“***Avoid This Company*** Bought the tickets through this company, flown half way to destination, then Covid strikes, got my return tickets cancelled by the airline. This company kept demanding extra payment in the name of "FARE DIFFERENCE" which was even more than the original price of the total fare. I opted for refund. Got refused by them saying the Airline won't allow. Contacted airline which said they will refund but this company did not want to refund. So had to get the trading standards involved then they refunded when told them to be taken to court. Absolute worse experience. "AVOID AVOID AVOID".”
“SCAM. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Stole >£1200 of my money. Flight cancelled 61 weeks ago. Airline offering refunds for 9 months. No phone lines to contact. Only message is 'it can take longer than expected to get refunds.'”
“My flight (£475) was cancelled 14 months ago and Budget air always replied to my emails saying my refund was pending and it was with the airline.
So I emailed the airline I was due to be flying with who said that they have not been contacted for a refund. I forwarded this to Budget air and they never even replied.
On their "online chat bot" they said they would check with the finance department.
If I could give them no stars I would”
“Total scammers trying to cheat people out of money by cancelling flights and refunding partial amounts saying they have to charge for tickets. this is despite claiming the airline has cancelled offered me £280 out of a cost of £944 blaming the airline spoke with credit card company who refunded the balance very quickly DON'T USE VERY UNTRUSTWORTHY.”
“THIEF AND SCAM!
An hour after withdrawing the money, the reservation cancellation e-mail came.
He said that they could not get the ticket due to the density, but he refunded our money.
And at the same time they still sell the same ticket on the site!
I'll try all the ways until I get my money, whatever it takes!”
“I purchased my tickets through this site via Skyscanner. My flight was canceled, but I never received my refund for the ticket. When I called the airline, they said the funds had already been sent to a card that was not mine, and not the card I used to purchase the tickets. Now they are avoiding my emails and they do not have a customer service phone number.
If you need a refund, you'll never get it with this company. Just spend the extra few dollars and book direct.”
“BEWARE of these big SCAMMERS. I booked a flight with them and purchased premium service package. It was mentioned with this service package, there is no charge for cancellation and changes. However closer to return flight time i requested them to change my flight but they came back with big charge in the name of fare difference even though i selected various alternative days. Then i asked to cancel, but they said wont get back any amount due to ticket rules (never specified at the time of booking). However fortunately the flight was cancelled by Airline so these scammers started sending email to accept an alternative flight. It was 17 hours journey with 2 changes in comparison to original flight of 11 hours with single change. I was never going to accept it but while reading this email accidentally clicked on confirm change button, which landed on their website. It didnt take any further confirmation there and simply presented a message thanking about confirmation. I right away wrote to them through their contact form online about this and asked them not to consider that acceptance. I received the acknowledgement of that email. After an hour they sent confirmation email response for which i replied again not to consider my acceptance as that was accidental click. Tried to contact them through their chat tool online (no direct phone number of these scammers) but it was closed that day. Contacted them again next working day but was told that i have confirmed the acceptance therefore ticket is issued so now i have to pay for cancellation or take that flight. This was most frustrating experience ever had with anyone. Avoid buying any ticket from these scammers as they might give you a good deal in the start but would come up so many hidden costs for any flight changes/cancellations afterwards. The customer service is also pathetic and you will never be able to speak with any human. The chat wait time is also long and the agent would end the chat on his own if he get bored of your problem. AVOID THEM OR FACE THE FRUSTRATION LATER.”
“Hello, looks like there are many others in the same situation like me. I booked business class flights from Malaysia to U.K. on 4 Jan 2020 for flights in July 2021. I paid MYR 22000 roughly £ 4500. The flight was with Oman air and naturally it got cancelled due to CV. I requested a refund and I am still waiting 15 months. Wrote numerous emails and they respond by saying the payment is pending and they are waiting to hear from Oman Air. According to Oman air they have settled relating to dates of my travel. This company should not be allowed to operate and should be taken to court to settle. I would like to hear others views on this as I am planning such action soon..through Malaysian govt. Budget Air operates from Netherlands and their govt should be held responsible for allowing this scandalous company to operate from their country. The directors are Dutch.”
“In January 2020, I booked flights to go to Sri Lanka in March 2020 through BudgetAir.co.uk. Sadly, due to the pandemic, my trip was cancelled. I refused the voucher I was offered and I'm still waiting to get my money back. After MORE THAN 1 YEAR, their excuse is that they are still waiting for the airline (Qatar Airways) to process the refund. But, THEY ARE LYING because I called the airline and they say that all the refund requests are processed within 20 working days. Well, I’ve been waiting for more than 262 working days and counting…
These people (BudgetAir.co.uk) have no morals or ethics, and when I try to contact them I only get one template email saying that I have to keep waiting. I think it's unreasonable to wait more than 1 year (who knows how much longer it'll be), but I truly believe that they don't want to give me my money back.
