“Was so excited to get a weekend away in Bologna for the surprise Wowcher deal. It then took 6 weeks for them to contact us to book the trip, where we were told Bologna would not be available. We were completely accomodating - saying we would try different dates and different locations, only to be told any changes would cost us £80! Complete scam -where our agreed holiday was not available but any changes would cost us. We've tried emailing weekender breaks and wowcher with no responses and no refund.”
“I booked a mistery Holiday with this travel agency for 178£ for 2 people and I end up paying 950£ and now they refuse to give me the money back.It Is the worst travel agency Ever.Avoid this travel agency Weekender Breaks.”
“Booked a wowcher mystery holiday, when they called up I was told that my promised destination would cost an extra £250 per person! When I emailed them later to cancel I was told no refunds despite not even booking the holiday. Don't use these guys unless you want to be robbed.”
“Booked a mystery weekend break for £89 and the first trip offered was less than the 40 hours in destination.
The person I spoke to couldn’t understand that I had to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight so they really couldn’t include that time as part of the 40!
They tried to offer me an alternative destination and they said they would call back in 30 mins as I needed to call my friend to check, I called them back 2 days later as they hadn’t contacted me to be told by the “agent” that it would be an extra £40 per person because we were flying from a regional airport. This was not stated by the original agent when that destination was offered.
They tried to tell me it’s in the T&Cs, but the T&Cs state there could be a charge of up to £40 per person, it seems like this company just slap the £40 on because they can!
We then tried to go back to the original destination to be told that was full but they could get us on another flight but it would be £40 per person l, the new flights were exactly the same time and same airports as the original!
I have asked for a refund as they are unable to find a trip for me in the date range and without me paying an additional £40 per person, they state that as the Wowcher has been used they can not refund me.
I emailed the company and received a reply stating someone would call me within 24 hours, I’m still waiting for a call almost a week later.
I’ve requested a refund now via my bank.”
“Awful company! Purchased a Mystery holiday with Wowcher last April and was told it was to Spain but then when they rang me they said they couldn't offer Spain any longer but could do somewhere else. This was fine by me so I waited for them to offer an alternative and each alternative they offered they told me it would be a 3 day trip and I would need to pay more money. I declined and said the reason I booked the £99 holiday was as I wanted a cheap holiday so didn't want to pay any extra (as already having to pay extra to fly from a non London airport) They promised to call me back a month later to look at dates for later in the year. Each time they called they could never offer me a suitable holiday as kept expecting me to pay more money to spend longer time which I declined. I expect this was due to flight prices and hotel prices being higher than the amount being covered by the £99 voucher but surely its this company job to source the holidays correctly. And if its not achievable then they shouldn't be offering £99 holidays. After several frustrating phone calls I left it and didn't hear from them in over 6 months, despite them telling me they would contact me. I rang up last week to book as concerned voucher would expire in April and was helped by a kind man who sorted the holiday straight away for us with no issues. Not sure why this wasn't the case last year! The only issue is, I was told this includes hand luggage, however when the information has come over it actually only covers a handbag/rucksack!! I have paid £40 extra to travel from East Mids and £30 extra to have a more central hotel (the one they offered was 45-50 mins out of the centre of the city) So our holiday that was meant to be £99 is now costing £169. And to make matters worse, when I checked the flights with Ryanair it cost £34 each for flights! And hotel is coming up as £44 per night for 2 people. So we have defiantly paid over the odds for this holiday. This holiday has cost them less than the 2 lots of £99 vouchers to book but we have ended up paying £169. I am requesting a refund of the extra funds we have paid!!! I will learn from this and won't be purchasing a wowcher mystery holiday again”
“Total scam- exactly the same holidays can be bought for much less elsewhere online. Do not buy these mystery holidays from Wowcher, they just end up a nightmare dealing with overseas staff that are awful at providing any kind of customer service”
“Groupon voucher bought for 399$ : Expectation : the worst scenario was a smooth flight and 2 days in a clean 3 -4 stars in Downtown in a safe area. what we get is, first, we got contacted by an agent that claimed that we need to pay extra 110$ for travel booked on weekend (those extra fee is not mentioned on Groupon page, neither on company website but a strategy used by sales to squeeze more money out of client) but since promised a convenient safe trip I agreed to pay it . At the airport, we were assigned low class carrier and were forced to pay extra $30 for the seats and $150 for carry on. The big surprise is when we got to the Inn the peach tree, Although it tries to pass itself off as a 3 stars hotel, it's just an old motel in a shady area that has been hastily remodeled. That means the rooms open onto the outside.The noisiest hotel we have ever been to. Broken furniture, TV is just a decoration. on the top of that there is Cockroaches in the room. I was so ashamed of myself to bring my wife here. at the end, for 2 people , We end up spending 399$ for the voucher on Groupon, $110 scammed when agent called, and 360$ paid to Spirit for seat assignements and carry on both ways.That's 469$ more than the planned budget, Plus the whole experience was horrible, Basically, I get a trip to a cheapest place in a 2 star review hotel using low class carrier. I could have planed my trip $600 cheaper than what I paid and got a better experience.”
“Early November 2024 we went to Switzeland and Milan. Weekender Breaks made it possible by planning our vacation. They purchased the airfare tickets, reserved all hotels and purchased all the Rail tickets, Swiss Pass, Bernina express and Milan rails.
