Reviews

Review Details

• Review fromStephanie W

  Date: 18/11/2023

  1 star
  Indus Travel Falls Short on Every Front: I recently entrusted Indus Travel to plan the administrative details for a special college graduation gift – for my son who just graduated from Uni. Regrettably, what was supposed to be a joyous occasion turned into the WORST travel experience of our lives!! I am compelled to share my dismal experience with Indus Travel in the hope that others avoid the distress we endured. From the outset, the communication from Indus Travel was sporadic at best, leaving us in the dark about crucial aspects of our trip. Upon arrival in both Thailand and Qatar, the first glaring issue emerged – we were not picked up at the airports as promised. This left us stranded, exhausted, and frantically trying to rectify the situation with NO assistance from Indus Travel (the emergency numbers they provided if travelers get stranded didn't even work. One was a fax number and the other was someone who didn't answer after several back to back calls). The absence of a seamless airport transfer significantly tainted our initial impressions of the trip. But, the letdown didn't stop there. Despite having pre-booked hotel rooms through Indus Travel, we were appalled by the first hotel informing us they didn't have our reservation so we had to pay out of pocket. On top of that, the subpar accommodations fell far short of their claims of offering "superior" lodging. Dingy rooms and lackluster amenities made our stay far from the superior experience we were promised and paid for. Indus Travel's failure to deliver on its promises, the lack of attention to detail, poor communication, and disregard for customer satisfaction have shattered any trust I initially placed in this travel agency. I would STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST choosing Indus Travel for ANY travel plans. Save yourself the disappointment and frustration – look elsewhere for a travel agency that values its customers and takes pride in delivering on its commitments. Tino ***** was the most HELPFUL!!
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 14/12/2023

  We thank you for your feedback. We are sorry to hear about the issues you encountered during your tour to Thailand and Doha. We understand that you were charged the first night of hotel in Phuket due to a clerical error between our local operator and the hotel and we appreciate that a refund was arranged as quickly as possible for you we understand how frustrating that must have bee. Regarding a request for two separate beds, we send those requests through to the hotels however it can transpire that this does not filter down to the reservations desk and they provide an incorrect room configuration. Usually, the hotels will quickly correct this error once it has been advised. We were informed that you were provided with twin rooms wherever possible. We are disappointed to learn that the ****** hotel in Doha was unsatisfactory. We reviewed and cross referenced it with online reviews and their standard is considered superior (equivalent to a 4-star) with a great location. We appreciate that the hotel did not meet your expectations and are currently in communication with the hotel regarding the issues you faced. We hope that you were able to connect with the hotel staff regarding the room issues. We understand that you were moved to another room, and we hope that ultimately this room was satisfactory. Please do note that we provided you with the same hotels that we advertise on our website so we are unsure of what you mean by the discrepancy between what was promised and the reality. We do appreciate that you were unhappy with the standard of the room in Doha and as previously mentioned have taken note of this. We received trip reports from both our local suppliers in Thailand and Qatar regarding the issues with your transfers and are making some changes to the process to ensure that this does not happen in the future. We appreciate your bringing these issues to our attention. Thank you again for taking the time to provide us with your feedback.
  

• Review fromRoy A

  Date: 07/11/2023

  1 star
  NEVER NEVER NEVER SIGN WITH INDUS TRAVELS I don’t normally post reviews, but for Indus I’m going to make an exception. I didn’t post anything after the first bad trip, which I wrote off to they were just having a bad day. But after the second trip I realize more people have to know. On the first trip, in 2019 to Peru/Mach Pichu …, I booked the trip and INDUS cancelled for some reason. But another similar, one day shorter trip, was available, same money, minor date change. I accepted as I hadn’t yet made any commitments for travel, hotels, etc. But I’d paid for a number of optional excursions that were now mostly included in the new tour. When I asked for a corresponding adjustment in the price, they refused for reasons that made no sense; it was obvious they considered my money theirs. After 10 or more emails I gave up on the issue as it was only a couple hundred dollars. As for the trip, while I enjoyed the sites and accommodations, there is one thing that separates Indus from all the other tours I’ve been on, and that is there is no continuity in the guides. In the 10 days, we had 6 different Indus guides for 8 of the days and for two days we had totally independent private contractors. Not a good experience as buses drop off portions of the customers at different restaurants depending on who contracted them, I toured Machu Pichu entirely on my own as I missed the handoff between the contractor who put us on the train to the other unknown contractor we were supposed to find at the other end in the chaotic crowd. Don’t get me wrong, I probably enjoyed it more this way, but such errors are inevitable without a continuity of guides. 2nd trip continued on subsequent entry
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 08/11/2023

