March 2024 by Annabel Finney
I have 2 complaints in with them at the moment but don't hold my breath for any resolution. I have just returned from Kenya safari, it was sold to me as a very small exclusive trip of a lifetime, firstly after telling me there was only 2 spaces left (in my opinion to pressure me to book there and then) they added another jeep so 6 more people without informing us at all, this stretched the holiday so far we were on different flights and it was not the casual relaxing experience it would have been with the 7 people as promised. Following on from this all of the itinerary was out, and I mean hours out, getting to the hotel too over 3 hours not the 1.5 approx stated meaning we missed lunch and arrived very dehydrated after having no water or Aircon on the journey. for the 3 days safari we spent 10 hours in the car the first day completely missing one of the nature walks, the next 2 days we were in the car between lodges for at least 6 hours a day. We spent a total of 4 hours of the 3 days actually on safari dives or a walk. I'm not going to write about the hotels or safari company here as this is a review of friendship travels service. The icing on the cake was they had given us all including the rep out there the incorrect flight times and reference on our itinerary, it turns out we were all on different flights and found this out my checking with the airline! Our flight was very late in the day and the last hotel we had to check out at 10am didn't have any air con areas at all in 33 heat! We had to sit as best we could in the shade for 4 hours to try and keep cool, we also had to pay for lunch on this day which wasn't stated. As the flight was later than we were told by friendship travel (16.45 on my itinerary) but then moved to 18.45 without friendship informing me and then Was delayed by an hour which is obviously the airline but meant we got to the final hotel at 10pm too late for dinner and have to be up for 5am to fly! It was the most disorganised tiring experience and the age demographic was quite a lot older than me (a good mix and everyone was lovely) but with a few health problems and I'm just so relieved no one got seriously ill. I'd definitely recommend this type of holiday as the people I met were lovely but I would not in anyway recommend traveling with friendship. I work in the retirement industry and I find the way they operate incredibly concerning.
August 2023 by helen hardwick
Fab holidays with FT
July 2023 by nicky mccallum
Worse travel company I have ever dealt with following a trip booked to Kenya as part of the travellers group chat it was mentioned a traveller was having problems obtaining a visa on line, with the balance due nothing had been mentioned by this company about obtaining a visa , I then tried to obtain a visa myself on line which I was unable to due to documents not uploading, I contacted the friendship office and was advised that I could obtain the visa on arrival,I looked on line and this was infact incorrect information that they had given me in there office,a visa needs to be obtained prior to travel ,I re called the office who said they would now help with this,I questioned why we had not been informed we needed to do this online and they said they let people know 2 weeks before travel I pointed out that considering the complications in obtaining one 2 weeks is really insufficient time for people to be informed of this , to be honest they seemed more concerned about receiving there balance to which i explained I would not be paying until I was confident I would obtain a visa. The woman Karen was actually quite frankly rude and told me if I didn't pay the balance by the following day my holiday would be cancelled and that the visa could be dealt with at a later stageConsidering the problems occurring withthe visa and also the incorrect info they had originally advised me In the office I certainly lost all trust and confidence in this company and was certainly reluctant to pay further money without the visa assuredSubsequently I didn't pay the balance and they immediately cancelled the holiday to which I will now be seeking to claim my deposit back due to misleading and misguided informationSo.people beware before using these clowns they only interested in your money ,disgraceful
December 2022 by Elaine Sloan
Staff very friendly & helpful, had many fantastic holidays
August 2022 by Andrew
Friendship Travel are certainly one of the best singles provider. Very helpful lady called Helen on the bookings side of things is always warm and friendly.
August 2022 by Jeremy Wyett
Excellent company, been on their holidays and always had a good time.
July 2022 by Corinne Dear
My short break in Marrakesh was lovely overall. The hotel rooms we're good, as was the service, and the hammam. The local ref Tim was very helpful and local guide Said was exceptional. The hotel food was awful, and the journeys to and from Marrakesh were utterly dreadful.anywhere..
May 2022 by Derek Neilson
Superb service as always
March 2021 by pauline kelly
Holiday cancelled ìn May 2020 still waiting for a refund...
March 2020 by Barbara Bispham
The Ionian Hill Hotel was excellent. Great accommodation and views, great staff and service by ALL staff. Wonderful food. Jayne the host was excellent. Nothing was too much trouble and she was available at any time with her efficient friendly service. Transfers seamless and efficient. I met the MD and he was charming and took the time to say Hello to all Friendship guests. Th excursions offered were good but all 3 of the ones I wanted did not have enough people to fit the minimum numbers. However I was offered one non private tour and this was booked for me.
March 2020 by Gordon McLaren
The hotel lived up to its rating, the rooms are very spacious with excellent on suite facilities including a large walk in shower and a balcony or terrace. The staff could not have been more helpful from the cleaners to the bar and restaurant staff. Rooms were kept spotless and bar staff got to know who drank what very quickly and were very cheerful and attentive. The private beach and bar area are well looked after with a small stage for evening entertainment. There are also various restaurants where the food is in plentiful supply with an a la carte menu and buffet available in the main restaurant. All in all an excellent place to spend a holiday.
June 2015 by Meng X.
Be very aware to book ticket with Friendship Travel!!! I just had a very bad experience with them. There were so many hidden traps that they don't tell you in front till you found it out when it is too late! I can show you all the emails between them and me about the problems I had encountered with than for the tickets to China that I booked though them. My email is
[email protected]. Doing it this way is just to insure you that my post here is a real review about FT. I wIsh this review would help others not to fall into their traps again. And wish FT cares about their reputation for their business. A business will only be successful by giving a good service to people, not a trap!
November 2013 by Hairy O.
Beware of booking a holiday with Friendship travel, I have been away with them before but not again, whilst the holiday itself was OK I find that dealing with office and booking staff to be a major headache that I strongly recommend against. Last year I booked with them but found documents and e-tickets etc that they claim were sent never seemed to arrive until I chased them up. This I thought I would try them again but when I have phoned them to book I have had excuses about locked computers and staff being at tea with promises to phone back, no calls have ever been received. I tried again after a break when a particular holiday fitted in with work commitments to book but got a quote back thet was over £700 more than the original. When queried I was told they had changed hotel but they had not bothered to include a note regarding the price hike although a week later the original hotel and price is still shown on the company's website. All they would say is that al prices are shown as 'from'. A change from £2443.50 to £3232.50 is a mighty big from.
January 2012 by Qype User (SJB7?)
I went on safari with FT last year. The customer service was non existent. Clearly nobody from FT had done a recce they couldn't answer anyone's basic queries before the holiday eg vaccines required, recommended clothing, mosquito protection or amount of money to take, and had a cavalier attitude to complaints afterwards. I'll never use them again.
