Is Trip.com Legit? [Unbiased Review For 2023]

Travel has have been made easier to access for the past few years through online travel agencies. One of these online travel agencies is Trip.com. It’s quite well known due to it’s discounts on hotel reservations, flights, and other travel-related services.

In this review, we will take a deep dive into Trip.com to find out what it is about, how it works and whether it is the right fit for you. We will also look at other people’s experiences with the company and finally determine if trip.com is legit.

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Trip.com Review

Table of Contents

What is Trip.com?

Trip.com is an international online travel agency that offers travel services to help you plan and book your perfect trip. It is owned by by Trip Group, the world’s leading online travel company with over 400 million users globally.

The agency acts as an intermediary between the customer and the travel provider and provides booking services for flights, hotels, trains, car rentals, airport transfers, tours and attraction tickets.

They also claim to have access to more than 1.2 million hotels in 200 countries and regions, as well as over 2 million flight routes connecting more than 5,000 cities. One can purchase train tickets to use in UK, Germany, Japan, South Korea and Mainland China

Trip.com is available in 19 different languages, including English, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, Greek, Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai.

They also have a mobile application that features all the languages mentioned above plus Vietnamese and Filipino. Furthermore, there are localized English versions available for Australia, Singapore, the United States and Hong Kong.

Trip.com uses SSL encryption to protect your personal and financial information to ensure online safety for its customers. Its headquarters are in Singapore. Encryption is always important when you are transferring vital information you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong hands. You even see it on sites like InvestorPlace, Brownstone Research, Banyan Hill, and pretty much any site that takes your financial information.

Who founded Trip.com?

Trip.com is headed by the Trip group which was originally founded by James Liang, Neil Shen, Min Fan and Qi Ji in June 1999.

Trip.com was originally a domain that was first purchased in 1996 by Trip Software Systems, and later sold to TheTrip.com founder Antoine Toffa in 1998. In 1999, Galileo International purchased a 19% stake in Toffa’s Trip.com and in 2000, acquired the remaining stake of Trip.com for $214.4 million.

Cendant acquired Galileo and combined Trip.com with another acquisition, CheapTickets, to create Trip Network Inc in 2001. In 2003, Cendant stopped operating the Trip.com domain.

Orbitz Worldwide, a company acquired by Cendant in 2004 and later split into a separate publicly traded entity, resumed use Trip.com in 2009. They then later stopped operation of the website in 2013.

Expedia acquired Orbitz Worldwide in 2015 then proceeded to inherit the Trip.com domain. A travel booking and research company founded by entrepreneurs Travis Katz and Ori Zaltzman in 2010 known as Gogobot acquired the Trip.com brand from Expedia and rebranded it as Trip.com.

Eventually the Trip Group, also known as Ctrip, acquired Trip.com and repositioned the company as a global online travel agency in 2017.

How does Trip.com work?

Trip.com helps you find the best deals through its website when planning your travels. Their website is interactive and offers you a variety of options to choose from when deciding on your desired destination.

The agency works as an intermediary between you, the traveler, and the travel providers like hotels, airlines, car rentals and many more. Once you sign in to the website, you can input your destination, departure date or check-in date, if it is a round trip flight or one way, number of nights, rooms and guests, and any keywords into the search bar. Furthermore, you can specify your preferred hotel amenities, such as “WIFI”, “pool”, ”free breakfast.”

When you click the search button shown in the image above, a results list will appear. From there, there is a filter available that sorts your results by price, rating or Trip.com user reviews.

Once you have found the hotel or flight you’re interested in, clicking on the “Details” button will give more information so you can learn more about it. The information is mostly on pricing, amenities and user reviews.

If you are satisfied with the hotel or flight and want to book it, click on the “Book Now” button. From there, you’ll be taken to a page where you can enter your contact and payment information including your credit card details. However, you must be aware of the hidden charges by your credit company for the charges.

When you are done booking, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Trip.com with your booking number and details. Be sure to save this email, star it or print it out, as you’ll need your booking details when checking in to your hotel or flight.

