Travelstart Reviews 768

I had an extremely disappointing experience with Travelstart Nigeria.

I purchased two tickets for myself and my wife to travel during a very sensitive time — to be with family for a funeral. Payment was successfully made, and I received a booking confirmation, so everything appeared to be in order.

However, upon arriving at the airport on April 3, 2026, we were shockingly informed that our tickets had been cancelled — without any prior notification whatsoever. No email, no SMS, no phone call. As a result, we were denied boarding.

This left us stranded during an already difficult and emotional period, with no immediate support or assistance from Travelstart. We were forced to purchase new tickets on the spot at significantly higher prices, leading to a major and avoidable financial loss.

To make matters worse, the refund process has become another frustrating ordeal. Despite the cancellation being entirely their fault, we are now being told to wait 6 to 12 weeks to receive our money back. This delay is unacceptable given the circumstances and only adds to the distress and inconvenience already caused.

This situation reflects very poorly on Travelstart’s reliability and customer service. What should have been a straightforward journey turned into a stressful, costly, and deeply frustrating experience. I strongly advise others to exercise caution when booking through this platform.

I am very disappointed with Travelstart Nigeria’s handling of my flight refund.
I booked a flight with South African Airways through Travelstart for travel in early January. Unfortunately, I fell sick, and I couldn't go for the flight. After I contacted South African Airways directly, they confirmed that they had processed and sent a refund back to Travelstart , the booking agent.
However, Travelstart never informed me that the refund had been issued. I only discovered this myself after following up with the airline. When I contacted Travelstart to claim my refund, they refused to process it and have provided no clear explanation.
This lack of transparency and accountability is extremely frustrating. As a customer, I trusted Travelstart to handle my booking and any related refunds professionally, but they have failed to do so.
I would strongly advise others to be cautious when booking through Travelstart, especially when it comes to refunds and customer service.
I am still awaiting a fair resolution to this matter.
I can't believe they just robbed me of 1.3 million naira!

Ticket number :0832133356904
Refund Reference :4120011647

If there is another name for terrible that is what you are. i regret ever booking with you. you are the worst OTA I have seen. Terrible monsters

We are trying to rebook an existing booking and book a new one. We have spoken to so many of your staff members - they either phone us back but that doesnt happen. The worst company to deal with. Will never use them again, unfortunately we have to now because the screwed up our first booking bu not letting us know my passport which is only espiring in February 2026 and should be two months later. If youre not a frequent overseas flyier you dont always know these info

I paid for a vacation retun trip from S.A to Cameroon and back to SA. Going all was ok but coming back is when i realised that as we were to transit in Kigali, our flight from Doula landed at Kigali at about 21.00 and our connecting flight from Kigali to SA was the next day at 10:30 which i just received am email to inform me that the flight will delay from 10:30 to 12:30. To my greatest surprise all the other passengers with me were taking to the hotel and i was told that my ticket was withouth hotel reservation, and so i was to pay extra for the hotel or stay in the waiting room for all these 15 hours.when i tried to contact traveltart customer service it was impossible so i had to because i had no extra funds with me. No food no drinks fir 15hrs seating on verx hard and uncomfortable seats at the wating room for more than 15 hrs. What a sad situation that i will not want any Traveller to go through.

Most disgusting service ever received,No customer service,not kosher in business dealings.Will never recommend anybody to use Travelstart at all.Rude abrupt and unless at what they do

Travelstart is reasonable, fair and affordable. It is airlines like Etihard whose management whose mission is to boost their ego. They are brutal, cruel and prey on clients who would miss some prints especially about luggage 7kg luggage limit for international travel.
Their management style is to drawn the company, where no damage control will save it, no matter what.
20kg luggage (competitors give 23kg free) me and hubby were charged +R17000/ +42000 Turkish lira.

These guys are very fraudulent! They received payment but denied it until I reached out to Paystack who confirmed the payment was sent. I have loads of evidences and correspondences. I will be suing them soon

I booked flights to Spain and a few days later wanted to upgrade the to business class. I got the quote but never received the invoice and banking details (payment Link). I received an email stating that I have an hour to make payment. I replied to the email and got an message saying it is a non reply email address. How??? Called the call centre and was told watch your email so that you can make the payment. What is going on..... Very disaapointed, Huge lack in customer service

They are doing everything wrong. They have just scammed my husband yesterday 29th tagging his request for refund as a no-show and refusing to refund his money.
My husband got to the airport well before the time. His flight to Nigeria goes through London but was told he would need a transit Visa. Prior to booking he inquired and was told he does not need a transit VISA only to get to the Airport and was told policy has changed. This necessitated his request for refund to book another flight. Travelstart like a robot kept sending same message that his money would not been refunded. No care, no concern, no splitting or fine instead of outright refusal of the whole money, Who does that? Travelstart are not professional and they operate like thieves and Scammers. We are never ever ever using them. All our friends and families in Netherlands are now in the know. We are escalating this to any levels until my husband gets his refund. My husband is still at the airport since yesterday as i type but you all sit by your keyboards and type shit to someone trying to coerce him to forget his money?

Horrible communication! Never making use of their services again!

The Trustpilot score makes a lot of sense.

