UTO VacationReviews 36

Company is a fraud. Fully paid for my November 2023 vacation in January 2023. Uploaded all required docs on company's website months ago just to learn that they cancelled it due to missing docs without any notification. Money non refundable but can be used as a credit toward your further vacations. Credit never issues, other travel deals are much more expensive and scam as well. Now I see other reviewers just like mine. SCAM!

Like the most recent complaints, our family was also victim to UTO Travel and we hope others will see this and realize the company is a complete scam. We booked our China trip right before COVID shutdown. We patiently waited and even paid extra fees to move the date out. We NEVER got any communication from UTO. The only time they would reach out was when we emailed. Please take note: Reputable agencies will bend over backwards to keep their travelers well informed. We kept going back to our travel to check on the updates. We were told (on 2/21/23) we would be notified when travel was reopened and the booking was moving forward. That never happened. There is no way my husband and I BOTH had emails that were not received. We checked on 9/4/23 to see that the trip was re-opened. We inquired via online chat only to be told we were too late and could not go on the trip because too much time had lapsed! I asked why were not notified and they 'said' emails were sent. I asked for dates and proof which were not supplied. I asked if the agents had phones because they should have called as well. The customer service was incredibly bad. I told them that to make this right they needed to offer us the same trip at the same price. They would not do it. They knew the trip was booked at a lower rate and would no longer be profitable for them. Long story - we lost our trip. The only offered a travel credit but I don't trust this company to take me overseas. There is no telling how horrible that would end up. Please - PLEASE- Please be warned! Do not throw your money away. I hope they realize how much travel they are losing because of their dishonest practices and plethora of bad reviews.

If I could give a "0" I would

If I could give a "0" I would. I booked this trip in Oct of 22 for travel in Nov 23 to China, Thailand and Cambodia and paid in full. I uploaded all passport copies on 28 March and today I found out that my trip is cancelled as I didn't submit the copies as requested. I used their website to submit them. I've been on the phone with them for over a week and though these copies where due NLT the 12 June, I checked and saw that they were not posted as they should have been and they say that there is no record of them ever being submitted. They will not give my money back and will only issue a travel credit. So, now I have to book a more expensive trip and use them to spend my credit. I have traveled the world for 41 years and thought I new all of the ins and outs of travel, but this one takes the cake and they will not work with you. DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY MONEY...AVOID THEM COMPLETELY! I cannot express this enough. Now, my vacation is ruined and I'm out the money. They offered me a Travel Voucher, but I've yet to see that.

They were exceptionally knowledgeable and went above and beyond to ensure that every customers felt comfortable, engaged, and well-informed.

During our tour of Iceland, it organized a visit to the mesmerizing Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. The guides' passion for the natural beauty of the country was evident as they shared fascinating facts about the glacier, its formation, and the surrounding landscape. We had ample time to explore the area, allowing us to witness the icebergs floating in the crystal-clear lagoon and capturing incredible photographs of the contrasting colors against the striking blue sky. It was a truly awe-inspiring sight that left a lasting impression.

After two years for fighting and getting told we were the ones at fault and that if we pay a little more they will give us the vacation we purchased, they finally cancelled the third trip and refused to give us a refund.
If we gave them a "five star" review they said they would give us a travel credit.
They lied and stole our money - will try and get the money back on the credit card. They are a scam outfit and likely took thousands of peoples money during the pandemic.
Stay away

*****, sold trips they knew they couldn't provide and kept our money me and my cousin purchased a vacation package from UTO Vacations that was advertised. We sent them the first two deposits as requested by the company. We completed all requested documentation. I started researching visa requirements only to find China was requiring a mandatory 14-day isolation at your own expense when entering the county. Our whole trip was only 10 days. UTO was aware of this requirement when they advertised and sold the travel packages. When I contacted UTO Vacation their response was sorry, you will have to take a credit and use toward a package that costs thousands more. When I explained we didn't want credit we wanted a refund they refused. As of this date, 05/26/23, we weren't even given a credit. They have been contacted numerous times. **** ** * ******* **** ** **** *** ******* My cousin and I are frequent travelers who will never book with UTO Vacation again. Take this as a cautionary tale and do your own due diligence instead of trusting UTO Vacation for future travel needs. All they are doing is bait and switch.

BEWARE. It looked like such a good deal. We booked in Nov 2022 for a trip in Nov 2023. Per documentation (we have copies) last payment was supposed to be May 2023. One month (April) before last payment I contacted them to get status on visas process. They claimed they had sent an email in February (that email was never received) and was told that I was dropped by the list and couldn't go to the trip (I have the chat conversations). They didn't even have the courtesy to send an follow up or send email to let us know we have been dropped. They are claiming that I "cancelled" the trip by not responding to that email and refuse to return our money. They would not admit that they cancelled us. BEWARE of this company. I have traveled to China before with another company and those deceiving practices were not used. Search the internet for other similar scams from UTO. Report them if you are one of their victims. They have been suspended by their local BBB.

