TripADeal Reviews 837

Stay well away from this company take heed of the bad reviews. We did Grand Japan and they falsely advertised the fitness levels and do not assess their third party suppliers adequately. I know they have to make a buck but you are thrown to the wolves with these so called tour guides. Dreadful experience very rushed. Japan is not suitable for a bus tour you are better off using bullet trains and avoid this company

This was our 1st Trip A Deal and overall it was much better than expected. We had good flights with Singapore Airlines and were able to pre -select seats. Our guide Jeremy spoke good English and was a wealth of knowledge about the country and its people, and he was always willing to assist and to ensure we had a good trip.
We had a spacious bus with good driver and assistant. Hotels and breakfasts were excellent except for The Hill Club - the food there is not good and there are much better options a short walk away. We were disappointed we didn’t go to The Grand Hotel as listed for high tea - the high tea we had at Jetwing St Andrew’s was disappointing - the location was ordinary and the food wasn’t fresh. We also had a high tea at the Shereton Kosgoda (not included) and it was amazing -fresh and beautifully presented with great attention to detail.
Of the listed hotels we only got one - the rest were similar and very good, but the one we got Heritance Kandalama we absolutely loved. We had a lovely group and saw and experienced so many things. We covered everything on the itinerary and more, despite having a week of rain showers and some very hot days in the 40’s.
You need some cash and it is easy to exchange Australian dollars for Rupees at the airport, or use an ATM in Kandy or larger towns.
We swam in the ocean at Yala, Galle and Kosgoda and in most of the hotel pools which were clean and lovely.
The only negative was trying to contact Trip A Deal with a question prior to the tour and not getting an acknowledgement of your question or a response.
On tour it was the opposite - our leader would willingly assist with any question or request!
Overall great value for money and a wonderful country to visit, and we loved our trip.

Looked at making a booking South America and was sent a quote, then went back and asked for international flights to be deleted, trip a deal flight team internally advised the agent $4,150 to be deducted
4/4 I received a quote
8/4 I went to pay and quote stated expired
quote says subject to price change or missing out.
when I called 9/4 I am now advised they made a mistake and it is now only $2075 off as they made an internal mistake
now they say they will give me $200 to acknowledge their mistake.
Note it was their mistake and they will not honour the price

even their response to trust pilot was dismissive and factually incorrect and a changing story to suit themselves .

My 3rd with Trip a Deal. What a fabulous trip. So many amazing experiences saunas, ice water plunge, Northern lights, husky sled ride, reindeer sled, snow mobiles, sleeping in the glass topped igloos, Santa's village, dancing in the snow fall and the ABBA museum!!. phew so many adventures. The Sami experience was very informative &
moving. The beautiful soul Anna will always hold a place in my heart. Highly recommend. Marcello was a gem, informative, funny and knew how to read the crowd. He loves to share lollies!! Our driver was fantastic. Thanks trip a deal for arranging a special gift in my room for my Birthday. It's those things that make it extra special. Not forgetting Marcello with the candle cup cakes and the Birthday song on the bus. I meet the most entertaing, fabulous people on this trip and we all hope to travel together again. Off to research my next trip.

My trip to Lapland was truly amazing from the get go. Met Christina at the airport and then met Marcello at the hotel, who I must say was polite, funny and knows what he’s talking about. Our driver was very friendly, hotels were centrally located, the food was top class and the cinnamon buns were delicious. Thank you TripaDeal for a fantastic holiday.

This tour was an over the top bucket list trip for me and it delivered ten fold. From being met in Helsinki by Christina and then meeting our tour guide Marcello, I knew it was going to be a great trip. The accommodation, the food, the bus driver and the excursions were excellent. Marcello knows his stuff and is very knowledgeable and very funny. I could not fault this tour at all. A fantastic time had.

I booked a trip to India and Sri-Lanka!
From weather organisation and group harmony!
It was perfect!
A big contrast between India and SriLanka!
Very good price!
Thank you very much!