  Hi Roy, Thank you for letting us know about the tour to Peru that you took back in 2019. With regards to the various guides. We do mention on our website page that we use the services of local guides. We appreciate that you feel that this hindered the enjoyment of your trip and we take note of that: Please note that this tour will be locally escorted. We strongly believe in using guides with special regional knowledge at the destination and therefore experienced local experts will handle your sightseeing arrangements in each city. In addition, they will offer suggestions for your free time, recommendations for local restaurants, and insider tips so you can experience the destination the way a local would. While every city may feature a new guide, each with strong ties, unparalleled access, and invaluable information about the destination, you can rest assured that you will also be taken good care of during your transfers within the country. When flying; local guides will receive you as you arrive at the airport so you will be in knowledgeable, safe hands the moment you arrive in a new city. During land transfers, you will have a dedicated driver available for any questions you may have. With regards to cost differences for the tour - as its from 4 years ago its not possible for me to completely clarify but when reviewing the original tour you booked - the original tour was much less expensive as it did not include most of the sightseeing (these were optional add ons) that was included with the Best of Peru tour that you were able to switch to. This is the likely reason that no refund could be provided. Although both tours were going to Peru - they had very different inclusions so its not really possible to compare the two. I hope this helps clarify although as mentioned its difficult for me to comment on a trip that occurred 4 years ago.

• Review fromLynn R

  Date: 22/10/2023

  5 stars
  We do not normally travel with guided tours but myself and my wife decided to try it for this trip to ********** due to lack of planning time. This was such a good experience! ****** with Indus was very helpful in guiding us through our booking process and helping us prepare for the trip. Our tour manager **** was very knowledgeable and really cared about everybody on the tour having a great experience in his country. Our tour group only had 14 people in it, and we were all *************** by the end of our 2 weeks together. The hotels were very nice, the food was good, and the wildlife was phenomenal. I would definitely recommend Indus Travels to anyone considering it!
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 30/10/2023

  Thanks ****! I just got back from Costa Rica too and loved it! So much wildlife and the scenery is beautiful. Its wonderful to learn that you had a good group and ended up being like a family. That can really help make some great memories. We will let Monica know that you appreciated her assistance. We hope to see you travelling with us again soon.

• Review fromDennis L

  Date: 18/10/2023

  5 stars
  We do not normally travel with escorted tours but decided to try it for this trip due to a lack of planning time. I was also slightly skeptical about booking with Indus having read some not so good reviews but the itinerary and price was too good. ********** was much more than I assumed. This was such a good experience! ****** with Indus travels was very helpful in guiding us through our booking process and helping us prepare for the trip. Our Indus tour manager **** was very knowledgeable and really cared about everybody on the tour having a great experience in his country. Our ********** tour group only had 14 people in it, and we were all *************** by the end of our 2 weeks together. The hotels were very nice, the food was good, and the wildlife was phenomenal. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone considering it!
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 22/10/2023

  Hi ******,So glad to hear you had a fantastic time in **********. We will make sure to let **** know about your positive feedback. I am sure he will be very happy. ********** is indeed such a great place to see wildlife. I hope you were able to see sloth! I think they are my favourite.

• Review fromPamela N

  Date: 15/10/2023

  1 star
  This is a **** *******. I was on a tour in Europe in the spring and it was a complete waste of money. They **** about the hotel accommodations, meals, transfers, type pf tour and everything in between. After writing to them three times, and calling numerous times, they did not have the courage to even respond. A complete *** ***. Run form this company. They don't deliver the tour as described and promised.

• Review fromSherry H

  Date: 20/09/2023

  5 stars
  We are just back from the ******* trip with Indus Travels. This trip was fantastic. My wife and I are indeed quite pleased with the entire trip. ********** very beautiful. We saw more than what was in the itinerary. Tour guide **** was great, no doubt about that. Elle made few stops on the way where the scenery was perfect for pictures or just for enjoying nature. The actual tour started on the morning of day 2, after breakfast. We did not feel rushed when we went sightseeing. Lunch was arranged for us when we were in remote places. I still remember best lamb burger i had at one of the falls. Every day, we were in the hotel before 6 pm so that there was enough time to rest/sleep after dinner or go outside for a walk after dinner (it was bright even after 8:30 pm in September). The local people are very friendly and all of them speak English. We have made many trips with Indus Travels in the past and we have not been disappointed and we plan to continue to use Indus Travels in the future.
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 10/10/2023

  So lovely to learn that you enjoyed Iceland so much. Its such a beautiful country and so photogenic. We are looking forward to hosting you again soon.

• Review fromFrank S

  Date: 08/09/2023

  1 star
  *************** ********* – watch out! We booked a ******** tour package in November, for July 5 departure. Total price (for Land and Air) was $4,524. Website says “Guaranteed Departures”. Hah! We were informed in May (almost 6 months after booking!) that the July 5 tour was cancelled, but we could go July 19 instead. They had never actually issued our flight tickets. Trouble is, we had already booked an extra week in *******, starting July 12. So now we had to change to Land Only, and get our own flight tickets. But then Indus charged us their May prices (for Land Only) $3,726 – much higher than their November rates when we had originally booked. That’s only $800 less than our original price, but now with No Flights included! We certainly could not get return flights ******* ** ****** for 2 people for $800.!! This trip cost us way more than we had planned on, because of this *************** operation. Watch out!
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 14/09/2023

  Hi *****,We absolutely appreciate your frustrations but please note this was not bait and switch. You were originally booked on an early July departure, and we did advise that it required a minimum number of participants to operate. Unfortunately, the original date you booked didnt operate and we offered you the option to transfer to another departure date later in July. In your emailed reply you mentioned that you had made arrangements in ******* so would look at the new July date but would prefer to opt for land only and that you would make your own flight arrangements plus we also offered you the option of a refund back to the form of payment you used when making your initial booking. As you can see this is not bait and switch. You advised that you would move forward with transferring to the new date. I understand from the notes on the file that you wished for a special discount to match similar rates we had in November ****************************************************************************************************** 2023. We do hope that ultimately you enjoyed your time in ********.

