UTO VacationReviews 36

This company UTO is a scam and they will take your money and cancel your trip. We lost $3,500.00 and they say they offer a trip credit but now they want $10,000.00 a person for a week vacation and when you pay that they will cancel that trip as well and not give you a refund but another tip credit

I would give 0 if I can. They kept my $897. I purchased a trip to China in *******. Due to travel restrictions they cancelled my trip and gave me a credit with only 18 months to use it. Super frustrated that I didn't just get my money back, since they were the ones who cancelled it. I wasn't able to rebook within the 18 months, because the price difference between the tour I had booked and their other tours was significant 10-30 X higher) and I just don't have that kind of available funds to increase my budget during those 18 months. So they just kept my money and I got nothing out of it. The tour was highly discounted, so it definitely seems like this is unethical business to lure buyers in with a good deal, cancel on them with only a credit given, that also with expiration date, which would then require them to use that credit on a higher priced deal in the future. Not happy with the way they do business at all. They are scammers, stay away as far as you can.

I would give zero if I could. I booked a tour back in 2022 to Japan and was cancelled by UTO citing Covid restriction. Wouldn't provide a full refund and only provide travel credit with an expire date. However, the I was told I could request extension if I can't book a tour I want before the credit expired. Fast forward to 2024, I contacted UTO for extension a day before my credit expire and they told me travel credit cannot be extended. I checked online and found out there are customers who booked in 2020 who was able to extended twice. So I am not sure why they told me no. I guess they can just do whatever they want whenever they want with no repercussion. They refused to talk to me on phone and only asked me to chat or email which doesn't help. Scammed me $1400 cash without having to provide any services. How is this even legal? With so many people being scammed online, is there a way we can all come together and file a class action? But right now, just DON'T book with them!

My friend and I had booked a trip from Boston to Greece. UTO had called us and asked if we would switch our departing city to New York and we said no we were already booked from Boston and we live Nearby. They then informed us that our trip would be canceled unless we paid an additional $500 towards our airfare because we weren't going out of New York. We said we already had our trip booked and paid for from Boston to Greece. They refused to let us take the trip, unless we went out of New York. After many, many conversations with this company we got nowhere. I had booked the trip through Travelzoo and called them for help, but they were Unsuccessful. So here we were a few weeks from departure time and had nowhere to go because UTO canceled our trip! We were unwilling to go to New York due to the long distance we would have had to travel to get there, not to mention the huge inconvenience, and additional expense for gas, tolls and 4 1/2 hours of driving. Plus we had originally booked our trip from Boston to Greece! We know have a credit for this company, but I would not trust them with any of my travel plans at this point. We have been scammed out of $1600 each!

This company is running a scam
This company is running a scam. I booked with them for the China Thailand Tour and received a credit of $7000 cdn for to book a trip before Sept when the credit expires. There were 10 of us in total going so approximately $17,000 of our money they have and we can't use it...The trips are overly inflated and also in American dollars. They have changed their name on the business but are still booking trips under UTO. Check on Tour Radar for trips that are more suitably priced but do not book with this company. They are booking trips but you cannot use your credit towards these trips. You cannot get your money back from visa as the 564 days has expired. You cannot talk to anyone and your emails go unanswered. It is a scam...I will never book with this company and will let everyone know my experience.I gave them a one star but prefer to just leave the negative review. What a terrible company to deal with.SCAM...I feel bad as I talked a bunch of friends into going.

Date of experience: July 08,2024

I purchased a special deal trip to China but the trip was canceled due to pandemic. My deposit was converted to credit. I am seeking a refund of my travel credit that I feel is unusable due to increased prices and misleading promotions. The company representatives, Joanna and Candice, explain that the travel credit is non-refundable and encourage me to wait for "future promotions". I have been watching their website site for special deals for almost a year now. Even if the prices of $399, $699, $899 did show up, they were impossible to be reserved and had no available dates with a calendar appearing in the browser!
I expressed my frustration over the expiration date on the credit and the lack of equivalent deals to my initial purchase. I am frustrated with the lack of fair deals compared to my initial purchase. If deals do exist and get released, I should not be checking the website daily, but instead should be emailed on priority with an offer to book such a deal ahead of other customers.

