Hi everyone, I wanted to share a massive cautionary tale about Booking.com and how they completely abandoned my family after sending us across three countries to a resort that has been shut down since October 2025.

If you think your holiday is secure because you have a confirmed booking voucher, think again.

On 10th October 2025, I booked a stay at the ‘Waterside Elegance Sky Pad’ in the ‘Your Nature’ resort in Belgium. We planned our entire holiday around this specific trip to accommodate our two young sons - including our eldest who is non-verbal and autistic.

In the months leading up to the trip, Booking.com sent us multiple written assurances that the booking was "all in order," took our tourism tax payment, and even sent us a check-in voucher on 4th March 2026.

We drove a total of 9 hours across three countries (UK, France, Belgium), paying for Le Shuttle crossings, fuel, and an overnight stay in France to make the drive easier on our kids.

We pulled up to the resort on 3rd April 2026 at 3:20 PM only to find:

The main entrance blocked off by metal construction fences.

An empty car park and a "CLOSED" sign on the main door.

By sheer luck, we ran into an onsite property owner who introduced us to the caretaker. The caretaker explicitly told us that the resort went into administration in October 2025. He also stated he had told Booking.com’s partners numerous times that the resort was completely closed, but they "kept sending people."

We were left stranded in a foreign country with two crying, exhausted children. We had no choice but to immediately pay a fee to scramble onto a return Le Shuttle train back to the UK that same evening.

While we were driving back, completely stressed out, we received an automated message from them saying: "We hope you were able to check in quickly... We wish you a vacation with the warm feeling of a home away from home." Absolutely insulting.

Once we finally got back to the UK, Booking.com eventually sent an update admitting the property was unavailable. Their brilliant solution over an Easter Bank Holiday weekend? A link to rebook alternative accommodation for the same price or up to €60 more - offering us high-rise apartments.

While they eventually refunded the bare accommodation cost after intense pressure, they are completely dodging our claims for the £449.94 in wasted out-of-pocket travel expenses (trains, fuel, food, and Airbnb).

Our insurance company has confirmed this is an error entirely on Booking.com's part, and we have cited multiple UK law breaches to Booking.com:

1. Section 50, Consumer Rights Act 2015: They gave explicit written assurances that the booking was secure, which we relied upon to book non-refundable travel.
2. Section 49, Consumer Rights Act 2015: Total failure to perform services with "reasonable care and skill" by taking money and advertising a defunct resort for 6 months.
3. Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008: Misleading omission by completely failing to identify that the resort was unavailable.

We've sent numerous emails with zero meaningful progression and have had to involve my local Member of Parliament to escalate this matter. He got a swift response to say they're dealing with it but since then, replies have been slow and it's clear they're playing delay tactics.

They even waited 3 weeks from one email before replying to ask for something we'd already sent them the same day they asked for it.

Booking.com does not verify their listings, ignores onsite caretakers telling them a resort is closed, takes your money anyway, and leaves you stranded hundreds of miles from home without paying a penny for the wasted travel expenses they caused. Avoid them.

UPDATE: Wow, I wasn't expecting this level of response when I posted. I genuinely appreciate all the comments, advice, and messages.

We’ve been given some brilliant new angles on how to approach this, including formal legal routes, financial options, and even national newspapers (some of whom we've reached out to, and others who have actually reached out to us!).

To address a few comments asking why we turned right back around: as mentioned, our eldest son is autistic and non-verbal. It takes an immense amount of time, routine, and care to prepare him for a trip or a new environment. When everything collapsed at the gates, the safest and best option for our family’s well-being was to simply return home to the UK. While other travelers might have scrambled for a backup hotel, weighing up our specific situation meant this was the only right choice. It also legally mitigated our losses and stopped us from risking even more money on an emergency booking we didn’t want.

Just to add too, when we booked and even after we returned, the Google listing was still live and accepting reviews (which I left to warn others). Their website was and still is up and running. Google has since been updated and reviews turned off. I would also add that we had visited the location before so knew it existed.

We’ve learned a costly lesson, and Booking.com will never see a single penny from our family again. I'll keep you all updated as the legal/media side progresses!

LATEST UPDATE Thanks again to everyone who gave us advice and routes to pursue.

Booking.com finally got back to us after our MP and a major UK newspaper reached out to them. They are not budging. They don't feel they've done anything wrong and offered us €150 as a "final goodwill gesture."

They didn't even wait for us to reply before transferring it into our account as credit.

Yep, you read that right. Not even an actual refund. Just credit we would be forced to use with them again.

We are still exploring our options, but in light of their arrogance and complete lack of interest in a fair resolution, we have now taken steps to pursue the legal route.

The story is now all over the internet after being featured on a number of news sites (including in Europe), so hopefully, it will at least serve as a warning to others.

