Gateway to the World (BUNAC)

Member Name: sagregson

Product:	BUNAC
Date:	20/03/02 (262 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Organise eveything

Disadvantages: None

I first use the BUNAC Summer camp service in the summer of 2000 when i went to work at Camp Walden, near Cheboygan in Michigan. The organisation is a great way for Students and young people to travel to america, gain valuable work experience and get a chance to travel the States. The organisation basically organised everything for you including finding you a job. The day we were supposed to travel to the states in the summer of 2000 the Air Traffic Control system in the south of England went pear shaped. We were stranded in Heathrow, sat on the tarmac for a few hours while we waited for our turn to take off. This however failed to materialise and we had to go back to the airport. BUNAC were great they could not get us on a flight so British airways paid for our stay in hotel that night and we went to the airport the next day to wait on standby. BUNAC then tried for 5 days to get all 30 of us on a flight without any luck. They then decided that they could not afford to keep us at the hotel for any more nights, which was fair enough as the cost to them far outweighed the membership fees we had paid, but they managed to get us on KLM flight to the US via Amersterdam and re-arrange a bus to the camp when we got there. They keep us well informed about what was happening and treated us well.

I later learned from another BUNAC member who was a returner had had to arrange his own flight that there were two sides to the coin. BUNAC did not put them in a hotel and told them they would have to queue with the thousands of people trying to get on flights the following day and the fees they paid were far greater. They had to arrange their own transport to camp when they got there and were very disappointed with BUNAC.

I am planning to travel to the US with BUNAC this year(2002) and hope that lightning doesn't strike twice. BUNAC are a good organisation, especially for first timers and i would recommend them to anyone.

Summary: