My husband and I have to plan travel at least 6 months in advance because of his schedule. I did that and we planned on a trip which was one of our dreams to see the glaciers and the penguins in Patagonia. It cost us a fortune. Since this was to be a trip of a lifetime we only made reservations in five star hotels when available (some of the more remote locations had four star hotels). We paid over 8700 dollars for the trip. My husband because we were vacillating on the idea of going decided to purchase 1st class upgrades (another 2,000 dollars having nothing to do with tripmasters).
All of a sudden a month before we were to leave we got an email from Tripmasters saying that because of the G20 coming to Argentina the national airport would be closed (not the international airport) and that it would change our trip in horrible ways. The first is that we would have to stay a day later or leave a day earlier from Buenos Aires. The second being that we would have to stay an extra day or two in Barlioche and that our dream of seeing the glacier in El Calafete would not be possible because the two nights and three days there was reduced to less than 24 hours (in other words a long layover in an airport for no reason) and that we would have to pay for all the changes ourselves.
We told them our dream was to go to El Calafete and that the trip became absurd after that because whenever there are G20's around the world there are massive often bloody protests. And as I began to investigate this it seemed that travel agents worldwide knew about this Garda knew about it https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/171156/argentina-g20-summit-in-buenos-aires-nov-30-dec-1-airport-closures-update-2 Trip advisor knew about it https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294266-i977-k11901756-G20_meeting_in_BA_late_Nov_to_early_December_be_aware-Argentina.html Flyer talk knew about it https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/argentina/1922631-aeroparque-close-29-november-3-days.html Perfil knew about it https://www.perfil.com/noticias/actualidad/cerraran-tres-dias-el-aeroparque-jorge-newbery-para-la-cumbre-del-g20.phtml and on and on ....
So, a lot of what we wanted to do in Buenos Aires would not be feasible because of the massive police presence because of the expected protests and the airport is closed.
But, Tripmasters did not tell us about it till a month before we were going to leave as they tried to tell us we would have to pay for the hotel charges etc then we could be reimbursed through our travel insurance after we completed the trip.
I called and said they should have known about this and should have told us when we booked this. I was told that we did it on the internet. Aren't they still a travel agency. I told I would only be reimbursed for 1/3 of the money if we cancelled (and that doesn't include the upgrades, tranfers, and tours which we paid for not through them). They told us they could not have known and that if I was so SMART I ought to have known about the G20 in advance. I have nothing to do with the travel industry. I just trust them to make appropriate arragnements. I told them I was not willing to ruin my husband's only vacation this year and not get my money back because as a travel company they should be aware of what was going to happen and if they were decent at all could have said let's reschedule your trip. But, nothing at all.
When I called them: they were rude or indifferent. I tried on several occasions. Nothing no help at all. One time I said the word "d**n" and the woman told me she would no longer speak to me because I used a profane word. Seriously? I'm about to lose a fortune ... I have asked to speak to managers and have waited for hours on the phone for nothing at all (I have a job too) ... twice I was told a manager would call me back to no avail
Certainly a reputable travel agency should have been able to tell about these unbelievably forseeable event. I feel completely an utterly ripped off and they refuse to be responsible for anything. I will never use them again. I want to caution others never to use this company.
I am a lot poorer and saddened that my husband and I will not get a vacation just a whole in our pockets from an unscrupulous company engaged in nefarious practices. It would be as if a physican said to a patient you should have told me and pointed to where your heart was. I know you were under anesthesia but it is not my responsibility to know where to operate.
