“In January 2020, I booked flights to go to Sri Lanka in March 2020 through BudgetAir.co.uk. Sadly, due to the pandemic, my trip was cancelled. I refused the voucher I was offered and I'm still waiting to get my money back. After MORE THAN 1 YEAR, their excuse is that they are still waiting for the airline (Qatar Airways) to process the refund. But, THEY ARE LYING because I called the airline and they say that all the refund requests are processed within 20 working days. Well, I’ve been waiting for more than 262 working days and counting…
These people (BudgetAir.co.uk) have no morals or ethics, and when I try to contact them I only get one template email saying that I have to keep waiting. I think it's unreasonable to wait more than 1 year (who knows how much longer it'll be), but I truly believe that they don't want to give me my money back.
Obviously, it was a big mistake booking with BudgetAir.co.uk, instead of doing it directly with the airline. So, I only can advise other people to not make the same mistake.”
“Like others I have had no success with my refund for a trip with AirCanada. Today I got a receipt from AirCanada showing the refund had been paid to BudgetAir on 20th April 2020. How do I call them as can find no phone number? Do I have to resort to court action? This is completely fraudulent.”
“I bought a plane ticket in Feb 2020 for an April flight it was cancelled due to Covid in March I was sent emails regularly from budget air.uk saying they were waiting for the refund from the airline then they would refund me (same story for many people I know)
nearly a year later waiting for my refund I rung up budget air and was told the airline has refused to refund and we can give you a credit, the woman I spoke to was incredibly rude and hung up on me I was never rude just pointed out I’m entitled to a refund, there response was case closed.
I managed to get in contact with the airline Royal air Moroc I emailed them my flight details and they contacted me via email to say they had refunded the amount already.
I managed to phone budget air and pretended I was a lawyer working for my client and court procedures would be issued if I didn’t receive my money within 24 hours I woke up to find an email saying they had refunded the amount and the money to my surprise was in my bank account.”
“Due to covid-19 my flight was cancelled last may despite the flight company emailing me to show refund to the third party budget air are still a year later not refunding the money terrible service have emailed on numerous occasions will not use again”
“What they are doing is called stealing! They have been refunded by the airlines but refuse to give customer back their money. I have had to take legal action. They still have been lying to me about sending refunds that never seem to clear my bank. Yesterday I asked for the bank confirmation of the refund and guess what they didnt send it. So I have now proceed with a warrant to enforce the judgement and get my money back by force.
It has been nearly a year since my flight was cancelled and I still have not received my refund to this date. The airline Air Austral sent me a confirmation that they sent the money to Budgetair since 22 June 2020!
I received an email in September to say that the refund was actioned. 10 days later I told them that I have not received it, they told me it was down to my bank to release payment. The bank investigated this matter for 6 weeks and confirmed that the refund did not reach my account and advised me to ask for proof. Proof was never given and they kept telling me that the refund was done and that was that. After sending several emails chasing for my refund, I decided to open a court case in order to retrieve my money. They did not respond and eventually the case escalated to judgement in January 2021. I suddenly got an email from Budgetair confirming that their automated payment system was not working properly in September and the refund was not actioned! They asked for my bank details and I reminded them that they now had to pay me the court fee and interests on top as per the judgement notice. Two weeks later another representative messaged me to ask for my bank details again🙄 Last monthI received an email from another agent asking me to call them so they can assist me further with the refund. I phoned them just to be told the refund is still in process. I have been hearing this since March 2020 when the flight was cancelled!
I have used Budgetair several times before, but after this nightmare and the amount of time and money I have invested in trying to get my money back, I would rather spend the extra money and book directly from the airline. I WILL NEVER USE THEIR SERVICE AGAIN”
“Changing refund to voucher...
I have been waiting for my refund from BudgetAir since Feb. 2020. I have gotten a template response each time I have contacted them that they are waiting to get the refund from the airline (AirCanada). After waiting a long time, they told me I can only get a travel voucher which I cannot use in my country. I am so disappointed, I have lost a lot of money because of this. They told me to contact the airline, when I contact the airline they tell me to go back to the agent. Frustrating!!!!!”
“Standard story, took 11 months to get my refund. I'm still in disbelief at the quality of their customer service.
