If you’re a budget-conscious traveller, you may have come across Traveluro, a website that offers hotel rooms at significantly lower rates than other booking platforms. You may be wondering how they can offer such low prices. Is it too good to be true? In this article, we’ll explore why Traveluro is so cheap and whether it’s a legitimate option for your next trip.
One reason why Traveluro can offer lower prices is because they use a unique pricing model called “split booking.” This means that instead of booking your entire stay at one hotel, they split your reservation between two or more hotels in the same area. This allows them to take advantage of lower rates offered by individual hotels and pass those savings on to you. However, this model may not be ideal for everyone, especially if you prefer to stay in one place for the duration of your trip.
Another reason why Traveluro can offer lower prices is that they negotiate directly with hotels to secure exclusive deals and discounts. By cutting out the middleman and working directly with hotels, they can offer rates that are lower than other booking platforms. However, this also means that the selection of hotels may be more limited than other platforms, and you may not find the same level of customer service or amenities that you would with a traditional booking platform.
What is Traveluro?
Traveluro markets itself as an online travel booking site offering discounted hotel rates and vacation packages. The website advertises major savings on hotel reservations along with bundled deals on additional travel components like flights and rental cars. However, Traveluro primarily functions as a travel metasearch site. It scans prices across hotel chains and other websites before attempting to undercut competitor rates to attract budget-conscious travelers.
The company allows users to search for hotel availability based on destination and travel dates. It then provides a listing of properties with room types and rate options to select from, similar to most hotel booking platforms. Travelers can also further customize vacation preferences like number of guests, parking needs, comparison of neighborhoods, etc. If packages are created with a flight or car rental, all components are grouped into a single itinerary. Payment also goes through Traveluro with customer service assistance supposedly available for issues.
However, while Traveluro may deliver on the search and initial booking process like other travel agencies, the numerous complaints arise during attempts to modify, cancel or resolve problems with reservations. As highlighted in negative reviews, the company essentially offers no genuine customer support and avoids taking any financial responsibility via strict policies shielding them from reimbursements. So the backend management of anything beyond initial bookings is where Traveluro appears to falter as a disreputable service.
The overview suggests that while Traveluro might function fine for uncomplicated reservations that go smoothly, the moment any substantial issues arise with a booking, you’re on your own with essentially no assistance. And this lack of support potentially leaves travelers stranded and out money.
Why Traveluro is So Cheap?
Based on the negative reviews, here are 4 potential reasons why Traveluro is able to offer unusually cheap hotel rates and travel packages:
- Bait and Switch Strategy – Many reviews suggest Traveluro deliberately shows lower rates to attract customers, but then actual reservations end up being changed or non-existent. This allows pocketing money without providing services expected.
- Hidden Fees – Some complaints mention additional hidden fees tacked on after the booking process that inflate the true prices. This dishonest marketing allows advertising enticing low prices that rise later.
- Lack of Customer Service – With virtually no functioning customer support, Traveluro saves significantly on overhead costs associated with personnel to handle reservations, modifications, and issues. These savings mean cheaper base rates.
- Refusal to Reimburse – The company appears to avoid refunding customers at nearly all costs. Even with reasonable situations for compensation, denying reimbursements avoids revenue losses. This maximizes profit margins relative to ethical agencies with more fair cancellation policies.
In essence, by utilizing deception in its advertising and billing processes, neglecting customer support, and refusing to cover travelers’ losses in scam reservation scenarios, Traveluro manages to keep published rates artificially low. But ultimately customers pay the price through financial disputes, wasted time, and ruined vacations stemming from an unreliable booking provider.
Is Traveluro Legit?
Is Traveluro Legit? based on information we collect from various sources including forums such as Reddit, sitejabber, trustindex, Trustpilot. We found so many negative reviews.
Multiple negative reviews and alarming complaints raise immediate red flags regarding the legitimacy of Traveluro’s services. One of the most common issues mentioned is customers arriving at hotels to suddenly find no reservation was ever made, despite Traveluro having charged their credit card. This bait-and-switch scam approach indicates outright fraud—simply taking people’s money without providing the purchased travel accommodation.
