Thomas Cook India Arvostelua 

Booked a tour for Bhubaneswar for 4 star hotel with sea view. I was offered other type of hotels. It is dragging for the past 5 days with no resolution. They do not respond to emails. Poor service. I will never choose Thomas cook

Extremely disappointing experience with Thomas Cook Forex – would not recommend
I had a very disappointing and stressful experience with Thomas Cook Forex while purchasing USD for my family's UAE trip.
On 29 September 2026, I was contacted by their executive Ishika Makwana regarding my online enquiry. After initially quoting a higher rate, she discussed it with her senior and offered me ₹95.30/USD excluding GST (₹95.44 including GST). I specifically reconfirmed whether this was the final rate, and she assured me it was. Based on this confirmation, I booked forex for four family members and paid the booking amounts.
Within an hour, I was informed that the rate had been quoted incorrectly and was asked to accept a higher rate or cancel the transactions. I refused because the booking had already been confirmed. After several calls and prolonged waiting, I was connected with Ruksar Sayyed, who acknowledged that it was a mistake from Thomas Cook's side and assured me that I would receive the currency at the originally quoted rate.
What followed was several days of poor communication, contradictory information and unnecessary stress. Calls went unanswered, documents I had already submitted did not reach the branch, and I was repeatedly asked to wait or cancel the transaction.
At one point, when I was physically at the branch, Ishika told me to “nikal jao waha se” and come back on 5 October, despite earlier assurances regarding currency availability. Later, I was told that the transaction was loss-making for Thomas Cook and that they needed time to recover the loss.
The issue continued even after payment. On 3 October, my mother made the required payment at approximately 2 PM. I immediately emailed both Ishika and Ruksar requesting acknowledgement/confirmation so that the Nagpur branch could process the transaction.
On 5 October, my mother, who is a doctor, reached the Nagpur branch at approximately 3:45 PM. She had an operation scheduled at 5 PM. However, the branch had still not received confirmation of the payment. She was made to wait for more than 1 hour and 45 minutes because of this internal communication failure, while her patient was waiting for her.
I repeatedly called Thomas Cook and requested to speak with Ritu Deshmukh or another senior executive, explaining the urgency. Instead, I was again connected to Ishika and subsequently Ruksar. Even after I explained the medical situation and the fact that my mother needed to leave for her professional commitment, the discussion remained focused on payment confirmation/cancellation rather than resolving the issue urgently.
I was told that there was no need to connect me to a more senior person because there was supposedly “no problem” and that Ritu ma'am would not come on the call and I should communicate by email.
Eventually, I received the forex, but the entire experience was unnecessarily stressful and time-consuming.
The most disappointing part is that the original mistake was made by Thomas Cook, yet my family had to spend several days following up, making repeated calls, visiting branches and dealing with the consequences of internal communication failures.
I had previously had a good impression of Thomas Cook and had even travelled with them before. Unfortunately, this experience has completely changed my perception.
I hope the senior management reviews the call recordings, emails and branch communications and takes appropriate action. Customers should not have to go through this level of stress because of an error and lack of coordination within the company.
My recommendation: think carefully before using Thomas Cook Forex, especially if you have a time-sensitive travel requirement.

My father, Mr.K. Ramachandran who is a senior citizen made a holiday package booking from the Thomas Cook Thane branch office which was a booking for my parents to travel to China.The booking confirmation ( No 3135 of 11-06-26) and advance payment of Rs 1,02,000/- was made by him. He was later informed that the VISA processing( included in the package) could not be done and they will not be receiving the visa for China. He has been following up multiple times and not received a refund as well of the advance booking amount. I request you to kindly take a look at this matter. This is a serious issue since the staff at Thomas Cook Thane office( Gladys Alvares Road) are treating customers especially senior citizens in a fraudulent manner. Very disappointing experience.

Worst pay masters to the cab drivers, especially in Srinagar

Worst experience. Is been 1 month I have been after these guys for my visa interview. I already had shared my travel plan with them as I had 2 travels planned in same month. They completely messed up and now I can only go once. Who bears the loss?? The embassy says now I don’t have enough time for processing.
My tickets, accommodation… all waste

Very disappointing experience with Thomas Cook for my recent Thailand trip. Poor coordination, inadequate support, and services not matching the commitments made at the time of booking. Expected much better from a reputed travel company. Not recommended.

