Alternative Airlines: most-reported complaints
Automated analysis of 1,200 public Trustpilot reviews published 2026-04-19 to 2026-09-23. TrustScore 4.9 from 31,967 total reviews — see the Trustpilot page. Quick answer: is Alternative Airlines legit? Issues below reflect what reviewers reported, not findings of wrongdoing.
Reviewers most often report that support is unhelpful, with 23 reports accounting for 37% of the 62 identified complaints. Refunds delayed were the second most common issue, cited in 12 reports or 19% of complaints. Other concerns included booking errors and misleading pricing, which appeared in 11 and 8 reports respectively.
How to reach Alternative Airlines
These are the contact details Alternative Airlines publishes on its Trustpilot profile, as of our last check on 2026-09-23 — it publishes no phone number there, email [email protected], address Gatwick House, Peeks Brook Lane, Horley, Surrey, RH6 9ST, GB.
The company claimed its Trustpilot profile on 2013-10-24, uses Trustpilot’s paid features, and last replied to a negative review on 2026-08-18. Trustpilot ranks it 26 of 204 in Travel Agency. We last checked this profile on 2026-09-23 and found 83 new reviews. These are facts Trustpilot publishes about the profile, as of our last harvest.
Companies House: ALTERNATIVE AIRLINES LIMITED (no. 02885223), active, incorporated 1994 (32.6 years); next accounts due 2027-07-31, last accounts filed 2026-03-28. 3 current officers (15 on record historically); 2 filings in the last 12 months (123 filings on record). official record — public register facts, not an indicator of wrongdoing; officer changes are routine in many company structures. Live Companies House status as of 2026-09-23.
Forum footprint: 10 MoneySavingExpert forum discussions mention this company (browse). Roughly 0 of the top, relevance-sorted search results were posted in the last 90 days — an approximate figure by construction, not a true recency count. Recent thread titles: “Ryanair rescheduled by 2 days”, “Package Holiday - return flight cancelled”, “Cancelled flights and extra costs”.
TrustScore over time
4.9 → 4.9 across 15 census measurements since 2026-08-12. Our own record, independent of Trustpilot’s display.
Reply behaviour over time
Solid: % of negative reviews replied to. Dashed: typical days to reply. Both as reported on this company’s Trustpilot profile, recorded whenever our census re-checked it and a figure had changed — the gaps between points are not equal: 2026-08-12 (33%, 2.1d) · 2026-08-15 (34%, 2.3d) · 2026-08-18 (33%, 2.3d) · 2026-08-21 (34%, 2.3d) · 2026-08-24 (34%, 2.3d) · 2026-08-27 (34%, 2.3d) · 2026-08-30 (34%, 2.3d) · 2026-09-05 (31%, 2.7d) · 2026-09-08 (31%, 2.7d) · 2026-09-11 (31%, 2.7d) · 2026-09-14 (30%, 2.7d) · 2026-09-17 (30%, 2.7d) · 2026-09-20 (30%, 2.7d) · 2026-09-23 (30%, 2.7d).
Severity: 39% of this company’s 62 graded complaints were classified as severe (money lost, an essential service cut off, or a problem unresolved for months). See the harm index.
1★ share of negative reviews over time
Share of 1–3★ Trustpilot reviews that were 1★
In January 2025, 82% of 11 one-to-three-star reviews were 1★; in July 2026, 73% of 11.
Counted from January 2025 onward — the period for which our capture of 1★, 2★ and 3★ reviews is complete for all three. Months with fewer than 10 such reviews are omitted.
Reviewers here waited a median of 1.6 days between the experience and publishing their negative review (398 reviews record both dates).
Measured reply time: across 398 negative reviews that received a public reply, the median wait was 0.5 days — the company profile reports an average of 3 days. The two are measured differently: ours counts only replies we captured to negative reviews.
Reply quality: of 398 company replies to negative reviews analysed, 18% engaged with the specific problem and 67% were generic templates.
67% of its 1109 recent 5★ reviews came from accounts that had written only that one review when we captured it (the median across companies is about 39%). A high share is a reason to look closer, not evidence of fake reviews.
Sector benchmark: support unhelpful makes up 37% of this company’s complaints vs a 31% median across 122 ranked companies in its sector.
Review velocity: 5,189 of this company’s 31,967 Trustpilot reviews (16%) were written in the last 12 months.
What are the most common complaints about Alternative Airlines?
Support unhelpful
23 reports · 37% of complaintssteady“For the next 8–10 weeks, I repeatedly followed up with Alternative Airlines regarding my refund.”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“THE ONLY ANSWER YOU WILL GET FROM THEM WAS WE CANNOT ANYTHING ABOUT IT.”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I was told there was nothing they could do about it”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
Refunds delayed
12 reports · 19% of complaintsfalling“For the next 8–10 weeks, I repeatedly followed up with Alternative Airlines regarding my refund.”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“wait for another possible 12 weeks for a refund”
“they canceled it last minute because it was "unavailable for sale to there UK Based company"”
Other
11 reports · 18% of complaintssteady“I specifically selected an earlier flight (19:00pm), but the confirmation came back with a much later departure time”
The company replied on 2026-07-23: “Good day, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review; our customers experience and opinion is very important to us and I am sorry if you feel disappointed in the service you received. I am sorry…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I paid extra for a window seat but did not get the seat I selected”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“they have agents that say they will help you then steal your money”
Misleading pricing
8 reports · 13% of complaintssteady“costs became excessive and confusing.”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“They advertise a 7 kg cabin baggage allowance, but then force passengers to remove their belongings”
“Only after I booked and paid a premium price I am notified that I can only take 1 x 23kg in hold and I cannot cancel”
Overcharging
7 reports · 11% of complaintsrising since 2026-08“no one answers. Tempt you with low offers and then charge for everything else”
“Flight cancelled without notice and unjustified extra fees were applied.”
“By the time all the additional charges were added, the total cost was far more expensive than booking elsewhere.”
The company replied on 2026-07-07: “"Hi there, I would like to apologise for the misunderstanding regarding your baggage. Upon reviewing this issue, I can see that a member of our Customer Service team has already contacted you and is…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to make contact.
Refund refused
7 reports · 11% of complaintssteady“deducted more than 50% of the amount even after saying “BOOKING CANCEL WITHIN 14 DAYS FOR FULL REFUND.””
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“Communication felt inconsistent and poorly handled throughout the entire process.”
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“I didn't get anywhere near my refund. I got a $350 credit from a $1700 flight.”
The company replied on 2026-08-04: “Good day, I am sorry you were disappointed with the service you received. I have looked at the booking and can see that Marcus advised you that the airline would issues you credit from the airline…”
Our classifier read this reply as a deflection.
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Method: reviews are classified into a fixed complaint taxonomy by an automated reader; every category shown is backed by at least two verbatim quotes from distinct reviews. Trends are computed from dated review counts only. Negative reviews are deliberately over-sampled for evidence depth; headline percentages use an unbiased recent sample only. Report updated 2026-09-23.