The process of changing flights is so inefficient yet they will nickel and dime you for all of it. R1000 in admin fees is par for the course. The unrealistic payment windows - I received one with only 20 minutes in which to pay or lose the ticket - coupled with the dragging of feet almost feels like they’re trying to drive costs up for the customer; and you wonder to whose benefit.

All shiny on the front end, but grossly lacking on the admin side. It always feels like they’re understaffed with their clunky service/turnaround times.

You’re probably better off dealing directly with the airline if you have the foresight. I certainly plan to moving forward. Would not recommend.

I would give 0 if I can.
Guys avoid Travelstart or any travel agencies.
Go online to the carrier you want to use and book directly with them. Travelstart with its exorbitant insurance with T&Cs that basically mean the contrary of your expectations.
If your flight is delayed, don’t expect any help from them without a charge. In the end whatever you paid for under your insurance is useless.
I had an awful experience with them. DON’T BOOK WITH TRAVELSTART Agency. DONT’T WASTE YOUR MONEY

Travelstart is a scam. They scammed all my money. I'm now in debt because they took all my money, saying that they will return all. I died because of them

I posted an excellent review only 2 days ago, only to be disappointed with No (ZERO) response on my query to change a flight date.
They promised I would get an email in 24 hours and after queried it on 20 hours, I was told that email will come - on 24 hr mark I was again requested that it would be there within the next 4 hours and here I sit well into my second day and no response. Now they have closed the response center…

Booked my flight through Travelstart and the airline ended up cancelling it — but I only found out by checking the airline’s app myself. Absolutely no communication from Travelstart whatsoever. No email, no alert, nothing.
Worse, when I tried to get help, it was nearly impossible to reach anyone. No clear support channels, no response, and zero willingness to assist once I finally got through. For a company that sells travel services, the lack of customer support in a crisis is unacceptable.
I expected at least some level of responsibility or assistance. I won’t be booking with them again.

This is the worst company have ever seen, the refuse to refund my money while air piece airline already told me the ticket is refundable. Fraud

Is there anything less then a one star? maybe OOOOO
is more appropriate
Travelstart left me overseas stranded for a week blaming the airline....Im already back home for days ...the same airline...and travelstart are telling me that i can only get a seat in the next few days....
They are also still selling tickets that dont exist...where the connecting flight das already departed before your flight has taken off....
AVOID AVOID

The recent Middle East conflict at the end of June resulted in airport closures and delays for all flights on Qatar airways, and other airlines. My flight was scheduled for Tuesday, 24 June, and I made a call to not get on the flight due to the significant delays at the Doha airport, as seen on many social media platforms. I have 3 young children, and was not willing to be stuck at the airport indefinitely as had happened to many others. This was a late evening flight, and of course, since Travelstart does not have any after hours service offering, I had to wait until Wed, 25 June to contact your call centre and try and amend the booking. While I understand the pressure on travel agencies in such an unfortunate event, and the waiting periods, I found your staff unhelpful and inconsistent with information provided. I spoke with 2 different agents after not getting any feedback as promised after an hour, and was given different information. When I asked to speak to a team supervisor, I was told this request had to be logged on the system and someone would call back! Are you kidding! You surely cannot expect customers to accept that as a valid answer in a service industry!

I eventually had to help myself by calling Qatar Airways airline directly! For an online travel agency, this is pathetic service! You should benchmark yourself against others e.g. edreams, who actually have after-hours service available, quick turnaround times and staff who don't give you the run-a-round when there are changes required. You clearly don’t have the skills or competence to dela with complex situations which are outside of the normal operating conditions!

I will never use Travelstart again!

Avoid at all costs – no support, no responsibility, no accountability.

I booked a British Airways flight (BA327 from Paris to Cape Town) via Travelstart for 28 May 2025. On 17 December 2024, I received an email from them regarding “schedule changes.” In the message, it clearly stated that “only flights highlighted in bold are affected.”

In that email, only flight BA323 was in bold — not my flight BA327. As a result, I logically assumed my flight was not impacted, and I received no further warning closer to the travel date.

I went to the airport on 28 May and discovered that my flight had in fact been cancelled. Travelstart had failed to properly inform me, and I was left stranded without help or solution.

I had to pay out of pocket for a new ticket, two round-trip Ubers, and a private transfer. I contacted Travelstart several times with all supporting documents. They simply blamed the airline and refused to take any responsibility, even though they sent the misleading email.

➤ Terrible customer service, misleading communication, no accountability, no refund, and zero support.

Once they have your money, they completely disappear.
Never again. I strongly advise you to book directly with the airline or through a serious agency.

⚠️ UPDATE after Travelstart's response:
I received the usual automated message asking me to email my booking reference and documents — again!
Let me be clear: I have already sent
everything multiple times by return email to customer service including full proof of the misleading email they sent in December, my payment confirmation (EFT), the cancelled ticket, Uber receipts and more.

Travelstart is pretending to “investigate”, but in reality, they have already closed the case and denied responsibility.
Their payment system failed when I booked (my Mastercard didn't work), so I had no choice but to pay by EFT — and now I have no way to dispute the payment or get any help.

This is just dishonest damage control. Once they have your money, you're on your own.
Do not trust this agency. Avoid Travelstart.😡😡😡😡🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