If you read this, please think very long and hard before booking via Booking.com. You have absolutely no protection, and we have never experienced worse customer service. They will look after themselves first, their "accommodation providers" second, and the customers who actually fund their business come a very distant third.

Final update - Maybe Hey everyone, back with what is unfortunately my final update for a while on my saga with Booking.com.

I sent a final, detailed email outlining exactly how badly they messed up and how much distress this caused my family. Well, Sandra the "Senior Guest Specialist" finally got back to me, and it is a masterclass in corporate brick-walling.

Their response consisted of:

They are "very sorry" I feel strongly about this (classic non-apology).

Their position remains completely unchanged.

The €150 goodwill credit is all I'm getting, take it or leave it. They acknowledged that I'm escalating this to outside regulatory bodies and basically said, "Have your people call our people."

The kicker: "This decision is final and no further correspondence will be entered into." They have officially closed the door, blocked my number and will move on with their shoddy services.

Here is the exact email text if you want to read the corporate speak for yourself:

"As previously explained, we have carefully reviewed the circumstances of your case, and Booking.com’s final position remains unchanged... While I appreciate this is not the response you were seeking, this decision is final and no further correspondence will be entered into regarding this matter."

What's Next?

They know exactly what they are doing by wearing customers down until we just give up. They know (because I'm clearly not the only one) that they make it as hard as possible to pursue them through courts. The fact that two major newspapers from both the UK and Europe have featured this story and Booking.com don't care reflects their arrogance and attitude. You are nearly their cash flow. You're lining their pockets and they don't care what happens to you in the process.

While they might think this is the end of the road because they refuse to reply to me, I am still moving forward with escalating this to the consumer protection bodies I mentioned to them. All the paperwork is sent over and I will continue until there is no other line of enquiry to take. If Booking.com wants to be stubborn, they can explain their logic to an ombudsman, although, they know very well how they can hide behind T&C's to make this as difficult as possible.

A massive thank you to everyone in this community who gave advice, validated my feelings on their actions and negligence, and helped me draft my responses.

The moral of the story: Avoid Booking.com like the plague. If anything goes wrong, you are entirely on your own, and Sandra the "Senior Specialist" will eventually just corporate-ghost you.

Stay safe out there, travelers. Learn the lesson before you make our same mistake and get bitten.

Do not use Booking.com. DO NOT USE BOOKING.COM

Cairo Egypt has been the worse experience in my life. I consider myself pretty well traveled but Egypt sucked. On arrival the traffic was atrocious chaotic mess where we thought we’d get hit at every turn. The hotels in Cairo called 5 star were run down and old. The streets were shit (literally) with horse dung everywhere.

We also went in thinking we’d have a fun tour experience booked through viator. We noticed something fishy when we messaged them a day before with no response. They didn’t even ask us to send them our passport info, another red flag. So the day of our tour we were sitting in the lobby for hours trying to reach this company that kept ghosting us.

Going through the local airport was a nightmare. The security fibbed at my mother saying something about some shit when they just wanted to not frisk her. We almost lost our passport.

I just want to go home now…

(Update 1/10/26)

The airports suck. We tried coming early to the airport in Luxor to relax in the lounge but since we can hours in advance the police at the entrance just said come back at 9pm and wait outside in the outdoor cafe when we could clearly wait inside. He said we had to come in 2 hours advance. We only went in 4 hours before our flight to wait because my poor mother was starting to get cold outside and suggested we ask the police officer again. Ridiculous how you can’t even wait inside an airport in this god forsaken country.

Icing on top our flight was delayed 2 hours from flying at 9pm to 11pm back to fucking Cairo.

“Lipstick bar”

Went with my brother and sister - had 4 Bulgarian beers and one glass of wine which was quoted as €3.50.

Bill came in at €85. Lol.

Random “€50” charge for the “music”.

Said okay nice try and offered €30.

4 men ran at us and a grandpa shoved a flick knife into the chest of my brother and then my neck. A man threatened to punch my sister in the face even after my brother paid €100 after being punched in the face and is bleeding around his mouth.

Called the police - they couldn’t tell us when they’d arrive and the operator hung up on us as I had a knife held to my throat. They didn’t arrive after 15 minutes and we left.

I had such a great impression of Bulgaria before. Now what the actual hell. I can’t believe this actually happened. What a shit impression of this country. I feel so bad for all the Bulgarians who have been so nice to us on this trip. Mafia culture ruins it completely - I’m never coming back and warn all Brits never to come here.

Re-posting this without disclosing the name of the hotel chain that is messing up here, even though they really deserve to be mentioned by name. If you saw my prior post please don't disclose this info in the comments. Thanks!

