“Without doubt the worst customer service I have ever received.
I booked a flight to Vancouver via TravelUp for November 2020, which was easy enough and I received the 'booking reference' and 'e-ticket' upon payment. This is about as far as the 'easy enough' trend ends.
The day before the flight, I attempted to check in online only to find that the 'booking reference' didn't exist on the TravelUp website or the Carriers website (First red flag). Naturally, I tried (multiple times) to call TravelUp to see what was going on, only to find that their '24 hr emergency helpline' wouldn't connect and obviously doesn't exist either (Second red flag).
After failing to connect with TravelUp via any 'helpline' or webform, I resorted to calling the airline directly to see if they could help.
The airline customer service agent informed me that the booking reference I was providing had previously existed but been cancelled BY TRAVELUP and replaced with a different reference number, which had then also been cancelled BY TRAVELUP (Third red flag).
None of these changes or cancellations were communicated to me by TravelUp, meaning that without being able to contact them, I was due to fly the next day, with a ticket that didn't exist. Therefore I had to purchase a new ticket directly via the airline, which cost and extra £90 than the original booking had.
The next morning, enroute to the airport, I called TravelUp's customer service helpline. After multiple attempts, I finally got through and spoke to an incredibly useless agent named Leo, who claimed to see nothing wrong with my booking and refused to hand me over to a manager or to investigate further for me, telling me to e-mail their complaints department and expect a slight delay in response as they were very busy dealing with complaints. (SHOCK). (Fourth red flag).
(December 1st 2020, upon landing in Canada): Already annoyed with their poor service, I e-mailed multiple TravelUp e-mail addresses explaining the situation and kindly requested a refund, as the problem I was facing was completely due to a mistaken cancellation from within TravelUp.
(December 21st 2020, no response from initial email):
(Fifth red flag) I forwarded the initial e-mail and added screenshots of proof of booking and reference and the cancellation that I didn't ask for provided by the airline.
(17th June 2021, first response from TravelUp):
Reply from Rhys Turner in the complaints department, asking that I provide a different reference number as the one I quoted wouldn't work for him - DUH, that was the whole issue at hand!! (The red flag just continue...)
Keeping it more simple, since then I have had incredibly slow, on and off correspondence with Rhys who has continually changed the narrative, initially contradicting Leo by admitting he could find no such booking under the reference number and moving on to claim to be waiting for a response from the airline in regards to a refund. Which is clearly irrelevant as the booking was cancelled by TravelUp, leaving the airline no longer connected to the issue. He also claimed that TravelUp don't do refunds etc for cancelled flights, luckily I'm positive the flight wasn't cancelled as I flew on the exact same one with my new ticket!
3+ months down the line since TravelUp's initial response, I have now been offered flight vouchers valid for 12 months after the initial flight date (LOL that's less than 2 months left to use them) or a cash refund, deducting booking fee's and a £50 admin fee to cover their staff who are working from home (What?).
Ofcourse, neither of these options appeal to me as I have no desire to use this company to travel ever again. As well as the fee's connected to the cash refund being absolutely outrageous given that the problem exists BY NO FAULT OF MY OWN and COMPLETELY BY MISTAKE WITHIN TRAVELUP.
Needless to say I, or anybody I know will never be using Travelup's services again as they are clearly just money-grabbing thieves with no regards for customer care after payment.
Despicable.”
“6 months for a refund with lots and lots of chasing them. Their customer attitude is rude and couldn't give a hoot. £50 admin fee is over the top. My refund was £200 less than it should've been and to top it off i only found out my flight was cancelled a few days before flying and that was because i checked on my flights, never heard a thing from them or the airline. WILL NEVER BOOK WITH THESE PEOPLE AGAIN”
“Poor service, no respect. Booked my flight for hubby. At tht time been told one free change. Now when we asked to change the return date, they asking for nearly 130 Gbp to change the date as taxes n fees without explaining what's tht for. Where is my free change when I'm paying 130 Gbp Extra. Very rude, arrogant, disrespectfull. No help at all, gutted. Don't b fool, money grabbers. Think money grows on tree. Keep you on hold, can't speak proper English ( don't knw where is the call centre based, if you try to say something will try to shut u up or hang up on you. Very un professional.”
“Do not use this company.
NO notification from them that my flight was cancelled and was given a booking on a totally unsuitable flight on a 3rd rate airline.
When applied for a refund, was told I would be charged £50 for them to refund the money they’ve had for months. Presumably generating interest in a bank.
Telephone operator hung up on me when I mentioned “refund”.
Many people have said the same in reviews, so it’s reasonable to assume this is their common working practice.
Will wait and go through their refund procedure, but the moment they step outside of their own refund time parameters, I will make a bank charge back. This hurts their profile quite badly, and I’ve used it on a number of occasions with a number of sham companies, very successfully. They may be a big company, but the banks are bigger and more powerful. 😁
To sum up, Fcuk you Travelup, your a bunch of li*rs and th*eves.”