The Groupon Price made affordable and we upgraded somethings. We had a wonderful experience in Monreux, good locating hotel. In Interlaken, the hotel was good. Convenient location. In Chur, the hotel was nice but too far to walk, however we took the public transportation ok. The Bernina EXpress was a unique experience. justb what we wanted. Greenwald and the Junkfrouch, top of Europe were all extras but fenomenal. We had out doubts when we purchase this tour, but everything was legit! Thank you to all the agents that answered all our questions. City taxes we had to pay as they explained, not much. Thank you for helping us accomplsh our dream trip! Ill use them again.”
“Misleading and Expensive – Avoid!
I booked a "mystery surprise" holiday with Weekender Breaks for £99, but it turned out to be far from a bargain. The destination they selected was completely unsuitable, so I ended up paying a total of £350 to switch to Morocco.
The real frustration came with the luggage allowance. During the booking, I clearly stated we would be taking cabin cases, but they booked us for a small rucksack as the only free carry-on. For a proper carry-on bag, I was shocked to discover an additional cost of over £40 each way—adding £100 to the trip! Elderly travelers, like us, do not travel with rucksacks, and this should have been booked correctly from the start.
This experience felt like a complete con. What was marketed as an affordable, exciting trip became an unexpectedly expensive and disappointing ordeal. I would strongly recommend avoiding this company unless you're prepared for hidden costs and poor communication.”
“Horrible, useless customer service. They keep trying to call me (even on a Sunday) and the first phone call made me very uncomfortable, so I have now requested to communicate only via email. They sold me a £99 pp voucher for a 'Mystery Trip' then told me I could only redeem it over the phone (I have a disability, ADHD, which makes this type of information processing very hard for me).
They then proceeded to tell me that availability for the dates I chose were very limited, and that I could only have a hotel 8km from the city centre and flights that left Milan at 6am on the last day. OR I could pay £89 extra per person for a hotel near the city. Absolute con!
They refuse to email the information so I can make a proper informed choice, and pressure you to make a decision quickly saying you will lose your money otherwise (the voucher is valid until April 2025).
Horrific - do NOT book.”
“so bought a woucher got called from weekender breaks, man could speak broken english.very hard to understand.
booked for poznan 13th september. hotel was in middle of approx 10 blocks of flats that looked really ruff, asked hotel if it was safe to go out at night they replied that it was not. football match nearby lots of fights afterwards lots of police and sirens, lots of gang fights with screaming shouting and police even a smoke bomb going off, asctually felt scared, hire car got vandelised and wouldnt replace it due to area, stayed in hotel all weekend due to no car left hotel on monday lunchtime and got to airport 5 hours early.
weekender breaks did not care that we were tramatised or upset cost of hire car just didnt care. do not book there about quantity not quality”
“Absolutely ridiculous 😡😡😡
Did not provide me with a holiday but kept my money with no refund
Also no reply from management when asked.. kept pushing for more money and trying to add on extra. Very rude and nasty customers service
Absolutely ridiculous”
“I've booked 2 holidays with these bandits. I had to fork out an extra £170 for the first one. No accommodation on the date I requested so had to agree to go the week before. Thinking it was a one off, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Stupidly went for the mystery trip. Didn't get offered any of the advertised destinations, I got France. I paid an extra £40 for the option of changing to somewhere I actually wanted to go. No emailed documents were received agreeing the destination had been changed. So I've just had a 45 minute phone call with them making sure this was done. Still not convinced it has been. I'll never use them again.”
“Booking via wowcher.
Ended up with Gdansk in Poland which is fine by me.
Flying from Manchester, all is well until on the phone I should upgrade to a 3* hotel, as it’s closer to the city.
Okay?..
Fast forward I’m expected to pay £158 now over the phone. I politely decline, after I attempt to use my AMEX card at least I’m covered.. Sorry sir payment is declined.
I’ve not got a payment window until August to clear my “debt”
No sign of a refund as it’s a “no refund/ cancellation policy”
Checking on Ryan air the flights are going for £18.99 per person each way.. plus the lousy hotel… all in I’m looking at around £358 for 2 nights, out of city in a crappy hotel.
That’s no transfers, no breakfast, no nothing..
Do I think weekend breaks are worth it? Absolutely not.
Some say it may be my own fault for not reading T&Cs, but in all honesty it does state a fee of up to £40pp.. not £156 ..
Also hound you with calls. I work nightshift and woke up to 6 calls, 3 voicemails. Today.”
“Alas! There is no 0 rating. They are a group of scammers trying to lure people into the 99-pound mystery holiday trap. In reality, they do not have any package for 99 pounds.
I had an extremely traumatizing experience with them. Please be alert. Check the reviews before you book.”
“The worst travel company I have ever used!!!!! Please think twice before you decide to purchase Wowcher Mystery Holiday for £99.00p/p.
They will never find you trip for £99.00 and they never find it in dates which works for you! During the booking if you decide they confirm that all seat are included in the ticket and that cabin baggage is included! These are lies! This was the worst experience recently!!!!!!!!! PLEASE DON'T PURCHASE ANY CITY BREAK, HOLIDAYS OR WOWCHER FROM WEEKENDER BREAKS! I am so disappointed.”
“Do not book with this company!
Originally booked to go to Amsterdam. Then was told the dates were no longer available so offered me a new destination with an added cost!! Paid £200 more than I had already paid them.
Found out I’m pregnant and unable to fly for the dates chosen, asked for a name change and they want an extra £250. FOR A NAME CHANGE.
Horrible company.
Be aware!
Rude customer service advisors over the phone. Even ruder over email.”