Numerous reviews go on to describe practically nonexistent customer support when problems predictably ensue. Travelers report inability to reach any customer service agent by phone no matter how long they remain on hold, while emails and refund requests are purely ignored. For any established, reputable travel agency, such lack of communication and resolution would be inexcusable. Yet for a fraudulent business, avoiding interaction allows continuing to dupe consumers and offer no form of compensation.
Making matters worse, in the rare instances Traveluro does respond to reservation problems, they refuse to help travelers or provide refunds. Instead they hide behind stringent cancellation/change policies meant to protect themselves by avoiding any accountability or financial liability. This mistreatment and disregard for customers represents unethical, dishonest practices solely concerned with denying reimbursement.
With no shortage of documented accounts across third-party review sites detailing financial loss, wasted time, and ruined travel experiences, Traveluro exhibits too many warning signs to be considered legitimate. The overwhelming pattern of negative reviews exposes a common bait-and-switch scam trapping travelers into paying for hotel rooms that were never actually booked. Add in deceptive advertising of rates and nonexistent customer support, and Traveluro appears an outright fraud travel agency failing to deliver services as promised.
In summary, the sheer volume of bad experiences with deceptive policies, phantom reservations, and denial of reimbursement urges all consumers to vehemently avoid using Traveluro. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests it is at best an unreliable booking source and at worst an outright scam travel site ready to pocket travelers’ money while leaving them stranded. With so many hospitality options worldwide, simply using a more reputable agency can prevent the loss of hard-earned money and vacation time.
What are people saying about Traveluro?
Here is a summary of what users and reviewers are saying about their experiences with Traveluro:
Negative Feedback & Warnings
- Numerous complaints about arriving at hotels to find no reservation was actually made, despite Traveluro charging their credit card already. This bait-and-switch approach comes up frequently where people’s money is taken with no actual booking fulfilled.
- Many people describe the customer service as completely useless and practically nonexistent. Calls go repeatedly unanswered, people wait on hold indefinitely before eventually being hung up on. Emails and refund requests are outright ignored.
- Travelers learn that when legitimate troubles occur with the reservations, Traveluro refuses to help or provide refunds. The company hides behind strict policies meant to avoid any sort of financial accountability.
- Some users mention additional hidden fees tacked on after booking or double-billing incidents further inflating prices. This deceit and lack of transparency around total costs angers customers.
Positive Feedback
- Very few positive reviews exist, but some mentions of the site delivering on straight-forward reservations with decent room rates if no issues emerged. Though still warnings to confirm bookings.
In summary, the overwhelming consensus based on bad experiences is that Traveluro cannot be trusted as a travel booking platform. Between bait-and-switch scenarios, nonexistent customer service, and refusal to reimburse, most reviews adamantly warn other consumers to avoid using their services altogether.
Conclusion
After analyzing the multiple negative customer reviews and complaints from various sources, I would conclusively state that Traveluro does not appear to be a legitimate or reliable online travel agency. Too many red flags indicate it likely functions as a scam service rather than a trustworthy booking platform.
The most damning evidence is the sheer number of travelers reporting arriving at hotels only to find no reservation was ever actually made, despite Traveluro having charged their credit cards. This bait-and-switch tactic points clearly to fraudulent conduct – essentially stealing consumers’ money while failing to provide the purchased services.
Additionally, Traveluro seems to offer no genuine customer support, with calls going unanswered, hold times exceeding 30 minutes without reaching representatives, and emails/refund requests simply ignored altogether. These behaviors allow the company to continue getting away with duping customers out of money for phantom reservations. Even when rightfully expecting reimbursement or compensation for problems, Traveluro hides behind strict policies meant to provide no recourse.
Between the fraudulent booking practices, nonexistent service when issues arise, mistaken charges, and blanket refusals to refund affected customers, Traveluro exhibits far too many red flags to be considered reputable. No legitimate travel agency could remain in business whilst demonstrating such gross negligence and outright scamming of customers.
In summary – the evidence overwhelmingly suggests consumers should vehemently avoid using Traveluro for any and all travel bookings to prevent inevitable headaches. While their website may advertise enticingly low rates, it primarily functions to trap unsuspecting travelers into paying for non-existent reservations. Simply put, Traveluro ultimately cannot be trusted and carries every marker of a scam in the travel industry.
