergency occur that prevents you from traveling. Although travel insurance is not required, you may wish to consider the benefits of being insured. Travel insurance may be purchased from any vendor. For your convenience, we’ve made arrangements through our associate, USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services (TIS), to offer travel insurance in connection with the Alumni Travel program. TIS offers three levels of comprehensive travel insurance including coverage of expenses in conjunction with cancellation due to illness or accident, damaged or lost luggage, as well as “cancellation/interruption for any reason”. To be covered for a pre-existing condition or cancel for any reason through TIS, you must purchase your cancellation insurance within a limited timeframe after your initial deposit.

After registering for a trip, you will receive an email with travel insurance information from the Alumni Association. Please contact TIS directly at 800-937-1387 if you have any questions regarding travel insurance coverage or costs.

You have the option to make travel insurance arrangements with any insurance company of your choice. Or, you may also choose to forego purchasing travel insurance coverage, although doing so in not recommended. Some credit cards companies offer travel insurance coverage when you use the card to purchase your trip. Check with your financial provider for details.

No. The Alumni Travel program welcomes all alumni and friends of Penn State, regardless of their Alumni Association member status.

We suggest making reservations as early as possible after the trip information is available. Most trips have a maximum number of travelers and sell out quickly. It is impossible to predict how quickly a trip will sell out so the longer you wait, the greater the chances are that the trip will be filled by the time you send in your registration.

Most tour rates are based on two people sharing the cost of the hotel room or ship cabin, otherwise known as double occupancy. If you are traveling alone, there is no one else to share in the lodging expense, then, a single traveler must cover this entire cost instead of half. Please note that the single supplement for a cruise is generally much higher than a land trip since a substantial portion of the total trip cost is the ship cabin. There are no other extra fees charged to a single traveler other than the additional lodging cost. The Alumni Association tries to offer several trips a year that are geared toward the solo traveler, and they are noted in the description as “no single supplement.”

While Penn State encourages people with disabilities to participate in its activities and programs, some of our expeditions cannot accommodate people with severe health problems or physical limitations. The Penn State Alumni Association and their tour operators cannot take responsibility for special arrangements or problems incurred by passengers unable to participate in the planned activities. Travelers requiring extraordinary assistance must be accompanied by someone who can and will provide all required assistance. Many countries do not offer the same level of access for persons with disabilities as the U.S. For this reason, we recommend that you call the tour operator or the Alumni Association prior to registering for a trip to inquire about the physical access provided and to obtain information regarding the trip best suited to any physical limitations that you may have.

The number of Penn State travelers on a trip can range from six to 45 people, often we offer land tours that limit participation to under 30 travelers. Some travel programs include groups from other colleges and universities in addition to Penn Staters. The Alumni Association strives to provide a Penn State host and a private Penn State reception when several university groups are traveling together.

Yes. Our tour operators will give you a discount on trips that have air included if you prefer to make your own arrangements to the destination city. If you are not flying with the group, you are normally responsible for arranging your own ground transportation from the airport to the hotel or ship when you arrive in the destination city. Many of our tour operators offer trips both with and without airfare. This gives travelers greater flexibility when making air arrangements. Please refer to the individual trip brochure regarding specific items that are included in each type of travel package.

If you choose to make your own flight arrangements for an alumni tour and not use those provided by the tour operator, we recommend that you not do so until making your final payment to the tour operator confirming details of your trip’s scheduled departure. However, if you choose to make your own flight arrangements, the Penn State Alumni Association is not liable for any loss resulting from tour cancellations or changes to tour dates.