Flexibility with your travel dates and destination will give you a better chance of finding low prices. Before making a reservation, ensure the hotel you are considering has the amenities you need. And finally, confirm your booking from the hotel as soon as you book and before arriving at the property. This is to avoid being stranded due to lack of rooms as the hotel you’re booked with might not receive your booking confirmation from Trip.com.

Trip.com also has a mobile app that gives you access to their booking services through your phone or tablet. It allows you to search for hotels and flights, compare prices, read reviews and much more. You can keep track of your booking reference and receive notifications about changes or updates to your flight ticket, hotel room or itinerary.

Keep in mind that there are some risks involved in booking with a travel agency instead of booking directly as some information may be lost through miscommunications which leads to inconvenience for you, the customer.

How much does it cost to join Trip.com?

Signing up for the Trip.com services is free of charge. However you will be required to input your credit card details which may lead to hidden charges from your credit card company.

The agency also provides a loyalty plan called Trip Coins. Subscribing to it gives you access to discounts, depending on your travel habits. Earning Trip coins that give you discounted rates is by booking hotels, flights and activities through the site often.

How to join Trip.com

To sign up for Trip.com services, all you have to do is click the ‘sign up’ button on the far right of their webpage. You may also sign in through the app.

You will see a pop up that will prompt you to enter your email address.

Once you have entered your email address, you will be prompted to create a password for your new account before the registration is complete.

You can also choose to sign in with your Facebook, google or twitter account.

Trip.com Reviews

Trip.com has a 3.7 out of 5 star rating on TrustPilot with a mixture of positive and negative reviews (from one star reviews to 5 star reviews) across the board. Below is what some people have to say:

The price of tickets is cheap compared to others.
The booking system is really simple and easy.
There are areas of improvement in customer service. I called to clarify my doubts about tickets because I used trip.com the first time. The customer service representative was in rush to answer my question, but instead of clarification I was been offered to cancel my bookings and asked for a refund.
I was ready to cancel but I used the app and resolved my doubts by using the app.
My suggestion to everyone please make sure you go through the terms and conditions first before you finalize your booking. Once you made payment there will be no help available.
Thank you

-Bijendra

I searched a ticket price in skyscanner, the best price was in trip.com.
Then, I tried to purchase the ticket directly on the airline website but the price was a lot more expensive.
It made me doubt, so I researched trip.com and had really good reviews. I went ahead and purchase the ticket through their website and I must say the communication was excellent.
It says the ticket from the airline should arrive within 2 hours but I got it in less than 30 mins.
I downloaded the app and all my ticket info was already captured there.
Very good experience.

-Mel

Complaint
The airline cancelled my flight while I was in the plane and I received an official letter from the airline confirming the flight cancellation.
By law I should be reimbursed in a week by the agent (trip.com), however, it has been 5 months and trip.com is not returning my money and is saying that the airline is not confirming the flight cancellation (even though I talked with the airline and have an official letter from them).
They are scammers that steal your money – you should avoid this company.
I am now giving all the documents to my lawyer

Julia Olivson

First time made a bookjng thu Trip.com. am not tech savvy so fumbled n unprepared with details. Called Firefly direct but no help as made tru Trip.com. called n spoke to a very friendly n efficient lady who very efficiently furnished me with my itinerary n pnr. As bkg for my bro n wife fm sin-kul able to adv. Thank you for saving me the trouble to go Subang airport to get my print out itinery.🙏🙏🙏👍👍👍❤❤

-Sophia

our experience with Trip.com has been the worst and took a long time to solve our issue, dealing a good blow to our mental state, However, Miss Kimberly took the initiative to assist us with the best of her abilities. She handled our frustrations with a pleasing manner and managed to pull our situation through. She is excellent with her job both writing and on voice calls. She offered us options as well to manage the situation, although there may be gaps such as detailed explanations over emails, but she is quite skilled in explaning it over the Phone. She updates us quite frequently as well if there are new updates. Overall, I am quite thankful with her assistance and to congratulate her for a Job well done.

-Camille

Hi. The short form is that Trip.com was bought by a mainland Chinese company, so buyer beware of all that implies, as they operate on different principles than a Western business. For instance, as soon as you click on the button, there is NO REFUND or CHANGE policy on any air ticket, even though there is no note or mention of that at any point on their site. Since it was a Tripadvisor flight search that brought me to this site, I expected it to be more legitimate, and would ask TripAdvisor if they have any influence, to try and conform to higher standards expected of other flight sites.