We went on a fixed departure Canadian Rockies trip by Thomas Cook India. The tour was conducted by a third party provider and was good. However there were other passengers who had booked through other agencies and we found out that Thomas Cook India has charged us USD 340 per person higher than the others. Also there was poor communication between Thomas Cook and the third party tour manager who told us that he never received our contact details from Thomas Cook. We too never received his contact details though the Thomas Cook representative through whom we booked the tour told us that a whatsapp group would be formed 2 days prior to the tour.

We had taken a 15 day tour to Europe which was bad with Thomas cook from the word go. First they took initial Rs2lakhs and then there was no correspondence from them for a month. We had to call them again and again to go ahead with the visa formalities. After that they increased the euro rate exorbitantly. And they threatened us that if we do not pay the rates will keep on increasing. In the morning there was a different rate and evening it was increased.
Anyway, finally we reached Europe. The hotels were very average, too far away from the main points So we had to travel a lot in the buses. In fact 80% of our tour was spent in buses. Some days we used to travel 10-12 hours in buses
And to add to it , the tour manager Aldrin was snobbish, full of malice and very inefficient. He used to announce in the bus which only he could hear. He gave us wrong information about the trains which cost us extra money and time. Upon confronting him he started taking sort of revenge from us. Not talking in the tour, giving us rooms which lacked a few basic amenities which others used to get and once he took off the bus without us, even when we were near the bus. When the fellow passengers shouted, he had to stop the bus. He used to even tell the other passengers that let them complain, nothing will happen to him. Our tour was totally spoilt with poor lodging ( even when we paid for 4 star accommodation), poor food, bad tour manager and spending 3/4 time in Europe in buses.
After coming back we made a written complaint about the behaviour of the tour manager and demanded for action to be taken, which they assured they will. In fact all the travellers in our group recorded their bad experience about the tour and we shared the same with the company, but it’s more than two months and we have not heard from them.
In fact we read very poor reviews about Thomas cook on having a bad experience while still in tour. I only wish, we had read it before taking the tour.

If there is zero I will give zero to Thomas cook . Don’t buy forex card from Thomas cook and don’t make online payment for card reloading. I paid 15000 for mix of euro and CHF. But when I visited branch they saying they don’t get order for CHF only 300 euro is showing. How careless Thomas cook is . No customer care is responding. The branch person is trying to contact head office Mumbai but they are not responding. My time is wasting . My money is just gone from my account. And they have not received my order. Branch office server down. Pathetic situation. Don’t go to Thomas cook better card from your own bank account

Our tour no CFT2604782- Sikkim - W Bengal . We had 2 days in Darjeeling and Thomas Cook did not schedule us for the iconic UNESCO heritage the DHR Train . It was not in the itinerary , the unesco heritage nor Batasia Loop nor any of the iconic railway stations or AND WORST WE WERE NOT TAKEN ON THE JOYRIDE … none of there were on our plan . TOTALLY HORRIFIC EXPERIENCE. To add to this we 4 female senior citizens were put us in Summitel JB Park Hotel which does not have an entrance lobby . Everyday We got on and off on the broken road in the middle of bus stand and commercial vehicles all around , a garbage place right at the entrance and vehicle traffic so bad that it was difficult to get in and out of the car. The hotel location is HORRIFIC . DARJEELING TOUR WAS WASTED MONEY. REFUND US ₹10,000/ for opportunity loss and cost … we came from as far away as mumbai to have very bad hotel location and equally bad tour plan .

I booked a Leh & Ladakh group tour with Thomas Cook for approximately ₹64,000, expecting a professionally managed experience from a reputed travel company. Unfortunately, here's what went wrong:
❌ No Physical Tour Manager
On Day 1, we were informed that there would be no tour manager accompanying the group. Instead, we were assigned a "Virtual Tour Manager"—something that was never clearly disclosed during booking. Paying premium prices for WhatsApp support is unacceptable.
❌ Last-Minute Itinerary Changes
The itinerary shared during the sales process was changed shortly before departure through an email. Hotels and arrangements were modified without proper communication, making the original itinerary appear more like a sales pitch than a commitment.
❌ Misleading "Extra Toppings"
Several special inclusions promoted as "Extra Toppings" were either unavailable or never arranged. In some cases, hotel staff were not even informed about these promised benefits.
❌ Poor Accommodation Quality
Despite repeated assurances about quality stays, the accommodation at Pangong was far below expectations. The property lacked basic comfort standards and certainly did not match the premium image sold during booking.
❌ Lack of Customer Support
The Virtual Tour Manager's involvement was limited to posting daily schedules on WhatsApp. When concerns were raised, support was disappointing and unprofessional. Throughout the trip, there was no proactive follow-up from Thomas Cook regarding customer experience.
❌ Huge Gap Between Promises and Delivery
The overall experience felt like a self-managed budget trip sold at a premium price. The difference between what was promised during booking and what was actually delivered was significant.