THIEVES THAT IS WHO UTO VACATIONS ARE. THIEVES, THIEVES AND SCAMMERS
Jan 2024 Couples
I booked a vacation to go to China and Japan and this company stole all our money about $3,114.00 because according to them we failed to submit the last $100 dollars. I send an email and called them to please charge the entire payment and they didn't at time. I wish a had read all of the reviews in Goodle and Trip advisor. This company is located in Canada and there are nothing but scammers. Please don't book with this company they will steal your money. The reason they don't collect the balance of $100 or $200 is with the sole purpose of stealing your money. Please read all the reiews very carefully before booking wiht them. If you want to use a company please use Gate1 Travel they are the best. Nothing like this UTO VACATION BUNCH OF THIEVES AND SCAMMERS. IF I COULD GIVE THEM A ZERO I WOULD. I can't believe that the Canadian government let them have a license to steal from hard working people. THIEVES THAT IS WHO UTO VACATIONS ARE. THIEVES THIEVES AND SCAMMERS

Run away from this company as fast as possible. It's fraudulent! Don't fall for the $299 or cheap deal, it's a scam and you'll loose your money! I'm still trying to get back $1,300 from them and they refuse to communicate. Once they get your money, they disappear! Don't do it.

We arranged and paid in full for a UTO vacation to China and Japan one year in advance.
Three weeks before departure UTO found us and canceled the trip
There after they were impossible to reach by phone or email and many hours were wasted trying.
On chat one service provider said we would get a refund and 6 to 8 weeks. Never did we receive any written communication about the cancellation or refund. Of course they did not refund our trip and did not communicate with us.
Luckily my credit card after their own investigation refunded my money.
I have read many similar reports online and the Better Business Bureau have withdrawn their accreditation.

This company is a scam. They cancelled my trip, won't give me a refund. Instead gave me a credit that will expire soon. They won't extend the credit either and said it's just not refundable period.

My wife and I were excited when we booked a China/Japan tour. We had it planned to leave in 2022. COVID happened and delayed our tour. Then we rescheduled for March 2023. Same thing - COVID required cancelling. Now I am trying to book for 2025. Nothing but expensive add ons - ALL OF THE INCLUDED COST ACCOMODATIONS AND AIR FAIR ARE NOT AVAILABLE - requiring us to pay expensive upgrades for hotel and flights.

UTO is Bait-And-Switch.

So right now, I have a $3294 credit to use before 09/02/2023 or I forfeit my money. I'm certainly not going to invest more money with company knowing that if something gets cancelled, delayed or whatever that they get $3294 plus whatever else I pay to get a trip. So, this is probably an expensive lesson / loss. Cheaper to give up the deposit/credit than to pay more money and chase it.

FYI - I had travel insurance. Insurance would not cover the cost because trip was cancelled by UTO and they gave me credit. So don't think travel insurance will cover you with UTO.

BUYER BEWARE - YOU WILL BE RIPPED OFF.

We were sent to closed venues 5 different times. Out guide yelled at participants continually. We were rushed from place to place and told taking pictures would slow down the group. We had to find our own way to and from the airport with almost no guidance. The last hotel we were booked at, although really nice, was in an area with nothing but a train stop and a mall. When I wrote this and more, Rachel responded and apologized. She said she confirmed my experience and fired the tour guide.
"Your feedback has been a wake-up call for us, as we take it very seriously. We have already taken immediate action by informing our local office in Japan to terminate Aki's employment and not consider him for future tours. We are committed to ensuring that no other customer has to go through a similar experience." Thank you for your patience and for giving us the opportunity to rectify our shortcomings. If you have any further comments or suggestions, please feel free to share them. We are here to listen and make your future adventures with us truly remarkable.

Warm regards,
Rachel"
This was what she wrote. She was happy to throw the tour guide under the bus, but was unwilling to actually make things right for me and my ruined experience. When I wrote and asked how they'd make it better for me she wrote that they weren't interested.
This is the fast food restaurant of tours. They promise you a lot, but once they get your money they stop returning calls. Prior to my departure my travel partner had a tragedy as her mother became seriously ill. Not only was UTO unwilling to work with her, they were impossible to get on the phone.
Having said this, Japan is gorgeous and the people there are lovely. I had wonderful conversations with UBER drivers and people I met in the places I visited. The food was wonderful everywhere. And, I will be going back without a tour.

