Travelbag: most-reported complaints
Automated analysis of 332 public Trustpilot reviews published 2025-06-19 to 2026-09-23. TrustScore 4.8 from 9,901 total reviews — see the Trustpilot page. Quick answer: is Travelbag legit? Issues below reflect what reviewers reported, not findings of wrongdoing.
Reviewers most often report that customer support is unhelpful, accounting for 40% of the 42 identified complaints. A significant portion of feedback also highlights that support is unreachable, with 33% of complaints citing a lack of response. Additionally, 17% of reviewers state that services were not as described, while another 17% report delayed refunds, a trend that is currently rising.
The company claimed its Trustpilot profile on 2014-06-12, uses Trustpilot’s paid features, and last replied to a negative review on 2026-09-08. Trustpilot ranks it 29 of 203 in Travel Agency. We last checked this profile on 2026-09-24 and found 11 new reviews. These are facts Trustpilot publishes about the profile, as of our last harvest.
Companies House: TRAVELBAG LIMITED (no. 01434872), active, incorporated 1979 (47.2 years); next accounts due 2027-12-31, last accounts filed 2026-09-16, 3 registered charges. 3 current officers (57 on record historically); 2 filings in the last 12 months (320 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: 123 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: “FLIGHT BOOKING AND CANCELATIONS THRU TRAVELBAG”, “Travelbag be warned”, “E: 31/07 Win A £2000 Travelbag Voucher”.
TrustScore over time
4.9 → 4.8 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 (83%, 3.1d) · 2026-08-15 (83%, 3.1d) · 2026-08-18 (79%, 3.1d) · 2026-08-21 (83%, 3.0d) · 2026-08-24 (80%, 3.0d) · 2026-08-27 (81%, 2.9d) · 2026-08-30 (81%, 2.9d) · 2026-09-05 (76%, 2.8d) · 2026-09-08 (80%, 3.4d) · 2026-09-11 (84%, 3.5d) · 2026-09-14 (84%, 3.5d) · 2026-09-17 (84%, 3.5d) · 2026-09-20 (84%, 3.5d) · 2026-09-24 (81%, 3.5d).
Severity: 36% of this company’s 42 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 February 2020, 36% of 11 one-to-three-star reviews were 1★; in July 2021, 56% of 34.
Counted from February 2020 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 9.5 days between the experience and publishing their negative review (139 reviews record both dates).
Measured reply time: across 237 negative reviews that received a public reply, the median wait was 1 days — the company profile reports an average of 4 days. The two are measured differently: ours counts only replies we captured to negative reviews.
Reply quality: of 237 company replies to negative reviews analysed, 37% engaged with the specific problem and 51% were generic templates.
Review provenance: 225 company-invited reviews in the recent window average 4.92★, while 79 organic (uninvited) reviews average 4.44★.
13% of its 275 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 40% of this company’s complaints vs a 31% median across 122 ranked companies in its sector.
Review velocity: 946 of this company’s 9,901 Trustpilot reviews (10%) were written in the last 12 months.
What are the most common complaints about Travelbag?
Support unhelpful
17 reports · 40% of complaintssteady“several hotels or the standard of room were considerably downgraded”
The company replied on 2026-08-24: “Hello, We’re sorry to hear that your holiday did not meet your expectations, and we regret that your experience fell short on this occasion. As you previously raised these concerns with us and a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
“No air-conditioned motorhome for sleeping in 34°C heat”
The company replied on 2026-09-07: “Hello Sue, We are very sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations. We understand that our Customer Relations Manager has reviewed the matter in detail and has responded to you…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
“They have refused to give us any compensation and it took them 3 months to return our cancelled flights costs.”
Support unreachable
14 reports · 33% of complaintssteady“its now 17th February still no response despite several emails”
The company replied on 2026-01-07: “Hello, We appreciate you sharing your experience and we're sorry the hotel hasnt met your expectations . We understand you are in contact with our in resort team in the UK to address these concerns.…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“despite contacting the emergency number (phoning and emailing) we have still never had any communication or advice from them”
“complete radio silence. I am a Type 1 diabetic, and being stranded abroad”
The company replied on 2026-03-06: “Hello Harvey, We're very sorry to hear about the difficulties you have experienced in these unprecedented circumstances. We understand you are now safely back in the UK. Our teams have been focused…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
Not as described
7 reports · 17% of complaintssteady“Now I find the flights aren’t the flights I was told”
The company replied on 2026-04-23: “Hi Shirley, Thank you for posting your review. We appreciate your feedback. We have passed it through to the relevant team and understand you have now spoken with your consultant again. We hope you…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“several hotels or the standard of room were considerably downgraded”
The company replied on 2026-08-24: “Hello, We’re sorry to hear that your holiday did not meet your expectations, and we regret that your experience fell short on this occasion. As you previously raised these concerns with us and a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
“No air-conditioned motorhome for sleeping in 34°C heat”
The company replied on 2026-09-07: “Hello Sue, We are very sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations. We understand that our Customer Relations Manager has reviewed the matter in detail and has responded to you…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
Refunds delayed
7 reports · 17% of complaintsrising since 2026-05“They have refused to give us any compensation and it took them 3 months to return our cancelled flights costs.”
“Still waiting for refund (20th June)”
The company replied on 2026-06-25: “Hi Mark, Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry to hear your holiday was impacted by flight cancellations caused by the Middle East crisis. Due to the large volumes of refunds that airlines are…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: refund.
“waiting nearly 3 months for the Abta part of the refund”
The company replied on 2026-06-02: “Hi Donna, Thank you for your feedback. We’re sorry to hear of the delays you’ve experienced in receiving your refund following your trip in March. We have been dealing with an unprecedented number of…”
Our classifier read this reply as a substantive response.
It promised: to escalate.
Misleading pricing
3 reports · 7% of complaintssteady“Now I find the flights aren’t the flights I was told”
The company replied on 2026-04-23: “Hi Shirley, Thank you for posting your review. We appreciate your feedback. We have passed it through to the relevant team and understand you have now spoken with your consultant again. We hope you…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
1 reader marked this review helpful on Trustpilot.
“ask to pay additional charges of £700 as air taxes have gone up”
“Only issue I had was that Travelbag do not price match to other travel agents or hotel booking places!”
The company replied on 2025-09-25: “Hello, Thank you for getting in touch. We appreciate your feedback and are happy to hear you found Priscilla to be helpful and polite. We acknowledge your feedback regarding our package pricing,…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
Overcharging
3 reports · 7% of complaintsrising since 2026-05“several hotels or the standard of room were considerably downgraded”
The company replied on 2026-08-24: “Hello, We’re sorry to hear that your holiday did not meet your expectations, and we regret that your experience fell short on this occasion. As you previously raised these concerns with us and a…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
“No air-conditioned motorhome for sleeping in 34°C heat”
The company replied on 2026-09-07: “Hello Sue, We are very sorry to hear that your experience did not meet your expectations. We understand that our Customer Relations Manager has reviewed the matter in detail and has responded to you…”
Our classifier read this reply as a template response.
“ask to pay additional charges of £700 as air taxes have gone up”
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 2026-09-24.