Fabulous experience. Great group of people. Tour guides were great especially Hi North Vietnam and Bounny in Cambodia. Itinerary was excellent even though long bus trips to new destinations but all well worth it. Vietnam History was hard to comprehend. Cu chi tunnels an experience. The resilience of Vietnamese people is nothing short of admirable. Loved all the places we visited especially the eco resort in Pulong, the walking tour. Great party night across the road would recommend this restaurant. Ninh Binh fabulous rooms and breakfast. Ha long bay cruise a highlight. Saigon and Hanoi were fab, old market place experience. We stayed in great areas. Beautiful lighting at night, very colourful and fun night life. Hà Nội amazing, resort even though 5 ⭐️ was old but still very comfortable and restaurants round the corner - beautiful food. Have a drink at a beach bar, relax around the pool and fabulous Tailors for clothes. My Son amazing - 12th century temple. Ba Na hills very touristy, cable cars and architectural brilliance, golden hands bridge - just WOW!
We loved Cambodia, Siem Reap was relaxed and chilled. Beautiful people. Angkor Wat a must as is walking through the killing fields memorial. Khmer Rouge very cruel, inhumane treatment, atrocities hard to believe, part of Cambodian history that can’t be forgotten. We had an amazing trip, fast paced, but would thoroughly recommend. Trip a Deal was well organised. We have given only 4 stars because we felt the food was too westernised given the group we travelled with and would recommend options for spicy traditional Vietnamese food. Thank-you for a wonderful experience.

My first and last tripadeal trip.
I did not receive the package until 2 weeks before departure. I then had to scramble to get a visa on time.
My flight had me departing from Brisbane to Sydney??? to then take a flight from Sydney to Vietnam.
The return flight was to Melbourne?? and then Brisbane. I live on the Gold Coast, so this was a real inconvenience.
The trip to Halong Bay would be better if it could be on day 3 instead of day 2, especially as the flight does not arrive until late in the evening.
Guides happy to tell us about the tips we have to pay them. They actually come around and collect it from you in the bus. We don't normally tip in Australia, but I am happy to tip where I think it is deserved, but these guides expect it.
There are many extra excursions not listed in the package that Tripadeal send out. So, expect to need a lot more money than what you have budgeted or taken with you.
And finally, I flew back on March 10, just at the tail end of the cyclone that devastated the Gold Coast.
I would have expected any travel company to reach out and offer to adjust my flight so that I could get back home as soon as possible. But of course that was wishful thinking. When I got to Melbourne, I went to the Virgin counter and pleaded with them to send me straight to the Gold Coast and not to Brisbane (trains were not running from Brisbane to the GC).
Big shout out to Virgin who got me home probably a day earlier than my scheduled flights.

Dear TripADeal Customer Service,

I am writing to formally express my deep disappointment with my recent holiday booked through TripADeal. Having previously enjoyed four wonderful trips with your company, I had high expectations. However, this experience was nothing short of a nightmare from start to finish, filled with poor service, misleading information, and an overall lack of value for money.

1. Poor Cruise Experience
Despite being advertised as recently refurbished, the cruise ship was far from what was promised. The entire ship was permeated with a strong sewerage odour, making it an extremely uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. The conditions on board were unacceptable, and the so-called refurbishments did nothing to improve the hygiene or atmosphere.

Additionally, we paid extra to upgrade our meals, expecting better dining options. However, we were served the exact same food every day for five consecutive days. This was not only disappointing but completely unacceptable given the upgrade fees.

2. Misleading Tour Guide & Deceptive Charges
Our guide, Molly, misled us into purchasing an optional tour of an ancient town, costing 280 RMB per person. She specifically assured us that the tour included an exclusive lunch in the middle of a garden. However, what we received was entirely different:

We were taken to a substandard restaurant instead of the promised scenic garden setting and served with pathetic food. Every one of us lodged the protest with her.

Upon arriving at the ancient town, we realized that entry was free and that even those who did not pay for the tour were able to enter.

This was a clear case of misrepresentation and deception, as we were charged for an experience that was freely available to all travellers. Please refund this money otherwise, we are planning to lodge a class action against Tripadeal to recover our money.

Furthermore, Molly’s behaviour regarding mandatory tipping was both aggressive and inappropriate. Despite TripADeal advertising that tipping is discretionary, we were forced to pay a fixed amount of $72 per person. Molly insisted that it had to be exactly $72 and not $70, intimidating passengers and maintaining a list to ensure compliance. Such coercion is unacceptable, and if tipping is, in fact, mandatory, it should be transparently included in the advertised tour cost so customers are fully informed in advance.

