There are times when you need to travel, but you discover you are not in a position to run around and make reservations for the trip. It could be you’re too busy to get the plans sorted out or that you’re too stressed out to consider increasing your stress level when you search for flight schedules and available accommodations in your destination. So what are you going to do? Are you going to abandon the trip or push yourself beyond your limit to plan it?
Fortunately, many travel agencies have come up to help people make arrangements for their trips. And thanks to the internet, you can now stay anywhere and contract a travel agency to make these arrangements without visiting its physical office. Today, you are going to meet Agoda, which may be there to help you to plan your next flight and accommodation booking arrangements.
But before you go ahead to give Agoda the contract to plan your next trip, I think you should first go through this Agoda review.
Here, you are going to find out the kind of services the company offers and how you can utilize them. You will also discover how the agency works, how you are going to go about cancelling or changing your reservations, as well as the payment methods you can use to pay for the services. So, stay with us while we work together to unravel Agoda.
What Is Agoda?
Agoda, as you must have guessed, is a travel agency that allows people to make reservations through its website and mobile app. It is owned by Agoda Company LLC. In fact, Agoda Company is registered and domiciled in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Hungary, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, and the United States. So, Agoda is legit and reputable since it is registered and regulated by 8 countries.
Is Agoda Legit or a Scam?
It is good to find out if Agoda is a scam or not so you can decide whether to subscribe to it or find an alternative. From all that we can see, Agoda is not a scam. The major reason you can tell this is that the company is registered. Remember that Agoda is registered by the governments of 8 countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, Hungary, Hong Kong, Japan, China, and the Philippines). This can tell you that Agoda is a legitimate travel agency that is out there to help you have a hassle-free trip.
How Does Agoda Work?
Agoda is a travel agency. It doesn’t own any of the properties or airlines you are going to find on its website or mobile app. Agoda only provides details about some airlines and hotels in certain regions so that its subscribers can easily search and find them when they want to travel to those regions. In summary, the main objective of Agoda is to help its subscribers to easy and stress-free trips.
After a subscriber finds an airline or accommodation he likes, he can reserve them through Agoda. He will also make his upfront payment to the provider through Agoda. You need to understand that even though Agoda will make some money when you book a flight or an accommodation through its site or app, the money you paid for reservations does not go to its account. You pay directly to the service providers. However, since you paid through its website or app, it will follow up on the progress of your booking until you embark on or return from the trip.
So, Agoda only acts as the bridge between the service providers and their customers. You need to remember this when booking any services on its website or mobile app. That way, you will remember to check every provider’s terms and conditions of service before paying for your reservations.
Subscription and Subscription Plans
You will have to create an account with Agoda before you can make reservations through its site or app. Of course, if you visit its website, you can search for available flights and accommodations. But, as of the time of writing this Agoda review, you will need to subscribe to the site or its mobile app before you can book flights and accommodations.
You may need to know that Agoda doesn’t have any paid subscription plans. It also doesn’t have levels of subscribers. However, it has a VIP program, which it uses to reward subscribers and customers that meet a certain number of bookings. Note that you don’t have to pay or apply to become a VIP member or climb the VIP ladder. All you need to do is to use the Agoda services often and you will automatically attain VIP status as well as move up the ladder.
As a VIP subscriber in Agoda, you will receive discounts on some of your bookings. You will also enjoy some special promos and bonuses the company offers. However, you should understand that you have to travel often and plan your trips through Agoda to maintain your VIP membership status.
Services You Can Obtain from Agoda
As of the time of writing this Agoda review, you can obtain only three services from this agency. These are flights, accommodations, and tourist activities. However, the agency is still working on the tourist activities service so I will not discuss it for now in this Agoda review. Anyway, let’s briefly look at each of the other two services so you can discover how they work.
Flights
When you want to travel and you visit the Agoda website to search for flights and purchase a ticket, you will have to decide the type of trip you’re searching for. That is, you will have to choose whether you are going for one-way trip, round trip, or multi-city trip. The type of trip you choose will determine the airlines you can book.
After selecting your trip type, the fare type, the number of travellers involved, the departure and arrival time (depending on trip type), and the origin and destination airports, you will be able to search for available flights that are going to your destination(s). The agency will also show you the cheapest of all the available flights so you don’t have to spend a lot of money on your trip. Well, when you select the most suitable flights, you should follow the prompt and book a ticket. Remember to read the airline’s terms and conditions before purchasing a ticket.
Note that you can find help on how to book flights on the Frequently Asked Questions page of the Agoda website and mobile app. You should consult that page often because it has a lot of information that will prove beneficial to you.
Accommodations
When you want to book a hotel through Agoda, you will first search and select your destination, the number of persons involved in the trip, and the check-in and check-out dates. If the city you’re going to is not covered by Agoda, the travel agency may not be able to help you with finding accommodation there. However, this is a rare case so you are likely going to find what you’re looking for on Agoda’s website.
When you provide the key information needed to find accommodation on Agoda, you should click the “Search” button to view the available hotels and their rooms. You will find their prices and the services the amount covers. If you click the provider that seems suitable to you, you will be directed to its description page, where you can find every detail about the accommodation, its landmark, services offered, and the reviews of previous customers.
You should also look out for the terms and conditions of a hotel before you book its room. This can save you some stress later.
Payment Methods
As of the time of writing this Agoda review, there is no specific payment method accepted by the agency. However, the commonest method used by many subscribers is the credit card. But then, the payment method you can use to pay for the services you’re booking is determined by the service provider. You will find out the options open to you when you’re about to pay for the services.