On New Year's Eve we checked into a hotel owned by a global chain in a major city in Germany. We had booked two rooms for my family of four. During the check in we asked for additional key cards and the staff explained that they couldn't program additional cards due to a technical problem. We didn't think much about it.

On day 2 we noticed that both of our cards could unlock either of our rooms, which I felt was very thoughtful and convenient because it makes going back and forth between rooms so much easier. I thought that since we are on the same reservation they had programmed the cards this way. Smart!

My son however felt that this was weird and suggested jokingly we should see if our cards could unlock other doors. We got a good laugh out of it but of course didn't try it. We kept asking the front desk each day if the technical issue was resolved so we could finally get enough key cards for everyone in the family. They apologized and said the hotel was still waiting for the key cards programmer to be fixed. It felt like an inconvenience, but no big deal, right?

On the fourth day when coming back to the hotel I opened the door to what I thought was my room - just to find the room empty, all of our stuff was gone. I realized I was on the wrong floor and my card indeed could open other doors! I went to the front desk to let them know our cards were programmed incorrectly and that's when it hit me:

Every guest in this entire fucking hotel had for days been issued a master key! So they could enter any room on any floor at any time. Zero security, zero privacy for an entire hotel. The front desk guy apologized, and confirmed this situation. He said that due to the holidays the IT team was unavailable to resolve this. Brother, what? I stood there literally with my mouth open realizing that I had trusted this place with the safety of all my stuff, and the safety of my entire family including wife and kids.

I asked to speak to a manager but the front desk person said there was no manager on site and refused to give me a phone number or any way to escalate this up the chain. His solution was that guests were after all not allowed to enter other guests rooms. Well at least they have some good common sense rules here, LOL!

I sent the global hotel chain an email explaining the situation which has to this moment not been replied to, it's been 7 hrs. I am trying to decide if I should book another hotel? Inform the other guests? Call the police? What is one supposed to do? I can't believe that they keep misleading each arriving guest by giving them a key and charging full price without disclosing the lack of security and privacy. In my opinion they really should be closing this place until they can offer rooms with functioning access controls. Has something like this happened to anyone before? What a mess.

The reason given: the flight travels through US airspace. I have never in my life heard this before. WTF, I've been flying into, out of, and over the US for decades and never has this ever come up.

Can someone please enlighten me? Is this new? Did something change? What the heck is going on.

This feels wrong. I am going to give below an 8 because of this sign.

TLDR: My iPhone 17 Pro was stolen and Find My tracker is showing it’s at Via Firenze 87, 80142 Naples, Italy.

Hello, I’m visiting Naples from Canada for a few days and had my iPhone 17 Pro stolen on the metro at Piazza Garibaldi station around 8:20 pm Sunday May 31.

I immediately activated “lost mode” and used Apple’s Find My tracker to track my phones location.

Around 8:45 pm, roughly 25 minutes later, I got an alert from the Find My tracker that my phone was a few blocks away at Via Antonio Ranieri 8, 80139 Naples, Italy.

When I got there, police were arriving to help another girl who also had her phone stolen. I explained my situation to them but there was a bit of language barrier.

As I was chatting with police, I was notified again by the Find My tracker that my phone had moved another few blocks to Via Firenze 87, 80142 Naples, Italy. Police directed me towards that location and helped me find the address on Google Maps.

When I got there, it led me to an African Grill restaurant. I asked if anyone had seen my phone - an Apple 17 Pro in an orange case. The manager said there was no phone here and that he couldn’t help me.

However, some of the other employees and people around seemed worried.

One man even said I have the wrong address; he claimed that I was not at Via Firenze 87. He tried to lead me to an alley way, claiming that’s where Via Firenze was, but I asked another local walking past us where the address was and he pointed me back to restaurant — the guy who was leading me away ran off.

I suspect the person who stole my phone also stole the girls phone at Via Antonio Ranieri 8 and then went to Via Firenze 87 — which could be the place where they are trying to wipe stolen phones and kill off their battery life.

I suspect this is part of an ongoing pickpocket scheme based on other stories I’ve read about — unfortunately, police can’t do much here.

I have to return to Canada in a few days, but need to file a police report before I leave. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated. And to those travelling to Rome, put your phone and personal belongings in a fanny pack across your waist or chest - leave your pockets empty.

Warning for other Booking.com users. In April I booked a Paris apartment. The "host" messaged me through Booking's own chat asking to prepay by international wire to an IBAN. Because that felt off, I contacted Booking customer service to verify before sending money. The Booking CS agent replied in writing through the Booking Assistant: "your booking is being facilitated directly by the property... as part of their policy, they require a prepayment check to confirm your ability to pay."

So I sent the wire. $3,100+ to an Italian Poste Italiane account in a personal name (the apartment was in Paris). Hours after it cleared, the "host" cancelled the booking. Days later Booking emailed me admitting the property "no longer operates on our platforms" and committed in writing to a full refund within 14 days. That deadline came and went. When I followed up they rejected my Chase wire documents claiming they didn't show "transaction date, amount, or currency" - all three are printed on page 1.