3. Wasted Days & Poor Itinerary Planning
Out of our 8-day tour, 2 days were completely wasted due to inefficient planning:

Instead of an unnecessary 7-hour train journey, a short flight to Yi Chung could have been arranged, saving valuable time.

On the final day, we were dropped at the airport at 9 AM, despite our flight being scheduled for 6 PM. This meant that an entire day was wasted when a city tour or another activity could have been included to maximize our experience.

4. Overall Experience & Future Travel with TripADeal
This trip has left us feeling frustrated, misled, and disappointed. While our previous experiences with TripADeal were wonderful, this holiday was the worst we have ever had, and it has made us reconsider ever booking with your company again. The lack of transparency, poor service, and misleading practices have severely damaged our trust.

I strongly urge TripADeal to:

Investigate the deceptive sales tactics used by the tour guide Molly and ensure future travellers are not misled.

Reconsider how tipping is advertised and implemented, ensuring travellers are not forced into additional hidden costs.

Improve itinerary planning to ensure customers receive value for their time and money.

Provide a refund or compensation for the misrepresented ancient town tour.

I expect a prompt response addressing these issues and outlining what steps will be taken to prevent such incidents in the future.

Ashish helped me for the cheapest tickets

Our Tour - 2 for 1 Warriors of China was very well organised, and very busy. Be prepared to do the optional excursions as the accommodation is too far away from the locations. Another point is to be prepared for the hard sell when attending the included activities. If travelling on the bullet train, in your luggage do not carry any aerosols over 150g/ml, and any scissors with longer than 60mm blades as they will removed.

Went to China last week. Hotels and guides were superb. Only hotel breakfasts were included. Gratuity was not optional, just a late payment. There were regular on the spot extras for cable car, head phones etc
Significantly, for the Hangpu Night Cruise (280RMB Option) where trip a deal provided standing room only. We could pay an extra 50RMP on the boat and buy a seat. That was disappointing.

China Tour $888. Great guides-Jolie in Beijing (she had her business card ready with each person's room/future train seat numbers on the back when we arrived from Australia), & Jack in Shanghai was also very organised. Both were funny, professional and willing to go the extra mile if required. The smoking in "non-smoking" hotels was/is completely unacceptable. Had to change rooms multiple times to get a room not filled with smoke. This is something TAD needs to deal with immediately if they want Australian tourists to return to China. Would have liked more time at the Great Wall of China, but overall this was a fabulous tour and excellent value for money.

Booked 8 day "Taste of Tasmania" tour with Trip A Deal. Had to pay in advance before Trip a Deal could even confirm that they had sufficient numbers to complete the tour. Received full details of the tour only 6 weeks prior to the tour, even though I had paid ten months prior to the tour. The first two days were "free days" and the last day 8 was check out day, therefore, the 8 day tour was actually only 5 days. Had to pay for food, apart from breakfast. Places booked to stay were barely 2/3 star apart from Hobart. Food at Eastcoaster Orford was inedible - no manager to discuss this with. Do not stay here. The bus we travelled in was very old, dirty, air con did not work properly. This was my first tour ever, and I will never book a tour with this company again. Expensive and awful. However, the tour guide was awesome and I think even he was embarrassed at the condition of the bus and some of the food and accommodation. There were places I wish we could have visited, and some places we should never have visited. Not a lot of thought on this tour - could have done so much better myself. Has put me off ever visiting Australia again (I have visited different parts of Australia around 15 times - but never again).

For my husband and I, this was our first tour with Trip A Deal on the Grand Tour of Japan from 7th March 2025 for 13 days. Our tour director Rose Diana was excellent. She provided us with lots of information about the places we were visiting each day. Although English is not her mother tongue she did very well in explaining everything to us - sometimes with the help from the members of the group in expressing herself. The 3 star budget accommodations although small they were clean and comfortable. Some places we had bigger rooms
and I guess it all depends on the availability of the hotel you get. Every day Rose would explain to us about the hotels we were going to and what facilities we would have, and she would let all of us know the type of food we could have near the hotels which was very good of her. With 38 of us, Diana was well organised and went out of her way to keep everyone happy and comfortable. Nobody had any issues understanding what she told us. My husband and I definitely recommend this tour. Although there was a lot of travelling most days, we managed to see quite a lot. We would highly recommend our tour director Rose as she is very knowledgeable, funny, helpful and nothing is difficult for her. She is a humble lady and an asset to Trip A Deal! Keep up your good work Rose.