Obviously, it was a big mistake booking with BudgetAir.co.uk, instead of doing it directly with the airline. So, I only can advise other people to not make the same mistake.”
“Like others I have had no success with my refund for a trip with AirCanada. Today I got a receipt from AirCanada showing the refund had been paid to BudgetAir on 20th April 2020. How do I call them as can find no phone number? Do I have to resort to court action? This is completely fraudulent.”
“I bought a plane ticket in Feb 2020 for an April flight it was cancelled due to Covid in March I was sent emails regularly from budget air.uk saying they were waiting for the refund from the airline then they would refund me (same story for many people I know)
nearly a year later waiting for my refund I rung up budget air and was told the airline has refused to refund and we can give you a credit, the woman I spoke to was incredibly rude and hung up on me I was never rude just pointed out I’m entitled to a refund, there response was case closed.
I managed to get in contact with the airline Royal air Moroc I emailed them my flight details and they contacted me via email to say they had refunded the amount already.
I managed to phone budget air and pretended I was a lawyer working for my client and court procedures would be issued if I didn’t receive my money within 24 hours I woke up to find an email saying they had refunded the amount and the money to my surprise was in my bank account.”
“Due to covid-19 my flight was cancelled last may despite the flight company emailing me to show refund to the third party budget air are still a year later not refunding the money terrible service have emailed on numerous occasions will not use again”
“What they are doing is called stealing! They have been refunded by the airlines but refuse to give customer back their money. I have had to take legal action. They still have been lying to me about sending refunds that never seem to clear my bank. Yesterday I asked for the bank confirmation of the refund and guess what they didnt send it. So I have now proceed with a warrant to enforce the judgement and get my money back by force.
It has been nearly a year since my flight was cancelled and I still have not received my refund to this date. The airline Air Austral sent me a confirmation that they sent the money to Budgetair since 22 June 2020!
I received an email in September to say that the refund was actioned. 10 days later I told them that I have not received it, they told me it was down to my bank to release payment. The bank investigated this matter for 6 weeks and confirmed that the refund did not reach my account and advised me to ask for proof. Proof was never given and they kept telling me that the refund was done and that was that. After sending several emails chasing for my refund, I decided to open a court case in order to retrieve my money. They did not respond and eventually the case escalated to judgement in January 2021. I suddenly got an email from Budgetair confirming that their automated payment system was not working properly in September and the refund was not actioned! They asked for my bank details and I reminded them that they now had to pay me the court fee and interests on top as per the judgement notice. Two weeks later another representative messaged me to ask for my bank details again🙄 Last monthI received an email from another agent asking me to call them so they can assist me further with the refund. I phoned them just to be told the refund is still in process. I have been hearing this since March 2020 when the flight was cancelled!
I have used Budgetair several times before, but after this nightmare and the amount of time and money I have invested in trying to get my money back, I would rather spend the extra money and book directly from the airline. I WILL NEVER USE THEIR SERVICE AGAIN”
“Changing refund to voucher...
I have been waiting for my refund from BudgetAir since Feb. 2020. I have gotten a template response each time I have contacted them that they are waiting to get the refund from the airline (AirCanada). After waiting a long time, they told me I can only get a travel voucher which I cannot use in my country. I am so disappointed, I have lost a lot of money because of this. They told me to contact the airline, when I contact the airline they tell me to go back to the agent. Frustrating!!!!!”
“Standard story, took 11 months to get my refund. I'm still in disbelief at the quality of their customer service.
The approach that finally worked to get my refund - one morning I sent the same email every five minutes to every email address I could find for companies under the Travix umbrella (Budget Air UK Cheap Tickets NL, Cheap Tickets DE etc.). Each time I changed the email title very slightly e.g. Refund Enquiry 1, Refund Enquiry 2 etc. This approach must have caused havoc to their inboxes because within half an hour (approx 20 emails) I received my official PDF cancellation invoice. And two days later the amount was in my account.
I'm never using this company again in the future.
Good luck!
Tom
P.s they also have an additional customer service number they don't tell you about. First you want an O. Then you want that number two. After that the O again. Next a big old 8. Now another O. For our next number we're a one. What's that a 6! After that numero 2. Then you're after double 3. Lastly a peachy 5. - sorry I've had to put it like that, website being annoying and removing the post otherwise.”
“Booked a flight Newcastle to Aberdeen via London. Had to be in Aberdeen that night. After checking in waiting in departures to board the flight, a delay was announced which meant missing my connection in London. As no other flights were flying from London that day had to get my bags off the flight and rush to the nearest train station. Three trains a bus and two taxis later I arrived in Aberdeen late for my Covid test required to go offshore. I’d paid for a refund project with budget air. So after having my flight delayed missing a connection and being forced to abandon my flights altogether then forking out for a whole new means of travel I was then told I had no claim to a refund. Pathetic company, robbed me blind do not use these crooks”