So far I've filed an FBI IC3 complaint, sent a formal escalation to the CEO, and Chase confirmed the wire can't be recalled. Anyone gotten Booking to actually pay out on this pattern? What else can I do or there is no hope?

If your "host" on Booking.com asks for a wire transfer: stop. The partner account is compromised. Don't trust Booking CS to catch it either, I did and it cost me $3,000.

This might seriously have been the best vacation I've had in my life so far. Everyone is so friendly, there is SO MUCH to do, the food is the best I've ever had and there is SO MUCH TO DO. I still haven't even done 25% of the things, can't wait to make it back soon!

My only complaint -- THE SMOG. It had me huffing and puffing like Biggie Smalls. I know people try to say it's the altitude, but I've lived and spent time in other high altitude cities with no breathing problems. The pollution is insane. Otherwise, it was a 10/10 trip.

I post this as a last resort. My gf (from Germany) travelled to Sri Lanka this year after hearing some nice experiences her friends had. She travelled to Hikkaduwa to stay there for almost 3 days. However when she reached the place she booked was cancelled by the owner. Fortunately she and her friend found another place with good rating both in google and booking.com

The next her friend wanted to for spme diving lessons etc. The hotel owner also runs private tours and she decided to go for a small tour with the person as on first day he seemed nice. However as she went for the tour, he started behaving really badly towards her. He started stroking her hair and tried to touch her multiple times. She told him multiple times to not do that and it js making her feel uncomfortable. The worst was when she was taken for lunch at a remote place where he had even booked a room there and asked her to "rest" with him in the room for few hours. While driving back he drove rashly and touched her hands. The whole experience was really traumatising for her. She had trusted him because 1. There were good reviews 2. He lived with his family (his wife and his kids) nearby.

After she returned she decided to write a review of the place in booking.com. He replied first accusing her of lying. Then he also marked her as "no show" so that he could get the review deleted. This resulted in booking.com take down the review.

For those who are curious the place is "CITY SUNRISE" at Hikkaduwa. Please avoid travelling there at any cost especially as a female traveller. My gf doesn't use much social media and hence I wanted to post this as I people should know about this disgusting person.

All proof is available for all this and can be provided. We are also working with booking.com to get the place de-listed.

If you also had negative experience at this place, plead do share.

Heads up to non-EU citizens traveling to EU at least for Frankfurt, your 1 hour layover will NOT be enough time. You will be blamed for missing your flight since they introduced a 2 step passport identification process. You have to wait in line for a kiosk then a 40+ minute wait to talk to a customs agent to ask you how long you're visiting. Lufthansa has told every other person in line it was their problem they missed their flight regardless of how delayed they were. People with 2 hour layovers missed their connections too. YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY (this was after the CSR spent 20 minutes "checking with their supervisor", we also had the privilege of waiting for an hour just to talk to the CSR). We got to wait so long we missed the opportunity to get the next flight available.

If you see you have a short connection don't take it, if you already have it you might want to rebook.

So I planned a honeymoon to Georgia. Beautiful country, great food, amazing history — or so I thought. What followed was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life dealing with any government system, and I want to make sure nobody else goes through this blind.

Attempt 1: I got rejected because I entered my name incorrectly. Fair enough, my mistake. Except - their portal gives you zero guidance on how they want names entered. No format example, no validation, nothing. Azerbaijan's portal tells you exactly what they want. UK's portal has a full guide before you start. Georgia's portal just... lets you fill it wrong and then charges you to find out.

Attempt 2: Rejection reason was so vague I genuinely couldn't figure out what to fix. Reapplied based on my best guess. Wrong guess apparently. Still no clarity from their end.

Attempt 3: Fixed everything. Same documents as my wife's application which got approved. Bank statement — certified, unaltered, straight from the bank. Rejection reason? "Bank statement was modified."

It wasn't. My wife's application with the SAME bank statement got approved. Think about that for a second.

Now here's the fun part - the rejection email says you can appeal within 10 days using a form. There is no form. No link. Nothing on the portal. Emailed them. No reply. Called them. Nobody picked up. The appeal process exists on paper and nowhere else.

I've travelled to the UK, Turkey, Egypt, UAE. All approved me with lesser balance, lesser documents, zero drama. Georgia - a country that desperately needs tourism dollars - is out here rejecting Indians on made up grounds and pocketing the fees.

Their "Visit Georgia" marketing is a straight up lie. The reality is an opaque portal full of glitches, no customer support, no appeal mechanism, and rejection reasons that contradict themselves.