I paid for a week for two people at a four-star resort in Phuket, Thailand but had to cancel because of illness. I paid for the week about 5 months before the date I was going to travel. A few weeks later I discovered I had a conflict with an important event I wanted to attend in NYC. I tried many times to contact UTO at an e-mail they sent me and to call them. I got a reply when I sent the e-mail that the address I was given did not exist. Nobody answered the phone.

About a month before my trip I became too ill to go on a long trip. I replied to an e-mail I got from someone at UTO asking for my flight number and other information asking for a credit to use for another UTO vacation.

I got a reply that because I was cancelling less than a month before the vacation they not only would not give me a credit but they were going to charge me a penalty. I assume UTO will try to charge my credit card their "penalty," but they will not be successful because banks do not pay when anyone other than a credit card holder submits a charge to be paid. I replied that what I was told UTO would do is outrageous since they could sell my rooms, which I already paid for, to others and make more money. Plus, I paid tips for tours I and my girlfriend were not going to take and for meals for five days that we were not going to eat.

I got a response that I should have bought travel insurance. I replied that unless I get a credit for what I already paid I am going to put negative reviews of UTO on Facebook, Yelp, and instragram, and that I am going to write a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of UTO about how unhappy I am with the company. I have not gotten a reply to that but I get the feeling UTO doesn't care.

UTO is a very greedy company that is NOT concerned with keeping its customers happy. I regret that I did not read the other negative reveiws about UTO on this site. Had I read them I would not have booked a vacation with UTO. I suggest that anyone reading this not book a vacation with them either. Any decent company would at least give a person too ill to travel a credit.

Please read the Better Business Bureau complaints about this company. There are so many of us who have been scammed. UTO advertises very cheap vacation packages, requires a hefty deposit, claims your trip is protected and will be rescheduled in the event UTO cancels, then wriggles it's way out of having to honor that claim by saying the trip cannot be rescheduled and gives you travel credit (if you're lucky) to apply to far more expensive vacation trips. If you want to cancel, they keep your deposit in its entirety. In the rare event the trip happens to actually occur, expect hundreds of dollars of last minute "fuel surcharges" and "mandatory tips" along with cancelled tours and accommodations that do not meet up with what was advertised. Classic bait and switch.

My specific experience involves breach of contract, where UTO completely changed up the agreement we had made. They put me in a no win situation, where I was given 3 choices that had to be decided in extremely short notice: 1) either required to pay the full remaining amount due for the trip within 10 days of the email notice they sent in February 2023, although our agreement was that the final amount due wasn't until May 2023 and the trip is set for November 2023, 2) I can decline to go on the trip, though they are no longer giving travel credit, but may do so if I can prove a special circumstance that I can't travel in 2023, or 3) cancel and request a refund. I wanted option 3, but was told that I could not get a refund because the terms of the agreement were if I cancelled I owed them $1200. Now, that was a brand NEW cancellation fee they just added in February. The original agreement made in October 2022 was that cancellation would result in a $499 fee. Either way, I'm screwed if I cancel, and my point is that UTO illegally changed the terms of the agreement without my consent.

Now, I really wanted to go on the trip, but it wasn't financially possible for me to conjure up the total amount due on such short notice. Also, I am wary of the reviews made by others who continued to give UTO more and more money, only to be left with emptier pockets than mine and still no vacation to show for it. So options 2 or 3 were the only options reasonably available to me. I have chosen option 2 and will see what happens. At least then my money isn't forfeit and if the business is shut down I might be able to get some of it back. Meanwhile, I'm organizing with the many others who have been scammed by this company. Feel free to reach out to me here via comment or DM. Safe travels, stay UTO free!

Also read some of the reviews on TripAdvisor where UTO responded. The responses are condescending, mean spirited, and unprofessional. Especially a response to a customer named Cara, where UTO basically called her mentally challenged. I have screenshots of that if UTO tries to delete it. At least they were civil with me.

Would give 0 stars if I could. Booked a trip to Japan and China which they cancelled. They did not follow their own Terms and Conditions and would not rebook me at a different date or refund me. Would only give credit (and every trip was conveniently way more expensive).They are suspended by the Better Business Bureau because they violate their own terms. DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM! IT IS A SCAM!

I booked this trip two years ago and paid my deposits totally $299 in good faith. I rescheduled due to Covid. However, due to China's Zero covid policy, the war in Ukraine and numerous other issues, I decided to cancel my trip.

I requested a refund as this company, despite their policy, DOES issue refunds. However, when it came to me, they decided that they did not have to. They said that I could not cancel and receive my refund. We went back and forth and I told them I wanted to cancel but wanted my refund.

Today I get an email from Carmen notifying me that she has canceled my trip without my authorization and that I would not be receiving a refund. She also threatened to charge additional fees to my card unless I replied and stated not to. Last I checked, companies did not get to unilaterally cancel trips, to keep the monies paid to date and to steal money from customers for services not rendered.

Stay far away from this company.