As a frequent solo traveler who has traveled across multiple countries and extensively within India, I can confidently say that I have received better service from smaller and budget travel companies.
I will not book with Thomas Cook again and cannot recommend their domestic tours based on my experience. Travelers should carefully evaluate all promises before making a booking.
Posted in public interest. 🚫✈️

Poor planners, hopeless organisers, unprofessional!!! For my group tour to Kashmir in May 26, they comitted blunders at every stage.
At the last minute hotels were changed without consent. Withiut informing us they just canceled the "Guide" despite it being a group tour because there were not "enough" people. Pahlgam hotel was mid way far from Pahlgam and off the main route. Some sightseeing was planned on the Eid day in Srinagar and then cancelled "because of Eid". Evening snacks/tea were not provided on all days though it was mentioned in itinerary. The tour was supposed to be 'fully loaded' but turned out to be full of tension. Gondola in Gulmarg was not operating for a week before but we were taken to Gulmarg to do nothing because nothing else was planned for Gulmarg. Flight initially planned was not a Direct flight and then changed later. Return flight was an early morning flight when there was no hurry and enough check out time. Basically no department works efficiently and there is no internal coordination (tour manager asked for flight tickets from us to arrange pick up). A very unprofessional team. Thomas Cook sales staff is not reachable after selling, other staff gives lies and inconsistent justifications for poor planning. As my wife said they are Thomas Crooks. Like the company shut down due to bankruptcy in other countries, it doesn't deserve to exist in India too. The company shouldn't be in business and staff shouldn't be in employment

They booked a tour, took half the amount as advance, later cancelled it, worst of it their manager Rahul Jaggi was arrogant and misbehaved instead of being apologetic

My sister and I travelled with Thomas Cook to Ladakh, from 23rd to 28th May 2026 with 15 other members from different parts of India. The hotels and facilities throughout the tour were excellent, except for our stay at Pangong on 27th May. The rooms were dirty, the linens were unclean and foul-smelling, there was no water, no power with a non-functional generator, and even food was unavailable. This unpleasant experience overshadowed an otherwise wonderful journey.

I chose Thomas Cook for my vacation because I expected a professional and hassle-free travel experience. The package was booked and paid in full approximately one month in advance based on the itinerary that was initially shared with me.

To my surprise, the finalized itinerary that was later provided had an entire day's activities removed. I have been trying to resolve this issue for over a week and have repeatedly sought clarification. The response I received was that the itinerary is "subject to availability."

While I understand that certain components of a tour package may occasionally be subject to availability, it is difficult to accept that a full day of standard tourist activities—standard activities that are regularly operated—could simply disappear from the itinerary after full payment has already been made.

What is most disappointing is not the change itself, but the lack of a satisfactory explanation, proactive communication, or an immediate effort to provide equivalent alternatives or a clear refund for the missing inclusions.

I hope Thomas Cook reviews this matter seriously and handles such situations more professionally in the future as well. As things stand, this experience has significantly affected my confidence, and I will carefully reconsider booking future vacations through Thomas Cook unless the issue is resolved satisfactorily.

SLEF FROM CHENNAI. I SENT MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER TO HONGKONG VIA THOMAS COOK. THE MARKETING PERSON NAME IS SRITHU CHENNAI OFFICE. I BOOKED 3 MONTHS BEFORE ITSELF. WHILE BOOKING THEY TOLD DIRECT FRLIGHT FROM CHENNAI TO HONGKONG AND LATER , THEY TOLD THE TICKET IS GROUP TICKET FROM DELHI SO THEY OFFERED CONNECTING FLIGHT. HOWEVVER WHIEL THEY TRAVEL , THEY ONLY TRAVELLED ALONE. ALSO CHARGED ADDITIONAL COST FOR FLIGHT AND ALSO WE PAID FOR SEAT SELECTION ALSO. AGAIN THE RETURN FLIGHT IS A EARLY MORNING AND THEY HAVE TO LEAVE AROUND 3aM FROM HOTEL . THE GUIDE REFUSED TO ACCOMPONY DROP AT AIRPORT. WORST EXPERIENCE. THEY ARE MAINLY MONEY MINDED