UTOvacation is HORRIBLE. We purchased a 10-day vacation package to China in February 2022, for travel on November 2,2023. I made 3 payments in early February 2022, totaling $2,334. I provided all requested documentation, and waited for UTOvacation's email requesting final payment. I waited patiently for their email request, and I finally contacted UTOvacation advising that I still had not received a request, after the time I thought they would be sending it. They said, because we did not make a timely final payment, our trip was canceled. Like many other people who purchased from UTO experienced, the option they offered was a credit on another trip. Any new trip (to any of their locations) would cost a lot more. I conducted an ongoing chat with UTO for over a week and got nowhere. Because of this, I tried to get a credit card refund, but Visa couldn't help because the billing statement for the purchase was in the spring of 2022, and we didn't know there was a problem until the summer of 2023 (which is well beyond the credit card's 60-day within billing complaint time frame). During my lengthy chat with UTO, the company stated they sent a request for final payment to us. I kept EVERY email correspondence with UTO, and did not receive such a request. UTOvacation could not provide proof that they emailed the final payment request email to either me or my husband. In other words, that email didn't exist. They are definitely a crooked company and I hope people will see all these negative reviews and will not do business with them. They have already cheated too many people. Because of our early purchase, there were, at that time, no complaints against UTO. Now there are hundreds! BUYERS BEWARE!

We booked a trip in September, 2022 for a trip to China and Thailand in March, 2024. We paid in full in 2022, but now UTO is claiming we are missing documents and will not honor the booking offer a refund

The stories and major issues from our group of 14 people are so horrible. UTO should not be able to exist anymore. Even our independent guide will never work with them again. UTO purposely screwed some of the group with extra charges and canceling their return flights. What a mess. We are looking into a law suit against them. We will let you know how that turns out

We booked a trip with 40 other family members over a year ago to go to China. We have been patient with UTO vacations and have complied to all their emails. Now they are canceling our trip and want to offer a travel credit. They don't even have a vacation to use this credit!

My trip is booked out until March 2026. I decided to do the free China trip. I was excited to go. Here is where it went wrong…

This trip was booked in 2021 for their anniversary. I paid for an add on breakfast package. Mind you again, the trip is in 2026.

I like to plan way ahead and has questions about obtaining a VISA since I couldn't find info on the website. My questions stem from the requirements for a child. I could NOT get a single person on the phone. Ever.

I tried the chat they offer. I get 1 rep finally, I type my question and no reply. I'm like hello? Chat ended. I tried again. I get another rep. Since the customer e is non existent now I cannot imagine how it would be if I was out the country so now I'm not even interested in going. I just want my paid breakfast package refunded.

I'm told even though the trip is free I need to pay a cancellation penalty. Make it make sense!

Everything thing that happened to me has been written about in other reviews. Communication with Uto is very difficult. Customer support is zero. Rules change on a whim. Even a dispute lodged with Citibank (the visa I used to pay Uto) yielded no results. I basically threw $2400 into the toilet, then spent many hours trying to fix the problem and ended up with two teens who took Chinese language classes for a year in preparation for the trip of a lifetime (their first out of the country) and who got nothing for their two years of Christmas gifts that were this trip. Waste of time, money, and broken dreams.

I can't emphasize enough how bad my experience with UTO has been. They've let me down at every step. I booked a trip with excitement, but it turned into a complete mess of broken promises, no communication, and a total disregard for customers like me.
First, they suddenly canceled my trip without telling me. I was left feeling frustrated and stuck. But then they told me they'd find me a similar trip if I took down my negative review. I agreed, but they didn't keep their word.
Instead, they stopped talking to me altogether. I had no idea what was happening with my trip or if there were any other options. When I asked for a refund, they ignored me.
I had no choice but to dispute the charges with my credit card company. Oddly enough, UTO brought back my trip, but only long enough to win the dispute. After that, they canceled my trip again, without warning.
What's even more troubling is that UTO lost its accreditation with the Canadian BBB, which means they're not trustworthy. I'm not the only one who's gone through this nightmare.
This whole ordeal has been a huge disappointment, and I wouldn't recommend UTO to anyone. They've shown they can't be trusted, and other people have had similar bad experiences. Be cautious and look for better travel options.