• Review fromTony Z

  Date: 03/08/2023

  1 star
  This is the worse ***** company in the world. We had a trip to Morocco just Covid-19’s happened. We asked to cancel the trip and be told no refund but only credit. As we disagreed and contacted our credit card provider. Due to this reason, Indus charged us two families $1000 each. As customers we have the right to dispute any transaction we did not happy with. Who gave you the right to charged back your customers. Pls take our lessons and make sure to avoid have bad experiences in the near future.
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 22/10/2023

  Hi ****,We are sorry you are disappointed but please note that your original credit was for the full amount that you have paid to us but after the chargebacks you requested to have your credit reinstated. In order to do that, there is an administrative fee to reinstate any credit. We know that members of your group were working with ****** to book a new trip so that you could use the credit you do have. Hopefully we will see you travelling with us soon.

• Review fromHazel S

  Date: 22/07/2023

  1 star
  Felt compelled to write up a review to help other travelers and hopefully avoid the aggravation we experienced booking with Indus Travel. We used Indus Travel for travel to Europe for 8 family members bec it was recommended by a relative, only to find out later that she had stopped using them due to similar problems we encountered. 1) E-mails & phone calls are not answered or returned. It took 3 months from initial call to booking before we got to finalize our booking. After that, the customer service quality continued to spiral down. The quoting process was easy and received better response, but once we committed, getting help was a challenge. We almost gave up but we were so far along in our travel planning. No return calls fr supervisors either. Almost had to beg for their attention as this was a trip of a lifetime for us. There is an obvious lack of care by the people who work there. Never have I experienced such a bad customer service. My account was transferred to 3 different Destination Specialists and all of them provided very minimal help. When I finally got a hold of someone, I was told that she knows to return my call but she hasn't had lunch so she will have to call me back. Extremely unprofessional. 2) Indus Travel outsources the actual tour guides to other companies (in our case, it was Europamundo). Therefore, getting assistance from them, especially when the tour bus did not show up one morning, was zero. Quality of tours are so-so. We were lucky to have one friendly tour guide. The other tour guide was rude and unfriendly. When the tour bus didn't show up, leaving all of their tour passengers waiting in the hotel lobby for hours, we were not provided with any updates. 3) Hotels: the hotel reservations were not finalized until 1-2 days before check-in. Bec we came in a couple of days earlier, we got on the plane not knowing where we would be staying. It was very stressful. I hope management provides much-needed customer care service training.
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 24/07/2023

  Thank you for your feedback. We are sorry you felt that out customer service didnt meet your expectations. We will review our best practices and see how we can improve. We usually have one person work with you pre booking but of course that will depend on if you continue to communicate with only one person or use or chat/phone system which will mean that you will end up talking with anyone on the team. Post booking your trip would be handled by only one person. I see that there were many emails back and forth from February onwards, not long after you booked. Again we will review our practices to look for ways we can improve our service. Yes it is true that this tour is not operated by Indus but by a company that provides a wide variety of tours in around Europe. Part of their operations is to provide the final hotel list only days prior to travel and we do understand that can be frustrating for our guests. We are sorry to learn that you had some issues while on one of the tours. We will ask the supplier to do a review to let us know what happened on your tours.Thank you again for providing us with your feedback. We appreciate both positive and negative feedback as this helps us ensure we know when we have things right and the areas where improvements need to be made.

• Review fromDerrick S

  Date: 24/02/2023

  1 star
  Used Indus to go to ****. Got confirmation on flight, resort, and cruise. Then later told cruise will not honor price and I would have to pay a lot more to go. They would not refund what I paid to them at that point. Even though I rec'd a confirmation and pricing, they did not honor it because the cruise booking was full and now will not honor Indus discount. Indus should honor the confirmation they sent and be honorable. I recommend travelers do not use Indus because of this and other comments mentioned below.
  

  Indus Travels Inc.

  Date: 26/04/2023

  We appreciate how frustrating this was for you and could we have absorbed the additional cost for the higher category cabin we would have. The confirmation was sent out in error due to a misunderstanding with the information received from ******************. As soon as we realised the error we notified you immediately and even offered to transfer you to another date where no cost increase would be required. We understand that your dates were not flexible. We appreciate that you paid the difference and we do hope that ultimately you enjoyed your time on the cruise.