I recently used Thomas Cook for a vacation, and while there were some positive aspects, the overall experience left a lot to be desired, especially regarding transparency and crisis support.
*The Positives:*
* *Itinerary & Value:* The overall coverage of the itinerary was good and provided decent value for money.
* *Hotel Quality:* The hotel selections were generally of a higher standard than other tour operators like Kesari. However, consistency is an issue—in one instance, our window opened up directly to a view of a local slum.
* *Flight Assistance:* They did help us book flights for the final leg of our journey and assisted with rescheduling when those were canceled.
*The Negatives (Why I cannot recommend them):*
* *Hidden Charges & Post-Payment Demands:* This company claims to be a premium, professional travel agency, but their pricing transparency is incredibly poor. Once we negotiated and paid the full tour fee, they repeatedly came back demanding additional charges. This happened twice to us with sudden "extra" VISA and insurance fees. Furthermore, a service tip of $5 per day, per person, was hidden away in a clause that the sales team conveniently chose not to disclose upfront, costing us roughly ₹11,000 extra in dollar terms.
* *Zero Support in Jeopardy:* The true test of a premium agency is how they handle emergencies, and Thomas Cook failed completely. When our transit flight was delayed and we missed our connecting flight, they provided absolutely no help. The Sales Manager completely washed his hands of the situation, telling me I had to fight it out with the airlines locally on my own.
*Final Verdict:*
Do not rely on Thomas Cook if you expect a seamless, worry-free premium service. They do not act in a decisive or supportive manner when travelers are in jeopardy. Between the hidden post-booking charges and the complete lack of accountability during transit issues, I would advise looking elsewhere.

SHAMEFUL and HEARTBREAKING experience with Thomas Cook and SOTC. What was supposed to be our dream Europe tour became one of the most emotionally painful experiences of our life.

We trusted these companies with our hard-earned money, our family emotions, and most importantly our religious beliefs. We spent nearly ₹10 lakhs for this international trip believing that reputed companies would at least respect customer trust and basic human values. Sadly, we realized that once payment is completed, customer emotions mean nothing to them.

First, for the London package, our visa unfortunately got rejected. We understood that visa approval is not always guaranteed, but what shocked us was how casually they handled our money afterward. Out of around ₹2,10,000 paid in advance, they refunded only about ₹40,000 and simply claimed the remaining ₹1,70,000 was already spent on bookings, flights, sightseeing, etc. No transparency, no proper explanation, no genuine support — just excuses while customers suffer huge financial loss.

But the most painful incident happened during our Europe tour near the Black Forest sightseeing area in Germany at an Indian restaurant arranged for Thomas Cook clients. We had repeatedly informed them before and during the tour that we are STRICT VEGETARIANS because of our religious beliefs. Thomas Cook management assured us multiple times that separate vegetarian burgers had been specially arranged only for vegetarian guests. Trusting their repeated confirmation, we ate the food served to us.

Later we discovered that the burgers had been mistakenly replaced with NON-VEGETARIAN burgers by the hotel staff. Imagine the shock, guilt, pain, and emotional breakdown of realizing that your religious beliefs were violated because of someone else’s negligence. For people who truly follow vegetarianism as part of faith and culture, this is not a “small mistake.” This stays in the heart forever.

What hurt even more was the disgusting casual attitude afterward. The restaurant owner simply said, “Sorry, it was staff mistake.” Thomas Cook management also responded like it was some normal issue saying, “Sorry sir, we will take care next time.” NEXT TIME? What about the emotional damage already caused? What about the trust broken forever?

After returning, we raised complaints with their customer care and service quality headquarters expecting serious accountability. Instead of understanding the gravity of the matter, they repeatedly tried to close the issue quietly by offering tiny compensation amounts — first ₹2,000 guest points, later ₹5,000 cash and ₹5,000 guest points.

Honestly, this felt humiliating and insulting. Is this the value they place on customer faith and emotions after taking nearly ₹10 lakhs for a trip? It felt like they were trying to put a cheap price on our religious sentiments and silence the matter quickly with token compensation.

The most painful realization from this entire experience is that these companies appear professional only until payment is made. When serious mistakes happen, customers are left helpless with casual apologies, excuses, and pressure to “settle and move on.”

We are sharing this publicly because no vegetarian family, no religious traveler, and no innocent customer should experience this kind of emotional trauma after trusting a reputed travel brand. Please think many times before trusting the promises of Thomas Cook and SOTC with your money, beliefs, and family emotions. Some mistakes cannot be corrected with a simple “sorry.”