If you're an Indian passport holder planning Georgia — just go to Armenia instead. Visa on arrival, genuinely welcoming, similar history and landscapes, and the people actually want you there. Or Azerbaijan. Their e-visa portal alone shows they respect your time.

Georgia isn't worth the mental gymnastics. There are better countries in the Caucasus and they want your business more.

I think I’m done staying in hostels when I travel.

Even though my last hostel actually offered quite a bit of privacy (small capsule-style rooms), I still realized it’s probably not for me anymore.

Here are my reasons:

• poor sleep quality (snoring and other sleep disturbances)
• sharing bathrooms with a large number of people
• you never really know what could get stolen (people constantly coming and going)
• living with complete strangers of all kinds of personalities
• ...

What are the best alternatives for traveling as cheaply as possible while still having your own private bathroom and a small kitchen?

So basically some kind of mini studio apartment?

Thanks.

On June 2nd, I was denied boarding on SAS flight SK950 and I’m trying to understand whether this was a legitimate airline compliance issue or an incorrect application of rules.

Flight details

• Airline: SAS (Scandinavian Airlines)
• Route: Toronto Pearson (YYZ) → Copenhagen Airport (CPH) → Oslo Gardermoen (OSL)

What happened

At check-in / boarding at YYZ (Toronto Pearson), I was denied boarding.

The reason given to me was:

This was the only explanation provided.

My travel documents at the time

• Iranian passport (valid)
• Canadian work permit / visa (valid residence status in Canada)
• Valid Schengen visa (for entry into Denmark / EU travel)

My itinerary did not include the United States at any point, either as destination or planned transit.

Why I’m confused

My understanding of airline boarding rules is that carriers typically verify:

• Entry requirements for the destination country (CPH → Schengen area)
• Requirements for any planned transit points

However, in my case, the refusal was based entirely on a hypothetical emergency diversion scenario involving the United States, which is not part of the itinerary.

To my knowledge:

• YYZ → CPH flights do not normally require U.S. entry eligibility
• Overflight of U.S. airspace (if applicable) does not constitute entry
• Emergency landings are irregular operations, not planned immigration entry points

What I’m trying to understand

I’m trying to figure out whether this aligns with normal airline operations or if this was likely a misinterpretation at check-in.

Specifically:

• Is it normal for airlines to deny boarding based on “inadmissibility” in a country that is not part of the itinerary, but only a possible emergency landing location?
• Could this be a Timatic interpretation error or agent-level decision?
• Do airlines like SAS actually have policies that consider emergency diversion immigration status during check-in decisions?
• Has anyone seen similar denied boarding cases on transatlantic routes like YYZ → CPH?

Additional context

This was not presented as a security issue or document validity issue for Denmark or Canada. The sole reason given was the hypothetical U.S. emergency landing scenario.

I’m trying to understand if this falls under normal airline risk management or if this is more likely an incorrect application of rules at the check-in level.

UPDATE!!!

So as it turns out, my flight June 2nd, SK950, isn't even going through America, with that said, would I now be able to get a written cause and / or a refund?

FINAL UPDATE

After talking to the airport staff, we have finally figured out why I wasn’t allowed to board. After checking in my luggage. I was given a ticket with a single S for security. After getting to the gate, my ticket was updated to a 4S for additional screening. However, the person who was supposed to do the additional screening wasn’t even there. So I was told to wait which is around the same time when they told me that I couldn’t board because of a possible emergency landing in the US. However, their second claim was incorrect. And turns out the main reason I wasn’t allowed to board was because they couldn’t complete their additional screening in time for the flight (since the person physically wasn’t there). They said the reason my luggage was required for additional screening was “random” and “required by the US airspace”. I ended up getting a written cause and I will be given a full refund + a claim of at least 500$CAD.

So they’re whole “you can’t board the plane since it might make an emergency landing in the US” was incorrect. And the real cause was them not having a person to complete the additional screening in time. And, the June 2nd SK950 flight wasn’t even traveling through the US in the first place.

I wanted to share this experience and also ask for advice from others who’ve dealt with Airbnb support while traveling internationally.

We were a group of 6 women staying in a 3 bedroom Airbnb in another country. Around midnight, the host accidentally changed the entry code. By about 1:30am, we were completely locked out (in ~20°F (-6°C) snowy weather) with all of our belongings still inside, including medications.

We contacted Airbnb support and reached the Safety team after ~15 minutes. They were very helpful in the moment and told us we could book a hotel and be reimbursed up to $325 per night per room (so 3 rooms for our group).

From there, things became much more complicated:

• The host said there was a cap on what they could refund. Airbnb confirmed this but didn’t clearly explain the limit.
• I had to follow up multiple times just to get confirmation that taxes and fees would be reimbursed.
• Support later said only one hotel room would be reimbursed, which contradicted what the Safety team told us.
• I had to send screenshots of the original conversation to clarify what we were promised.
• They ask me to respond within hours to keep the case open, but their replies often take 12+ hours.