Patricia & Ganasan from Perth.

This was our first experience with Trip a Deal and we will certainly do another one. All our tour guides were amazing Nea in Ho Chi minh, Stella in Hoi Ane and Jade in Hanoi. They were all so friendly and informative and went out of their way to pack as much into our tour that they could. They all guided us through the airports which took alot of stress off the trip. The hotels we stayed in were great. We didn’t need to do the optional tours as we did a couple on our own which they helped us with. The people on our tour were all like minded travellers and everyone was impressed with the quality of the trip from start to finish.

We have had 3 good trips with TripADeal & are looking forward to our forth trip to South Korea on May 8 except that we now have a problem. The flights home on Cathay Pacific are via Hong Kong & Melbourne to Brisbane with originally a 3.5 hour connection in Melb. Thats fine. However Qantas has moved the 9.20am MEL to BNE to 9.15am.
This change has been listed as a flight cancellation & we have now been moved to 14.25 dept. from MEL Which means we have to sit at Melbourne Airport for 8.5 HOURS

This is totally unacceptable & I have just been informed by TripADeal that if the flight is changed back to 9.15 we will have to pay a fee.
I am hoping that common sense will prevail & our flights will be changed.
UPDATE.....To their credit I have now had more contact with TripADeal & our flights to Brisbane have been changed to a far more acceptable time.

My tour was the Grand Tour of Japan.This started on the 7th March 2025. It was 13 days as you lose a day in travel.
The accommodation although budget(3⭐️) was clean, secure and dry. You have to remember in Japan rooms are on the small side and it’s ok because you are in the move a lot occasionally you do get bigger rooms and that depends on the hotel you get ( Availability). Our tour guide Rose Diana was very patient, tolerant and kind. She was very well organised and went above and beyond, doing things for people really outside of the scope of her job. She did this to keep people happy and we had a large group of 38 people. She was very informative and although English is not her mother tongue, nobody had any issues understanding what she told us and what we were doing her English was good. I did a lot of the optional tours thinking I may never be here again so why not! I definitely recommend this tour as it represents great value but! The pace is quick (ie you travel a lot most days but you see a helluva lot) for me it was perfect, as I stayed on after the tour for several days in Tokyo and did my thing. This is a great option which anyone considering a tour like this should look at this option.
Finally our tour guide Rose Diana I would recommend highly, as she is professional and extremely organised. Nothing was too difficult for her, she was engaging with the tour group in the bus, she told us information about where we are and what we are going to see and even made the trip humorous with a joke or 2 as well.
She is a lovely person and trip a deal should feel lucky to have such a great tour guide.
One other thing I’d like to say is if you are travelling with a 2nd person make sure this person goes, as changing the name after the last stage has been done , it will almost cost you the price of the tour. I was disappointed with this as I knew Qantas had purchased trip a deal in 2022.
I argued with the sales at the Qantas counter, and of course he said it’s done by a 3rd party and nothing can be done all they had to do is change the name on the flight and the passport No. As for the tour I could have taken anybody. But! BEWARE!!!

My husband and I just completed the $999, 10 days China deal (commencing 12th March 2025). The first tour guide we were not impressed with- incredibly pushy for the 'optional' tours and pressuring everyone. The sites we visited were amazing however it should be highlighted the 'optional' tours clearly are not that- we ended up stranded in the city having to find our own way back to the hotel. Our second tour guide Angela was an absolute ANGEL! She made sure everyone was safe and happy and didn't push us to do things we didn't want to do. She was kind and curious and it made us WANT to do more of the optional tours because she was so accomodating. She helped us with exchanging money, locating pharmacies or products we needed and overall was very personable. For the prices, we do recommend this tour. It's jam-packed and should be noted it does need a moderate level of fitness as there is LOTS of walking but we got so much in and slept great!