For those that want to read the long form the following is my experience with them.

I bought a couple of air tickets Calgary-Shanghai, through Trip.com. They showed up on the Tripadvisor flight search, and were twenty five percent lower than anyone else. I immediately bought one ticket, really wanting two tickets but it could have been my mistake. Then trying to buy a second ticket (for my wife), did the everything the same as before but at the very end was told it was sold out.

So I went online chat with them, and asked them, asking for a second ticket or a refund. The rep sent me a weblink, the same one I booked my first ticket with. I told him it was the same and said sold out at the end, but I tried to buy the second ticket as before on this link, and did get a second ticket for my wife. By this time the online rep had hung up the chat.

Upon closer inspection, however, the second air ticket for my wife was for a different departure time on the same day from Calgary, and meant she was on a different flight to Shanghai from San Francisco, arriving 12 hours later on a different day (the return flight was the same). So I immediately went back online chat, and asked the rep to change both to the same flight or cancel both tickets, and it was so soon that the flight booking didn’t even show up on her computer. When it eventually showed up, she said that I couldn’t cancel without paying 90% of the ticket price for some booking fee. She said sorry this was the airlines booking policy. I asked to just change the departure flight of either ticket to match the other, or else refund them both, that airlines normally had a 24 refund policy. She said no. I said could you please ask a supervisor. The following is the supervisor’s return e-mail:

Dear VICTOR (Account: D254041****),

I tried to call you but was transferred to voice mail. So I am writing to you about the questions you mentioned on chat regarding Flight Booking. 5374325469.

First of all, you mentioned Mark gave you the link which caused the second flight. I checked the link and the link he sent to you is the online search page on which many flight packages are listed. This link does not indicate only one specific flight. And after the link was sent to you , you answered,” Yes I did all the fill in the blanks up till the end when it said flight sold out.” When Mark wanted more details from you, there was no reply from you. So the window was closed. And When you book the ticket online, the flight details are listed on each page.

Secondly, when you started chat with Victoria, the ticket was not issued but was paid successfully. The booking status was in processing. When Victoria was confirming the booking details with you for booking security, the ticket was issued successfully. Please kindly noted that even if the ticket is not issued after we verify the booking detail with you, we apply the free cancellation but cannot guarantee. So now according to your booking policy, this ticket is non-refundable and unchangeable. Now Booking 5374325469 and 5374077873 are still kept. If you have question, welcome to contact us.

Best regards,

Ann

I didn’t quite know what to make of that. So I contacted both Air Canada and United Airlines by phone, the airlines on the tickets, and BOTH SAID THEY HAVE A 24 HOUR FULL CANCELLATION POLICY, but that the foreign booking companies formed their own rules. Very lucky for me, the United Airlines phone representative (Connie, and a big thank you if you read this), changed the departure flight of my wife to match my own.

I am an overseas Chinese, but so glad to be living in North America. Thanks, again, to United Airlines.

-J Fung

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is trip.com reliable?

The agency is a part of the Trip.com Group, a publicly traded Chinese company and one of the world’s leading providers of travel services. Furthermore, Trip.com has been in business for over 20 years and has earned a solid reputation for customer satisfaction.

Why is trip.com cheap?

Trip.com is one of the leading travel websites as they consistently offer low prices on airfare, hotels and more. This is due to their low overhead costs. They sell directly to consumers online, thus avoiding the high costs associated with traditional travel agencies on the high street.

Furthermore, they pass some of the commission they receive from hotels and airlines on to their customers in the form of lower prices, meaning that you can often find even better deals on Trip.com than anywhere else.

Is it possible to cancel or change flights made through trip.com?

If you booked flights through Trip.com, things are going to be complicated because of the third party involvement. Having an intermediary can complicate issues because airlines will tell you to coordinate any problems through Trip.com rather than offering you direct assistance.

The agency may then turn around and push things back to the airline company, leaving you stranded. It is more convenient to make amendments, cancellations or resolve other issues when you book directly since there are no intermediaries involved.