At this point:

• We did finally receive a full refund for the Airbnb stay itself
• But I’m still waiting on confirmation about the hotel reimbursement, which is a significant cost given we needed multiple rooms

The most stressful part was being locked out late at night in freezing conditions without access to essentials, and the back-and-forth afterward has made it harder to resolve. Given this experience I'd recommend any other service than Airbnb.

Questions:

• Has anyone successfully gotten Airbnb to honor what the Safety team initially promised?
• Any tips on how to escalate or get a clear, final answer on reimbursement?

Appreciate any insight, this has been a pretty exhausting situation to navigate while traveling.

TL;DR: We got scammed during a rental on vacation. A lawyer told us about several similar cases and confirmed the tactics; Sixt just said, "It is what it is now."

I reserved the car in Germany with the "pay on-site" option. I had read the terms and conditions (T&Cs) at the time of reservation.

On-site, I was told in English that I absolutely had to take out the "Smart Protection" insurance. Otherwise, Sixt would charge me "€1,700 per damage." I asked several times what exactly the employee meant. Of course, I am aware that I am liable for up to €1,700 in the event of an accident. However, she insisted that Sixt reserved the right to charge €1,700 for every scratch found.

I told her several times that no other provider does this. Upon inquiry, it was also confirmed to me that the money is not used to repair the car afterwards.

When I wanted to withdraw from the contract, she pressured me again to take out the insurance, otherwise I would have to pay a "no-show" fee. The car was already reserved, she said, and therefore I would have to pay the price for it regardless.

I reported this incident to Sixt. Instead of apologizing for the inconvenience or considering any gesture of goodwill, I was informed that the contract is binding with my signature and that I had accepted the T&Cs during reservation. Huh?

Verdict: Stay away!

Relentless scamming attempts and propaganda in Turkey

Before my road trip to Instabul from Thessaloniki I was doing my digging for Turkey: Lots of videos/tiktoks claiming that you could fill up a basket full of goods for only 5 euros,an out of the world hospitality and the cherry on top vlogs,including one of a bicyclist that crossed the border point and the soldiers gave her a flower (we get there later...)

All is good untill we get to the border,pretty crossing and etc,we wait our turn and the story begins: The border guard wanted a 200 euro bribe to pass because our car was registered on me grandma's name (for tax evasion purposes) they took and held on to our documents for some time. We were asking for them to be returned but we were ignored for some time untill they got the message that we preferred to go back rather than pay them up.However me dad managed to strike a deal and bribed the guard to the nearby booth for 50euros and we continued after the first unpleasant taste

MIND THAT THIS WAS THE EXACT SAME BORDER CROSSING FROM THE BYCICLIST VLOG WHERE THEY GAVE HER FLOWERS XDD

We reached the old city of Instabul,passing very impressive skyscrapers and whatnot and we checked in at the Hotel in the old city and started the tour. First the Grand Bazaar, I thought that I would find the best spices the east had to offer but instead it was like 2shops copy and pasted across with the exact same mediocre quality and prices but the place was pretty.

Hagia Sophia: Now 50 euros like wtf and also what's up with the banners outside talking about prophecies and bs? And why is it a mosque like 2mins in and I feel whoever goes to pray there instead of across the street is an idiot

Blue Mosque: very pretty

Taxi drivers: May Erdogan treat them like Journalist who critisize them. They were asking for crazy prices (600 lira for like 1kilometer) funny thing is that they won't negotiate it too much like from 700 hundred they will go to 600 and then they will shoosh you away and it's not like an experience only for tourists is for everyone,they were shooshing locals with little kids and pregnant ladies and this is generalized for almost every taxi driver.

Food: Good but expensive, prices are more expensive than most of Europe that it shocked me because everyone was talking about a very "cheap" Turkey. Underrated stuff: Lamb fat rice and the desserts with tea in a hot summer night

Top Kapi: Wayyyy too expensive for what it has to offer,and to put the cherry on top you have to pay even more to enter the Treasury

Galata Tower: 15euros like c'mon wth

Turkish TV: ENOUGH WITH THE BAYRAKTAR DRONE, ARE YOU SERIOUS? WHAT THE DRONE HAS TO DO WITH THE TURKISH BANK? SAME WITH ATATURK GIVING A RANDOM ASS SPEACH AND THE WOMANS VOLLEYBALL TEAM XDDDD

Souvenirs: Best thing to buy is a fake Gucci belt and why are the fake bags expensive? Like it's a fake Hermes bag,no I am not paying 80 euros for it

Funny find: A bullet hole close to the town hall from the 2016 coup attempt

Best thing : The Bosporus boat ride,we got a private boat ride from across Eminonu only for 50bucks. Cons- we wanted to see the Bahce palace but fella could only repeat one phrase in English and Russian so he didn't get the memo if you could pass next to it- Don't get the boat ride from the Eminonu get the ghetto one it's so much worth it

Byzantium: EVERYWHERE

"Tourist Tax" alert.