“SCAM, SCAM, SCAM, They ruined my vacation don't ever book with them even if they are the cheapest offer online as you will find your booking cancelled after you arrange everything but 2 or 3 days before your vacation booking date. I booked through their website in Canada as I found their offer is the best online. We are happy that we are going to spend good time in Hurghada, Egypt. I booked July5th and paid the requested deposit and the mentioned they would withdraw the remaining on Aug10th and will issue confirmation number and Hotel vouchers. In the hotel offer policy that the offer is only for Canadians and Americans, I booked as we are Canadians. August 14 just a week before our vacation they sent us that we cancelled your booking, WTF we already in the flight. I sent them email they said because you guys are Egyptians. I told them we are Canadian who told you that we are Egyptians, there should be a mistake here and you cancelled our booking before asking us to send you our Canadian passport copy. They said sorry this misunderstand from our side happened and we will refund you. I sent them email that I will send a complain to the ministry of tourism in Canada, USA and Egypt. I called the customer service to escalate the issue as this is from their side not mine and they should solve it and rebook. They said we are sorry that happen a lot, I book with Expedia, Booking, Agoda and never had such a situation. I called the resort and the sales manager mentioned that they have a big issue even in their room booking that room capacities are different than the actual Hotel policy so you will be screwed once arrive the hotels. I will sue them. The sales manager of the hotel understood the situation and was very helpful and rebook for me but sure more expensive.”
“They over charged me $175.00 for a 2 night stay at a resort. The resort stated I should not have paid the rate Travelup charged me. Be aware!!! Not the best rate. They are not helpful. They refused to refund me.”
“I contacted Travel up today and spoke with Brian Adams he was the most Professional and helpful and efficient advisor I've spoken to yet I can't praise him enough, to resolve my issue without hassle. I've had bad experience with travel up team in the past, due to this I was dreading to make the phone call but Brian Adams put my mind at rest the minute he spoke with me and sorted my problem ASAP without any further hassle. Travel up need to employ more member of team like Brian Adams from sales department!!!! Thank you again Brian Adams!!”
“I find this travel agents prices are very good and they answer relatively fast. I dealt with James Anderson when my plans changed and had to change my booking and he was very helpful and respectful and got the job done very quickly and efficiently! Apart from getting the job done, he’s a nice person and made my stressful situation more calm. Thank you James and thank you TravelUp”
“One star is too generous. This is the worst customer service.still waiting (over 6 month ) for a refund of cancelled flight… the customer service agents in the call centre incompetent and unhelpful… they keep hanging up the phone… this is one company to avoid.”
“Hello I want to share my experince with the people who makes reservation with kind of really bad company like travel up I am travel agency and I made a reservation for my guest then they relocate my guest to trash hotel then they told me I can ask for the refund but I told the customer service agent about different hotels he said the only one they can offer it calls Roma Host Way Hotel & Aqua Park but the guest should stay at golden 5 resort when I compare both of them the relocation one is trash then I asked to talk to a supervisor the agent hang up on me the call was 11:10 PM london time please people do not make any booking with the worse company like travel up and I will put this review on each traveling website”
“This has been the worst experience with any travel website. I eventually booked 4 hotel rooms through TravelUp after calling two separate agents to confirm that cancellations due to COVID were fully refundable. After COVID restrictions came into play affecting our trip, I requested my options from TravelUp (i. E. full refund or credit vouchers etc). Instead of providing me options, they cancelled the reservations and kept over $100 in "cancellation fees", despite telling me multiple times that these won't be applied to COVID cancellations.
I have been emailing and calling for over three weeks and I receive extremely rude and unhelpful staff who give me the same generic response that "someone will call you in 2 hours with an update". After 3 weeks of emails and calls, I have never once received a single reply with an update.
Do not trust the website or the staff taking the calls. Never been spoken to so rudely.”
“Please avoid. Price are good while booking, but on the next day they will call you that due to their system fault a price should be a lot more. When you want to cancel they will charge you”
“Although the flight was cancelled by the airline, these guys helped themselves to a £50 admin fee that they don't mention when you ask for a refund online. This is deducted from the refunded amount. Just avoid using them. Scam”
“Avoid this company I'm awaiting a refund on an illegal admin fee charged just go directly to the airline even if slightly more I'm livid they have ignored my emails as well but I won't be giving up”
“WE have been waiting over a year for a refund that you said would be paid July 2020.
Whatever you do dont book a flight with them because they are out and out liars. They refuse to answer emails, cut you off in the middle of a phone call as soon as you mention "refund". They shoulkd not be allowed to con new customers when they have thousands waiting for refunds.
Dont use them !!!”
