Budget Travel Reviews 

I am due to travel on Friday from Shannon To Tenerife but cannot contact Budget, having made many calls. I need to confirm that a transfer is included as it is not shown on the holiday voucher. We arrive at 12:35am & there are no busses until the following morning as the local bus trips finish at 11.15pm & the hotel is 88.5km. This is disappointing as we have travelled with Budget many times & found them good. Ella did get back to me & informed me that the transfer to the hotel is €435. There was a shared shuttle bus service available on your site but she told me that this was full. I can't believe that you would arrange & sell holidays to people & not have sufficient places on the shuttle to transfer them to the hotel. To say that I am disappointed is mild, dissatisfied is closer & we don't even leave until next weekend.

I made a mistake on my booking (completely my fault) and immediately tried to contact them to rectify my mistake so that they did not process to the booking and I could change my hotel. It is impossible to contact them by phone (unless you want the sales department) or get a response to an email. I called to their shop also and was told they cannot assist me. Its frustrating not to be able to rectify a mistake which they will now probably charge me a fee to do as per their website.

Clear and precise information with no dressing up

We booked out hotel in Dec 23 to fly may 24, I found out online that the hotel we were to stay at was not open during our stay in late March, it took a ridiculous number of days to get through to someone on the phone. When we did get through we were told it would be rectified and we'd get something similar. We had booked an apartment as we were to travel with a 3 and 5 year old and didn't fancy sitting in their bedroom watching them sleep from 7pm to 7 am, we'd prefer to sit in the next room chatting, watching t.v and maybe sit on a balcony off the living room and have a glass of wine. Every alternative offer had poorer reviews or was a single room or wasn't even in the same area as where we had booked, was self catering etc, I am not going on hols to cook and wash up. We'd booked months in advance and paid so knew all meals and activities were paid for. Prices now with 2 weeks to go are bananas. Customer service has been appalling. And I cant believe hotel dorada wouldn't inform them they weren't closed. Surely they won't work with them anymore after that.....

Booked a holiday on line with budget travel paid half the deposit received a call back the following day only to say the holiday I had booked had price increase due to the flights goin up.. If I wanted to keep the flights that I had booked for my family I would have to pay the increase which was quite significant to what budget had advertised . Just for anyone else booking through budget travel when you book online the price that you pay and when you agree ,to terms and conditions may not be what you book due to you are only placing an order (even though you receive a confirmation of booking)so it’s not a contract I was told and if the carrier they use wish to increase the price of the flights it’s out their hands apparently…please wait before telling your family you’ve a booked a holiday it’s only placing an order and it’s not confirmed…

Just back from a fabulous holiday organised by Andrew in the Abbey Street office. Hotels in ideal locations making it very easy to get around. Plenty of knowledge in relation to visas, transfers, resort fees etc. so no hidden extras. If you are travelling to USA he is the man to see.

Very easy to use. Booked our holiday in mins

We booked hotel accommodation and flights with Budget travel online thinking it would be convenient to do both at the same time.We booked just about one month (25th February 2024) before we planned to travel on 28th March for a 6 night holiday to Malta. We paid in full and received confirmation of hotel booking and flights on 27th February. After a week - early in March - it became apparent that we would have to change plans because of an unexpected situation. We tried to phone Budget travel many times over a couple of days but got no reply. It was then that we decided to go to their office in Dublin. The agent we spoke with could do nothing for us because we booked online and could not change our travel plans - the office only dealt with those who booked in person directly through their office. He, however, left a note with the relevant person to contact us as soon as possible. 5 days later we got an email stating that we could not change travel plans or get any refund because, according to company policy, no changes are accepted within one month of travel. Unfortunately we paid the full amount upfront when we made our intial booking and so were not entitled to any refund. We contacted the airline, Ryanair, to see if we could salvage some money but they told us that since we booked with a third party, Budget travel, they were not in a position to offer any refund. We tried to rearrrange our plans to travel on the 28th but this proved impossible through no fault of our own. We lost €1,600 on accommodation never used, flights never taken and meals never eaten. We are writing this review so that no one else will have to face a similar situation. Budget travel were very happy, and quick, to take our money but never let us know the possible consequences BEFORE we paid.
Our recommendation is that you book directly with the hotel - they have very good refund policies. And Ryanair will be able to deal with you directly if you book your flights with them rather than through a third party. Read Budget travel cancellation policy before you buy anything from them.
PS
Our comments apropos the Budget Travel team's response to our review:
1) The Budget Travel team's response (below) to our recommendation that people book their own hotel and arrange their own flights is rather ironic because it suggests that if you book a package holiday - which we did - then we would be "...protected by the Package Holiday Directives." We checked what the Package Holiday Directives are about and discoverd that a critical element of the Directives is to "safegaurd travelers advance payment." In spite of our efforts to get a refund, nothing is forthcoming. We were not afforded any protection whatsoever by these directives.
2) We did not receive the terms and conditions until AFTER we paid in full and in good faith for the package holiday. This took place just a month before our intended travel date. When I renew my car insurance, or purchase a pension plan the company lets me know their terms and conditions BEFORE I purchase their insurance. This is normal business practice but, apparently, not for Budget Travel.
3) We spent a couple of days tryng many times to contact the Budget Travel office to advise them of our need to change our travel plans but to no avail. Even when we went to their office in Dublin it took another five days before we received an email telling us we could not change dates and a refund was not possible. However, after posting a review of our negative experience with Budget Travel they responded in TWO DAYS. You figure that one out.

booking with budget travel
on line experience excellent

Brilliant service

Still waiting on call for change of itinerary

Customer service was excellent by Roisin

Well haven't had the holiday yet but due to travel in a weeks time and cannot get anyone to call me back about a big issue. I've rang 3 times in a week and basically feel fobbed off each time and no resolution to the issue as I'm told someone will call me back but nobody does! The hotel does not have guaranteed parking which was not mentioned when I booked, led to believe it had. This is crucial for the trip. False advertising and I won't be letting this go. Deborah Stephens

Very helpful and good communication by email and in the shop.Also good package prices, so far so good.

Bad customer service, we had a holiday booked 8th Feb, but we had to cancel as my wife's emergency surgery, in hospital, , fair enough we had no travel insurance, but to keep nearly a 1000 euro is wrong, wd thought you would have the decent to give us a good will gesture but no sign of anything, , considering we lost neatly a 100 euro, , we had same problem Clive Carroll, no resoonse back from lady , on line sales manager, , we think it's wrong,

Site easy to use

I wanna say thank you to Alex Parker for taking me through the booking process and answering my questions- explaining everything. You made the process less stressful.

Shania Dublin,

Thank you so much for your help, really appreciate it. So polite and easy to talk to, and nothing was a bother to you. Thanks again.

Martin & Verna McCormick

Simple and straight forward no hidden extras what you see is what you get