WELL.... WHERE DO I EVEN START HOW WORST EXPERIENCE THIS WAS
I HAD TRAVEL FOR EUROPE FROM 9 APRIL TO 23 APRIL 2026 WITH MY WIFE. THERE WERE 35 PEOPLE IN OUR GROUP AND 80 % OF THEM WAS FED UP BY OUR GUIDE, HE WAS RUDE . SECONDLY WE WERE PROMISED INDIAN VEG BREAKFAST BUFFET BUT DIDNT GOT ANY, AND WHEN EVER THEY ARRANGED THAT IT WAS JUST BAD QUALITY AND POORLY COOKED AND THE REASON THEY GAVE IS THAT ITS MADE BY EUROPIAN CHEFS THAT WHY IT TASTES BAD. ON THE LAST DAY BEFORE ENTERING CRUISE , WE WERE HAVING BREAKFAST AND OUR GUIDE ASKED US HOW IT WAS, AND OUR USUAL REPLY WAS IT TATES BAD, THEN HE TOLD US TO GO TO INDIA AND EAT TASTY FOOD THERE.. THIS IS THE REPLY OF PROFESSIONAL GUIDE OF THOMAS COOK. BTW HIS NAME WAS MR ALDRIN DIAS. AND YES 12 MORE PEOPLE HAVE WROTE A REVIEW ABOUT HIM.
THE PLACES WE WENT TO WAS FOR ONLY 1 TO 1.5 HOURS TIME TO EXPLORE BY OWN.. AND FOR THAT WE HAD TO TRAVEL IN BUS FOR 8+ HOURS.
HOTELS WERE FAR FAR AWAY FROM CITY AND WE HAD TO GET BACK IN BUS AROUND 6-7 PM TO REACH HOTEL BY 8-8.30 PM .. OUR MOST PRECIOUS TIME WAS WASTED IN BUS TRAVEL ONLY. WHILE BOOKING OUR MANAGER TOLD US THAT WE WOULD GET BEST VEG FOOD IN OUR TRIP AND OUR TOUR GUIDE MADE US BELIEVE THAT IF WE COME TO EUROPE , WE SHOULD NOT BOTHER ASKING FOR GOOD VEG FOOD. OUR DISNEYLAND TRIP WAS PLANNED ON SATURDAY.. WORST DAY TO PLAN IT.. AND ON TOP OF THAT WE ONLY GOT 6 HOURS THERE TO EXPORE IT BY OWN.
HE TREATED EVERYONE LIKE SCHOOL KIDS AND HE WAS A PRINCIPLE.
NO PROPER GUIDANCE WERE GIVEN OF CITY WE TRAVELED TO. THEY TOOK US TO COLLESIUM IN ROME ONLY TO LET US KNOW THAT WE CANNOT GO INSIDE BECAUSE ITS A PHOTO STOP. AND NOW WE CAN'T EVEN PURCASE ITS TICKET BECAUSE IT NEED PRIOR RESERVATION. SO MUCH MIS GUIDED INFORMATION WERE GIVEN BY HIM AND THOMAS COOK BOTH.
HE MADE OUR TRIP WORSE EXPRIENCE EVER. NEVER, I SAY NEVER BOOK YOUR TRIP FROM THIS AGENCY. ALL THE CARE ABOUT IS HOW TO LOOT YOUR MONEY AND NOTHING ELSE. I WOULD HAVE RATED IT -5 STARS BUT ITS NOT EVEN AN OPTION .
THEY SKIPPED A LUNCH IN OUR ITENARY AND MADE US EAT IN A RESTAURENT WHICH HAD VERY BAD VEG PASTA AND PIZZA, SO WE OPENED OUR BACKPACK AND TOOK SOME INDIAN SNACKS OUT OF IT TO EAT, THEN THE STAFF TOLD US TO EAT SOMEWHERE ELSE BECAUSE ITS NOT APPROPRIATE TO EAT ANYTHING IN A RESTAURENT WHICH ISNT BOUGHT THERE. FINE BY RULES BUT ATLEAST IF THEY ARE NOT PROVING LUNCH THEN THEY SHOULD STOP SOMEWHERE WHERE WE COULD EAT. WE WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT IN BUS ALSO, SO WHAT SHOULD WE DO. BE HUNGRY TILL DINNER.
THEY ONLY DID THOSE THINGS WHICH BENEFITTED THEM NOT THE CUSTOMERS WHO TRUSTED THEM WITH THEIR DREAM TRIP.
OVERALL PLEASE DO NOT BOOK ANY TRIP FROM THOMAS COOK INDIA, THEY ARE THE WORST AND NO SUPPORT SYSTEM IS THERE FROM THEIR SIDE.