The approach that finally worked to get my refund - one morning I sent the same email every five minutes to every email address I could find for companies under the Travix umbrella (Budget Air UK Cheap Tickets NL, Cheap Tickets DE etc.). Each time I changed the email title very slightly e.g. Refund Enquiry 1, Refund Enquiry 2 etc. This approach must have caused havoc to their inboxes because within half an hour (approx 20 emails) I received my official PDF cancellation invoice. And two days later the amount was in my account.
I'm never using this company again in the future.
Good luck!
Tom
P.s they also have an additional customer service number they don't tell you about. First you want an O. Then you want that number two. After that the O again. Next a big old 8. Now another O. For our next number we're a one. What's that a 6! After that numero 2. Then you're after double 3. Lastly a peachy 5. - sorry I've had to put it like that, website being annoying and removing the post otherwise.”
“Booked a flight Newcastle to Aberdeen via London. Had to be in Aberdeen that night. After checking in waiting in departures to board the flight, a delay was announced which meant missing my connection in London. As no other flights were flying from London that day had to get my bags off the flight and rush to the nearest train station. Three trains a bus and two taxis later I arrived in Aberdeen late for my Covid test required to go offshore. I’d paid for a refund project with budget air. So after having my flight delayed missing a connection and being forced to abandon my flights altogether then forking out for a whole new means of travel I was then told I had no claim to a refund. Pathetic company, robbed me blind do not use these crooks”
“After flight was cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions and airlines refunded money to third party agency which is budgetair i still did not get refund from them they ignoring my emails avoid if you want to keep your money”
“Paid for flights in Jan 2020 which were cancelled and still not received a refund. Hundreds of emails sent and just a generic reply. Avoid at all costs. You will simply get nowhere and end up out of pocket. Advise to take banking or legal route for return of monies owed. They are a joke.”
“costumer service is very poor once you buy the ticket with then that's it they will not care for you or answer your email never never buy ticket with this sit even they give u half price”
“People should ban this company. Don't ever book. If you spend 20 pounds extra for a ticket. That would be fine. But don't use this website for booking. I see few reviews are self reviews by them to grab customer. But don't get trapped with them. Honestly speaking.”
“Very bad customer service, I would say fraudulent.
They ask you to pay extra to protect your flight, then airline change the flight offering full refund, but BudgetAir will have to have their cuts of it. Scamming people of £100s everyday.
Their customer service are very unhelpful, very incompetent and they do not know what a regulatory body mean. One of their representative hanged up on me because it was the time to go home. I will never use this website again.”
“If my words is expected, I `m happy to write some illegal and unparlmentary words for this site. They are not accountable and answerable. I suggest not to book tickets, if they get even cheap.”
“Absolute scum. Purchased a flight with "Comprehensive Insurance or Refund Protect" + "Service package - Premium" which says "No extra charges by BudgetAir for changing & cancelling your flight"
I am unable to make my flight now due to COVID and they can't/won't cancel / change my flight. I am fighting with them now to get a refund as this is clearly covered in their refund policybut they are impossible to contact and they do not respond to emails.
Terrible experince and aweful company. Avoid at all costs.”
“I am a Korean. The service in our country is really fast. Nevertheless, I chose it because it was cheap. But it was the biggest mistake of my life. I would advise everyone in the world who has access to this place to see the status of its service to avoid it.
BUDGET Air is a fraud and a company that needs to be eliminated.
I'm amazed that there are customers looking for them. I have tried to contact you 100 times to get a refund of 40 dollars, but there have been 2 replies and everyone says to wait because of the corona.
What a rubbish enterprise.”
“From my experience, Budget Air have been fantastic with my refund because of Covid! Though it was a slow process (flight was due in August and just refunded now in November), I understood that not only would the company have thousands of cancellations to be dealing with but also having to work as an intermediary between the airlines. They emailed me as soon as the flight was cancelled (before I knew otherwise) to say they would be requesting a refund, gave me regular updates saying it was still being processed and, although it was a 'no reply' email, I didn't try chasing and had trusted their process. They dealt with it all for me - I didn't have to call one airline! Given I booked with them because they were a cheap alternative, I didn't expect any of this and thought I would have to do all the legwork. Second time I've booked with them (first time pre-Covid was absolutely fine too) and would use their service again! Thanks!”