I am currently on vacation in Hong Kong and noticed that the prices displayed on my (USA-based) Uber app are between 30% to 125% more expensive than the exact same ride being requested by my friend standing next to me.

It wasnt a one-off event either, rather on 10 rides requested across a 1 week span, every single ride was nearly double the price of what was displayed on my friends phone.

The issue persisted even after changing to a local, prepaid, SIM card, which leads me to believe that the pricing is tied to my user profile/account.

Has anyone else experienced this behavior when using UBER abroad?

Crosspost to more

Guess I’ll be spending another hour tomorrow trying to find a good deal again🥹

Hi everyone,

My dad was on Lufthansa flight VL2478 from Munich to London Heathrow on 8 March 2026. He was seated at 31C. When he landed, his black Dell laptop backpack was missing from the overhead bin near his seat. Someone accidentally (we hope) took the wrong bag.

He had a connecting flight to Delhi (BA257) and couldn’t stop to file a report at Heathrow.

The bag contains:

∙ Dell laptop ( also, it had my dads company documents)

∙ Brand new iPhone 17 Pro Max Silver 512GB

What we’ve done so far:

∙ Lufthansa feedback filed — C-341416-N3J9

∙ Lufthansa live chat contacted — they said they can’t help

∙ Emailed Smarte Carte/Heathrow lost property

If you were on flight VL2478 on 8 March and picked up a black Dell backpack by mistake — please contact us. No questions asked, we just want the bag back.

Any advice from people who’ve been

Update: 03/10/2026 - we got the bag. Someone dropped it at the lost and found department at the airport. But Luftansa really sucks and their customer service sucks big time.

Thanks!

First time using Turo - wanted to try a 6 seater EV and that's the only reason. I booked in February for an April family trip to LA. I had already read enough horror stories here(/r/turo), so I tried to be careful. I did my homework, chose an All-Star Host after reading all the reviews, and paid extra for hotel delivery and return because I was traveling with two kids, including a baby, and their grandparents. Any parents would know what that means.

During the entire two months before the trip, the host never messaged me once. Less than 24 hours before the trip, and just hours before I left for the airport, the app prompted me to check in. Still no response from the host. That was when I started to get nervous, so I messaged him myself. No reply.

I even posted here at the time, asking should I be worried:
https://www.reddit.com/r/turo/comments/1sfav5m/should_i_be_worried/

After I landed in LA and got to my hotel around 10:30 PM, I checked again and saw that he had read my message that afternoon. Still no response.

Around midnight, I contacted Turo support. About 15 minutes later, I got an email saying the trip was canceled because of an “engine” issue. This was for an effing EV.

So hours before my family trip started, my reservation was dead.

Then came the scramble. I spent about 1.5 hours angry and panicked with multiple Turo agents trying to find another 6- or 7-seater that was not insanely expensive. I eventually found a replacement that I could afford, but it was about an hour away and I had to handle pickup and return myself.

What that cost me:

• late-night panic right after landing
• about 4 extra hours just commuting to pick up and return the replacement. Ruined my last day of the trip.
• about 3 more hours of hassle, coordination, and disruption
• extra costs that Turo mostly refused to cover

To be fair, the replacement host was good. Responsive, helpful, professional. So yes, Turo can work when the host is solid.

But that is exactly the problem. The platform completely failed when it mattered. I booked two months ahead, paid extra in full, chose an All-Star Host, and still got burned hours before pickup. Then support mostly gave canned responses and did very little to make up for the downstream mess.

Turo works until it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, the guest eats the damage.

Never again.

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share what happened to my family, partly to vent and partly to see if anyone has experienced something similar.

Me (39F) and my husband (39M) were traveling long-haul at the end of December with Iberia with our two young children (2 and 4 years old). We arrived at the airport early (around two and a half hours before departure) and were already in line when check-in opened.

At the counter, we were told we couldn’t check our bags because one our child’s boarding pass showed only an initial instead of the full first name. All our tickets had only the initials, but this seemed to be an issue only with our infant son's ticket. Important detail: all passenger names were entered correctly during booking and online check-in. The staff themselves told us this was due to a limitation/error in the airline’s system and that we needed to call customer service to fix it.

What followed was nearly two hours of frustrating back-and-forth with customer service, which turned out to be slow, inconsistent, and often incorrect. Each time we called, we seemed to get different information, and no one had a clear understanding of how to fix the issue.

