I booked an "all-inclusive" package to…
I booked an "all-inclusive" package to Thailand with UTO Vacations because the price seemed unbeatable. However, the experience has been a nightmare. After requiring me to submit proof of my international flight from the USA to Thailand—which I had already paid for—they abruptly cancelled my entire tour just two weeks before my departure date.This feels like a classic bait-and-switch. They waited until I was fully committed and had spent money on flights before pulling the rug out from under me.
Tien Tran
They sold us trips then said they could…
They sold us trips then said they could not deliver because of cost of airlines tomChina. But they would not rebook and we had paid the total. They then kept advertising and taking new customers for the same trip for over a year. Later they would give us a credit but only after the new trips for which we could use the credit were 5x the cost and way more than any other company!
PATRICIA
Lost my deposit
Lost a $1,500 deposit because I missed the window to upload my passport on a trip I booked 2 years ago. My trip is still 3 months out. No phone call, no email, no heads up. They just let the deadline pass, in the hopes I would miss it, and miss it I did. Reading other reviews, the single most common issue is lost deposit, no trip. I think that is their actual business model.
Jason Butler
Scammers
Like everyone else, booked a trip to China and not able to get the trip during Covid. The problem is their poor customer service of NOT wanting to help reschedule or provide full refund. Total scam.
Kevin S
Bunch of thieves if you ask me
Bunch of thieves if you ask me. They stole over $957 from me by cancelling my trip and never credited me. They can go to hell as far as I am concerned.🤬🤬
Mo Pen
We had our trip cancelled to Beijing…
We had our trip cancelled to Beijing die to Covid. I had insurance. They asked me to work with them. I should have just put the claim in and got all my money refunded. They gave me half back and I had them extend the credit. Which they did. It will expire next month $2,000 and I wanted to use it to book just air. They will not accommodate me.
Philip Ciulla Jr
Place is an absolute scam
Place is an absolute scam. We had our China/Thailand trip cancelled and they said we would have a credit applied towards an India trip. They have ignored every call or email to them and then tell you your credit is expired when you finally are able to get in touch with them. Not even sure how this company is legally still operating. The operators should be locked up.
Eric Lajara
I lost 1900 dollars during covid they…
I lost 1988 dollars during covid they cancelled my trip, never gave me the money back, then provided me a credit with expiration, when does your own money expired. I asked for a refund I am still waiting. They don't respond. They are scam.
Yadira Castro
This company is a scam
This company is a scam. We booked a trip that was supposed to go to China and Japan during the month of November, 2024. UTO reached out to us a couple weeks before the trip they said they had to cancel due their partners availability. They offered a refund or a discount on "future travel" through them. We went with a refund, the vendor said it would be 4-8 weeks. Have yet to see anything.They no longer reply to emails and they do not answer their phones.
Shawn
Beware of UTO Vacation
Beware of UTO Vacation – Misleading Practices!I strongly advise against booking any trips with UTO Vacation. They attract customers with $1 to $299 trip promotions, but in reality, they upsell additional services and schedule trips 1–2 years in the future while holding onto your money for their personal use instead of keeping it in a trust account.They can change agreement for extra cost $390 per person for tipping and other services, whenever they want, leaving you with no control. Your only option is to hire an expensive lawyer and take them to court.Customer service is nonexistent—they ignore inquiries until the last minute, unless you physically visit their office to demand answers. As the trip date approaches, they often cite viruses or other excuses to force customers to reschedule or accept travel credits instead of refunds.If you agree to a date change or accept credits, consider your money gone. Their credits expire in one year, and any rescheduled trip will cost significantly more—often $15,000 to $25,000 per person!They advertise on Travelzoo and Travelzoo is not taking any responsibility for these scammer.If UTO Vacation attempts to change your trip date or offer credits, demand a refund immediately. Don’t fall into their trap!
Devinder Singh
This travel company was a complete rip…
This travel company was a complete rip off and I fell for it !
Phyllis Merkerson Dougherty
TOTAL SCAM
TOTAL SCAM, THEY TOOK MY $ IN 2020 AND CANCELED IT EVERY YEAR ON THE WEEK OF DEPARTURE. Finally they offered a refund in Nov 2024, said it would arrive by Jan 2025. They have completely IGNORED me. NO REFUND EVER ISSUED.
Patricia
UTO Vacations - SCAM
like many others who have posted, this company scammed us out of $1700. Booked a China trip that looked to good to be true, turns out it was. UTO cancelled the trip due to COVID, would not provide a refund, just a future travel credit. The similar trip is now 5 times the cost of the original. As suggested on another site, I contacted TICO and the Canadian government allowed a travel credit rather than a refund. STAY AWAY from this agency - much more legit and affordable agencies out there.
GARY RENELT
China tour originally booked in April 2019
I originally booked in April 2019 for Oct 2020 trip to China. Covid has changed so many travel plans. Unfortunately, four booked tours have never been made. We had planned trips to China, Paris & China, all canceled due to covid. Japan with air required substantial charges for air and hotel, so I took another credit, which was partially used for a Japan tour without air included. This UTO tour was fantastic! Our final tour to China/Thailand in Oct 2024 was canceled. UTO supported me throughout all these changes. On Feb. 15, 2025 I received a refund of $1,954 for the the China/ Thailand trip. My main issue was not being able to talk to anyone at Uto on the phone. I did get immediate responses chatting on line, especially with Mary, Emily and Cindy. I saved every chat for documentation. I also want to thank those in the office of UTO, who worked with me since 2019, and especially to Debby and Becky these past 4 months. I'm just saddened not to have traveled to China.