I booked a vacation to Australia with tripmasters. While booking, which took several days, because of their incompetence. Once booked they emailed me saying that prices had changed and wanted $500 more. The next day I got another email. This was urgent. They wanted another credit card because it was declined. I said I would check it out. Found out they charged the card 6 times and visa put a stop to those charges. It took 2 weeks to straighten out. Because tripmasters denied ever doing it, even though we had transactions with time stamps and clearly listed as tripmasters as charging. In addition to this several week ordeal, they didn't add travel insurance as requested. I went through a hassle about that. We agreed to the cancel for any reason. Tripmasters sent an email saying it was a done deal. A week or so later I received the policy by email. I didn't look at it right away as I was stupid and trusted their word. I applied for visa to Australia. I was denied a visa due to a DWI I had gotten many years ago in my younger days. I filed a claim with the insurance company. They denied saying they don't cover cancel for any reason. I called tripmasters several times to discuss their error. All they said, everyone I spoke with, is that we are sorry to hear that, that's too bad. All of them said the exact same words before they hung up on me. I call them now and when I give them my booking number they immediately place me on hold never to return. I want to finish by saying they bait and switch, are incompetent, very rude and extremely unhelpful. I was scammed and they are professional con artists. My experience with them is a nightmare because nothing is being done.
BAIT AND SWTICH. We purchased a vacation package from Tripmasters for $8600. After the credit card was charged, they notified me that the trip has been altered without my consent. I told them that the changed schedule will not work for me and they shoul cancel the trip and make a refund. The answer I received was "too bad".
I booked a package with them to London Scotland and Ireland for early November 2015. I called to see about switching from Air to train from London to Scotland because I wanted to see the country side instead of being stuck in the airport all day. They quoted me another 500 dollars for my husband and I. I told them I would not take the plane and would buy my own train ticket. The Customer Care rep never said anything about there being a clause that if you miss one flight of the package them may cancel all your flights.
When we arrived at the Scotland Airport to fly to Ireland we found that that flight and the flight home to San Francisco had been cancelled. It was a nightmare dealing with this company,I insisisted they find the recording of me calling in and speaking to there rep about taking a train. After 2 days they found the recording and said I never used the words cancel my air booking. There rep never alerted me that there may be a problem.
We eventually got them to book us a flight home 6 hours prior to our departure time, after fighting with them for our 2 days in Ireland. Extra out of pocket cost to us was 900 dollars to get home. If you use them follow the fine print and do everything via email so you have a paper trail, to prove you had correspondence with there reps or should I say rip off artists
Tripmasters.com Reviews
My husband and I have to plan travel at least 6 months in advance because of his schedule. I did that and we planned on a trip which was one of our dreams to see the glaciers and the penguins in Patagonia. It cost us a fortune. Since this was to be a trip of a lifetime we only made reservations in five star hotels when available (some of the more remote locations had four star hotels). We paid over 8700 dollars for the trip. My husband because we were vacillating on the idea of going decided to purchase 1st class upgrades (another 2,000 dollars having nothing to do with tripmasters).
All of a sudden a month before we were to leave we got an email from Tripmasters saying that because of the G20 coming to Argentina the national airport would be closed (not the international airport) and that it would change our trip in horrible ways. The first is that we would have to stay a day later or leave a day earlier from Buenos Aires. The second being that we would have to stay an extra day or two in Barlioche and that our dream of seeing the glacier in El Calafete would not be possible because the two nights and three days there was reduced to less than 24 hours (in other words a long layover in an airport for no reason) and that we would have to pay for all the changes ourselves.
We told them our dream was to go to El Calafete and that the trip became absurd after that because whenever there are G20's around the world there are massive often bloody protests. And as I began to investigate this it seemed that travel agents worldwide knew about this Garda knew about it https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/171156/argentina-g20-summit-in-buenos-aires-nov-30-dec-1-airport-closures-update-2 Trip advisor knew about it https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294266-i977-k11901756-G20_meeting_in_BA_late_Nov_to_early_December_be_aware-Argentina.html Flyer talk knew about it https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/argentina/1922631-aeroparque-close-29-november-3-days.html Perfil knew about it https://www.perfil.com/noticias/actualidad/cerraran-tres-dias-el-aeroparque-jorge-newbery-para-la-cumbre-del-g20.phtml and on and on ....
So, a lot of what we wanted to do in Buenos Aires would not be feasible because of the massive police presence because of the expected protests and the airport is closed.
But, Tripmasters did not tell us about it till a month before we were going to leave as they tried to tell us we would have to pay for the hotel charges etc then we could be reimbursed through our travel insurance after we completed the trip.