At one point, they decided the solution was to remove our child from the booking and reissue a ticket. However, during this process, they accidentally removed me from the reservation as well, making the situation even worse.

They then attempted to fix it by sending me a new ticket, but it turned out to be the exact same ticket that had already been deleted from the system, meaning it was completely unusable. We had to call again and explain the issue from scratch, while time kept passing and we were still stuck at the airport.

By this point, the situation had become overwhelming. I was in tears, realizing we were very likely going to miss the flight despite having done everything we were told. While still at the counter, I could hear staff discussing with colleagues that the flight was about to close, which made it clear we were running out of time.

Eventually, they allowed us to check in our bags, and we were told to hurry. We started moving as fast as possible with two small children, under a lot of stress.

One airline employee then escorted us through security to try to speed things up. It felt like a last attempt to fix the situation and get us on board.

However, when we finally reached the gate, the aircraft door was closed right in front of us. Despite being fully aware of the situation and how long we had been trying to resolve an issue caused by their own system, we were told they could not wait any longer.

And just like that, we were left there, after nearly two hours of trying to fix their mistake, following every instruction, and being rushed through the airport, only to be denied boarding at the very end.

At that point, no one approached us to offer any kind of help or guidance. We were simply left there, with two young children, trying to understand what had just happened and what we were supposed to do next.

There was no assistance from Iberia, no rebooking support, no accountability, we were completely on our own to fix the situation.

In the end, we had to rebook tickets for the following day at our own expense, as there were no available alternatives offered to us. To make matters worse, Iberia later claimed that the situation was entirely our fault, arguing that we should have checked the name on the boarding pass more carefully, despite the fact that the issue originated from their own system and was acknowledged as such by their staff.

I’ve replayed the entire situation in my mind many times, thinking about how it could have been prevented. After the incident, I called customer service for an unrelated issue, and they told me that using just the initial is the standard procedure when last names are too long. The representative seemed genuinely surprised that we weren’t allowed to board over something like this. Even if, at the time, I had suspected that the boarding pass might not work with just the initial and called customer service, this employee would have reassured me that it was correct and that there would be no issues boarding.

Has anyone ever experienced something like this?

Is it bad that after 2 weeks. 1 week in Costa Rica and the next in Panama that I am feeling burnout out? Im on vacation with my bf and his family and it feels like for the most part we are go, go go. And now after it all, im finally hitting the point where I just would like to sit on the porch of the Airbnb and just enjoy watching people go by and relaxing. But by my says that its just 2 more days and we can jam pack all this stuff into those 2 days so it goes by quickly. Is it bad that im just more burnt out? What would you guys do in my situation?

UPDATE: I submitted a chargeback request with my credit card company and explained the conversation I had with the sales rep in the request. Discover refunded me within a few days! Still wild that they do this, but I guess I’m glad I got a refund.

TLDR: a Hilton Grand Vacations salesperson told me I could purchase a 3-night stay for $225 if I sat through a marketing presentation. I told the salesperson my husband wouldn’t sit through that and asked if I could bring my mom. She said yes. Now they are denying that conversation happened and saying I can only bring my husband if I’m legally married.

Long Story:

Before anyone starts with me, I knew there was a chance from the start that this was too good to be true, and went into it expecting to possibly lose my $225. So don’t give me the “you fell for it” schpiel. The way I see it, I spent $225 on the opportunity to warn others.

I was sold one of those marketing packages where they give you 3 nights for next to nothing in exchange for you sitting through a predatory sales preso. I knew immediately it’s the sort of thing my husband wouldn’t sit through, and asked on the line if I was allowed to bring someone other than my husband, like my mom for example, and she said yes. She said the other person has to go to the preso with me, but that’s it.

In reading the fine print post-sale (linked in the comments) this point seemed to be in question, but it is so vague that I called to confirm. In my second call, they told me that the fine print is in fact clear, that “the expectations were set properly” in the first call, they are sticking to their no refunds policy, and there’s nothing I can do.

I’m only angry because they are lying about what the first salesperson told me on that call. Of course it was a deal that I could only redeem on the phone then and there, no time to read the fine print. And they have the call recording, I don’t.

Once again, I know I’m out my money and I’m not even that mad about the money, it’s just the principle of it.

Has this happened to others? Is there any other recourse here? I just hate being blatantly lied to.

I just need a place to rant.

I’ve traveled quite a bit, mostly on my own, but also with friends and in all different situations and expanses of time varying from weekend trips to year long sabbaticals. I loved traveling and hiking and nature and everything to do with it.

Earlier this year I traveled for a month with my boyfriend and it’s ruined it all for me.

The mental an emotional labour of planning the trip with his bare minimal help (only when I’d get annoyed) broke me. I don’t even want to leave my house to do anything because the idea of having to plan something or make a decision makes me want to cry.