Barbara K. B
How to get refund from UTO vacations
I am writing this to help people get their refund from UTO vacations because I was successful getting my money back. It will just take time but be patient and you will eventually be refunded. File a complaint at TICO’s website against UTO vacations and when TICO gets involved, they will agree to give you a refund immediately via email but they will tell you it will take 8 weeks to process the refund. Make sure you keep correspondences with UTO as proof because TICO will ask for them. You will need to email them again and cc:TICO to follow it up when the check has not arrived after 8 weeks. They will eventually send the check immediately. This is how I did it and I was redunded (US$9,282) successfully. Good Luck!
Sue
DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE YOUR HARD…
DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY!!!We booked a trip to China, only to have it cancelled due to Covid. They refuse to give us our $1860 deposit back, and now all their trips are over $10k (the initial trip was less than $1k per person). You will never get anywhere with their customer service reps, if you can reach them at all. Total scam! The credit "expires" in April of 2025 - they have held it all this time
Denese Menard
DO NOT BOOK WITH UTOvacation! THIS IS A FRAUDULENT COMPANY!
Update, UTOvacation rescheduled my trip after I wrote my first review (below) but unfortunately they are up to the same tricks as before. I was scheduled with my spouse to go on the Thailand/China trip leaving on March 25, 2025 and I was told that my trip was canceled because I did not pay another added on fee. I NEVER received any emails, notifications or any indication as to a due date for this final added on fee. I contacted UTO more than a month prior to this trip in the hopes of paying this fee as I only learned that it was due when I realized that I locked out of my account. I was told that my trip was canceled and I tried for hours to get UTO to work with me to pay this added on fee so that we can take this trip and I was consistently given the runaround and told that I my trip was canceled and I lost ALL OF THE MONEY that I have already paid. I asked for a manager to call me, it has been over a week and as expected I have never received a call. At this point I just want a refund but they do not offer refunds. I'd love to take the trip but unfortunately UTO has a habit of finding sneaky ways to cancel trips and keep your money. This has been the absolute worst experience and I would really like to attend my trip but at this point I am not even sure that this is a legit company. Below is my previous review of UTO. -------------------------------------------------------------Do NOT book with UTO. I booked a China/Thailand trip with UTO Vacations. UTO sent me some extra paperwork related to COVID at the very last minute about the trip and they did not leave me any realistic amount of time to submit the paperwork before they canceled my trip. I attempted to reschedule my trip. I spoke with two agents who both assured me that I would be able to rebook my trip or receive credits, I was told that I had time to make this decision, I even have transcripts of these conversations and when I attempted to get it rescheduled I was told that I could not reschedule the trip, that they would not offer me trip credits and that they would not refund my money without offering me any alternative. I spent hours on the chat line trying to reason with this company and explaining that it is essentially fraud when you do this and they kept giving me an answer saying that there is nothing that they could offer me. I am out $598 and I can't believe that a company can just fraud customers out of their hard-earned money. I DO NOT want this to happen to anyone else so I am writing this review so that other travelers and customers will not have to experience what I have experienced with this company. I am going to report this company to the Better Business Bureau as well as my credit card company for fraud. This is unacceptable. I tried everything to get UTO Vacations to work with me but they refused. I utilize travel companies and have traveled all over the world and this is by far the worst and most unprofessional experience I have ever had with a travel company. This company really should not be in business and I will do my part to expose the truth. Signed, Dr. Carlos Richardson
Dr. Carlos Richardson
This company is a fraud
This company is a fraud. We bought a trip to Japan for 6 people. It was paid full and a week before we were canceled and They did not refund the money, they are thieves
soria_mireyahotmail.com
UTO vacations is a terrible company
UTO vacations is a terrible company. UTO is just a "middle man", contracting out all excursions, flights, hotels.... and if you have a problem with any one of them, they will not stand behind their company and offer a solution. Over a year ago I signed up for an Icelandic adventure and paid 8,270.00 for my husband and myself. We were not informed that airport transfers or luggage on our flights were not included. That added 760.00 to the trip. Now I've been waiting on a cancelled excursion refund from October 2024. All I get from them is "be patient". After reading these other reviews, I don't hold out much hope.
Colleen
Avoid this business at all cost!!
Buyer beware!!! My brother, nephews and I scheduled a Japan trip with this business and were told that our trip was cancelled due to Covid, even though this was after the pandemic. They told us the only option was to get a credit towards another trip. We went ahead and booked another Japan trip, of course costing more money, and ended up being told just weeks before departure that our trip was cancelled because we hadn't paid all the expenses up front. Yet the only thing we hadn't paid was gratuity which their terms stated didn't need to be up front. Therefore, they took our $2500 and offered us no refund. We tried repeatedly to talk through this with them on the phone, but they would not acknowledge the terms, and would not refund our money, and they were so rude and condescending in all their communication. This business is a Joke!!So, unless you have thousands of dollars to lose, please do yourself a favor and avoid this business.
SP