I called and said they should have known about this and should have told us when we booked this. I was told that we did it on the internet. Aren't they still a travel agency. I told I would only be reimbursed for 1/3 of the money if we cancelled (and that doesn't include the upgrades, tranfers, and tours which we paid for not through them). They told us they could not have known and that if I was so SMART I ought to have known about the G20 in advance. I have nothing to do with the travel industry. I just trust them to make appropriate arragnements. I told them I was not willing to ruin my husband's only vacation this year and not get my money back because as a travel company they should be aware of what was going to happen and if they were decent at all could have said let's reschedule your trip. But, nothing at all.
When I called them: they were rude or indifferent. I tried on several occasions. Nothing no help at all. One time I said the word "d**n" and the woman told me she would no longer speak to me because I used a profane word. Seriously? I'm about to lose a fortune ... I have asked to speak to managers and have waited for hours on the phone for nothing at all (I have a job too) ... twice I was told a manager would call me back to no avail
Certainly a reputable travel agency should have been able to tell about these unbelievably forseeable event. I feel completely an utterly ripped off and they refuse to be responsible for anything. I will never use them again. I want to caution others never to use this company.
I am a lot poorer and saddened that my husband and I will not get a vacation just a whole in our pockets from an unscrupulous company engaged in nefarious practices. It would be as if a physican said to a patient you should have told me and pointed to where your heart was. I know you were under anesthesia but it is not my responsibility to know where to operate.
I'm livid. I don't know how to get my money back.
I booked a vacation to Australia with tripmasters. While booking, which took several days, because of their incompetence. Once booked they emailed me saying that prices had changed and wanted $500 more. The next day I got another email. This was urgent. They wanted another credit card because it was declined. I said I would check it out. Found out they charged the card 6 times and visa put a stop to those charges. It took 2 weeks to straighten out. Because tripmasters denied ever doing it, even though we had transactions with time stamps and clearly listed as tripmasters as charging. In addition to this several week ordeal, they didn't add travel insurance as requested. I went through a hassle about that. We agreed to the cancel for any reason. Tripmasters sent an email saying it was a done deal. A week or so later I received the policy by email. I didn't look at it right away as I was stupid and trusted their word. I applied for visa to Australia. I was denied a visa due to a DWI I had gotten many years ago in my younger days. I filed a claim with the insurance company. They denied saying they don't cover cancel for any reason. I called tripmasters several times to discuss their error. All they said, everyone I spoke with, is that we are sorry to hear that, that's too bad. All of them said the exact same words before they hung up on me. I call them now and when I give them my booking number they immediately place me on hold never to return. I want to finish by saying they bait and switch, are incompetent, very rude and extremely unhelpful. I was scammed and they are professional con artists. My experience with them is a nightmare because nothing is being done.
BAIT AND SWTICH. We purchased a vacation package from Tripmasters for $8600. After the credit card was charged, they notified me that the trip has been altered without my consent. I told them that the changed schedule will not work for me and they shoul cancel the trip and make a refund. The answer I received was "too bad".
They are bad people.
Stay away from these con artists and charlatans.
I booked a package with them to London Scotland and Ireland for early November 2015. I called to see about switching from Air to train from London to Scotland because I wanted to see the country side instead of being stuck in the airport all day. They quoted me another 500 dollars for my husband and I. I told them I would not take the plane and would buy my own train ticket. The Customer Care rep never said anything about there being a clause that if you miss one flight of the package them may cancel all your flights.
When we arrived at the Scotland Airport to fly to Ireland we found that that flight and the flight home to San Francisco had been cancelled. It was a nightmare dealing with this company,I insisisted they find the recording of me calling in and speaking to there rep about taking a train. After 2 days they found the recording and said I never used the words cancel my air booking. There rep never alerted me that there may be a problem.
We eventually got them to book us a flight home 6 hours prior to our departure time, after fighting with them for our 2 days in Ireland. Extra out of pocket cost to us was 900 dollars to get home. If you use them follow the fine print and do everything via email so you have a paper trail, to prove you had correspondence with there reps or should I say rip off artists