Another good thing about Agoda is that it will allow you to pay for services in your local currency. If you’re going to use this agency, you won’t run around, looking for foreign exchange to pay for flights or hotel rooms in another country. That’s one of the reasons Agoda is such a perfect travel agency for everyone.
Does Agoda Have a Mobile App?
Yes, Agoda has a mobile app that is compatible with your smartphone, iPhone, iPad, and tablet. You can find the link to download this app on the Agoda website. But, if you wish, you can visit Google PlayStore or Apple App Store for the app.
But, if you don’t want to use the Agoda app, you can use your mobile phone, laptop, or PC to search for available flights and accommodations as well as make your bookings. The agency’s website has a mobile version that works on every mobile operating system.
Refunds, Cancelling, and Changing Bookings
As of the time of writing this Agoda review, customers can cancel or change their reservations and also expect refunds. But these come with several conditions, which you should know about before heading on to create your Agoda account. I will explain them briefly below.
- First of all, Agoda does not determine whether you can receive a refund or not when you cancel your booking. Remember, Agoda is just an agency that is helping you to search, find, and book flights and accommodations. So, its job is to bring airlines, property owners, and the people that need their services together. The airlines and hotels you choose are the ones that decide the terms and conditions attached to cancelations and refunds. For this, you should remember to read the cancelation policy of each service you are about to book.
- Secondly, if your cancelation request is approved by the airline or hotel you booked, Agoda will process your refund. If the cancelation request isn’t approved, your refund request will not be honored.
- If you manage to cancel your flight successful and your refund request is approved, you will not be refunded for some of the payments you made. For instance, the additional checked baggage is not refundable. You need to bear this in mind while booking any services.
- You can conveniently change the date of your flight or accommodation booking without any hassle. You only need to visit your dashboard, select the reservation, and then pick the new date you wanted. You don’t have to contact customer service to get this done. You will use the self-service feature for it.
- If you want to change the name of the lead guest for an accommodation booking, you can do that through the self-service feature. That is, you can click on the hotel booking on your dashboard and then make the necessary changes.
- You may not be able to change the names that will appear on flight tickets if the airline does not allow that. In case you suspect you may have to make this change before embarking on your trip, you should go for an airline company or the type of fare that allows such changes.
Promos and Bonuses at Agoda
Agoda offers promos and bonuses from time to time. If you can remember, I told you earlier that it has a VIP program that it uses to reward its regular and active customers. To find out more about the AgodaVIP program, you should check the “Subscription and Subscription Plans” section of this Agoda review.
Apart from the Agoda VIP program, you can receive other benefits from this travel agency. For instance, as of the time of writing this Agoda review, there were 8 promos available on the agency’s website. Some of these promos were offered to the subscribers that use the Agoda app. Some were meant for customers, who book a lot of accommodations at the same time. Then, there were discount coupon deals for those that were lucky to find them on time. So, if you join Agoda, you should always check the promo page to for available offers.
What Do Agoda Customers Say About It?
Well, to be honest here, Agoda needs to work on its customer relations. For some reasons, some of its customers are not happy. From what I could gather, some customers expect more from Agoda. Anyway, I will throw more light on this below.
When I wanted to find out what people think of Agoda, I checked for the agency’s customer reviews on Trustpilot. I chose this platform because I know that Agoda cannot manipulate what is written there. Well, as of the time of writing this Agoda review, more than thirty-five thousand (35,000) reviewers scored the agency 1.8 out of 5.
The complaints I found there centered on the subscriber’s inability to access some bonuses and promos the agency offers, the unexpected and unexplained cancelation of bookings, the poor customer service they received, and so on. But then, none of them claimed that Agoda is a scam or that they were defrauded through the agency. They are only unhappy with some of the services they received or believed they should receive from agency.
But then, among these 35,000+ reviewers, more than twenty-three thousand (23,000) of them gave Agoda a 5-star rating. It’s only about six thousand (6,000) reviewers complained bitterly about the agency. However, when you remember that Agoda is just the bridge between its subscribers and some service providers, you may understand that some of the complaints the customers make should not be laid on Agoda but on the service providers.
Customer Support
As of the time of writing this Agoda review, there are four ways you can find information or obtain support at Agoda. The first option is through live chat. This is the option you can use to communicate with a human customer support officer. You will always find the live chat button on the contact page.
Another option for obtaining support or information is through the self-service channel. Here, you will be directed by a virtual assistant on how you can sort out a problem by yourself. You will also find this feature when you click the “Help Centre” button.
You can send an email to Agoda if the need arises. You will find the email address on the contact page. But then, you may not receive a quick response to this email no matter how urgent the situation is. So, you should first try the other options before resorting to an email.
The fourth way you can obtain information from the Agoda website is through the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page. If you check this page, you will find out all the information you need to sort out a problem. In fact, before contacting the human customer support officer or going for the self-service feature, you should first go through the FAQs page for information and directions.
You should also check the FAQs page to learn more about some policies concerning flight and accommodation bookings. The information contained on this page can save you a lot of trouble if you know about it earlier.
Related: Trip.com Reviews: Is It a Legit Travelling Site?
Let’s Wrap It Up
Hopefully, this Agoda review has given you access to the information you need about this travel agency. You can see that Agoda acts as the connector between you and some of the service providers that will make your trip easy and stress-free.
Agoda is also legit because it is regulated by the governments of the 8 countries, where it is registered. So, you should go ahead to create your Agoda account today and start searching for airlines to use for your trip and the hotels to book in your destination.