Moreover, the travel provider gives high priority to customers who booked directly with them rather than those who booked through Trip.com. This is because they make more profits from direct sales over those made through Trip.com since they won’t have to pay any fees.

It is also much easier for them to manage the customers who booked directly rather than those who booked through online travel agencies like Trip.com, Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia etc.

For example, hotel rooms may end up overbooked because the hotel did not receive the booking details and confirmation from the agency. This leads to a guest being stranded in a strange city without any room availability in the hotel, despite making an advance booking with them through Trip.com.

How can you contact trip.com?

To contact trip.com in case of an issue, google “trip.com contact number” followed by your country, and you should be able to find their contact number. Unfortunately, there have been reports of poor customer service from the agency where the customers are not provided with solutions or worse, they fail to reach the Trip.com team. This unsatisfactory service has brought about an amount of distrust of the agency by potential customers.

However, they seem to have offered further assistance to most of the people who have left bad reviews meaning that they are working on improving their services.

How can I get the most out of trip.com?

To get the most out of Trip.com, there are a couple of tips I would recommend you follow. These include:

Planning ahead in order to land better deals.
Thoroughly research your travel destination to ensure that it is safe and free of scams and violent political issues.
Read the reviews of the hotel or airline or travel provider you intend to use in order to get an idea of the experience of other travelers
Be aware of the refund policies while booking to avoid cases of unsuccessful cancellations or a refund request later on.
Compare the prices of the hotel or flight you are interested in with other websites to ensure that you are getting the best deals.
Sign up for the Trip.com loyalty program known as Trip Coins. To sign up is free and it gives you access to discounts, depending on your travel habits. To add to that, you can earn Trip Coins by booking hotels, flights and activities through the site. Therefore, if you book hotel rooms regularly, you get extra discounts on your next journey.
Using their mobile app makes booking easier as the app allows you to search for hotels and flights, compare prices, read reviews and more. Furthermore, you can use the app to keep track of your booking reference and receive notifications about changes or updates to your itinerary.
Once Trip.com sends you a confirmation email outlining the details of your stay, what’s included in your package, cancellation and refund policies together with other important information. Be sure to print out your itinerary before you begin your vacation to avoid any problems.

Pros of Trip.com

They offer good deals

Trip.com is famous for all the good deals and discounted rates that they offer for travel. The prices are fair and this is one of their main selling points.

Lessen the load of travel planning

Having an agency do all the tedious work of searching and booking for flights can be especially convenient. Furthermore, it’s cheaper!

Have filters that provide specifics

The search option is quite convenient as you can narrow it down to specific details like price, reviews, amenities and the number of guests.

Free sign up

Signing up to be a Trip.com member is free of charge and the registration process is quite simple

Cons of Trip.com

High risk

There is a lot of risk involved in booking with a travel agency as there might be some miscommunication that may eventually inconvenience you. Many have found themselves stranded due to overbooking of rooms or lack of confirmation of a plane ticket.

It has many bad reviews

There have been a number of negative reviews about Trip.com due to unsatisfactory customer service. The reviews are quite discouraging and the agency is not even rated on the better business bureau.

Poor customer service has been reported by some clients

Many of the one star reviews have been about the poor customer service offered whenever they had an issue. Many have apparently had an unpleasant experience with the channels provided and their chat bot feature is not as effective

Conclusion

Trip.com is a legit company that offers travel related services. They offer discounted rates and act as intermediary between you and travel providers.

However, this can be a risky channel to take due to high chances of facing inconveniences. Though it may be a cheaper channel, you might end up stranded due to lack of proper communication between the agency and your travel provider.

Trip.com appears to work best for people who are new to traveling and are not conversant with the places they are traveling to. If you know the place you are going to, it makes more sense to do your bookings directly if you find that cheaper or more convenient.

Before you leave

If you’re tired of scams and want a real solution for making money online check out my no.1 recommendation.

It’s helped me earn over $300,000 in the last 12 months alone:

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(This is a 100% free training)

David Fortune

David Fortune has been the editor NoBSIMReviews.com since 2019. He is an expert at writing content on stock advisory services, side hustles, reviewing online business opportunities and many more topics. You can learn more about David on our about us page.

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