Holiday Gems Reviews

4.5 Rating 2,122 Reviews
89 %
of reviewers recommend Holiday Gems
4.5
Based on 2,122 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Postal Service
Average Delivery Time
Next Day
On-time Delivery
96%
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In
Under An Hour
Customer Service
4.5 out of 5
Read Holiday Gems Reviews

About Holiday Gems:

HolidayGems.co.uk provides a comprehensive range of travel services, including holidays, flights, hotels and other ancillary services. We also specialise in Late Deal holidays.

Our travel specialists work within our three call centre locations in the North West of England and in addition we also have a network of homeworkers both in the UK and throughout Europe.

All of our holidays are ATOL protected (ATOL 11461) for consumer financial security.

HolidayGems offers an independent and impartial travel service tailored to our customer’s needs. Whether you are planning a trip in the UK or to the other side of the world, our professional travel service will cater for every need.

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Generally happy with booking process. However wasn’t very impressed with request for more money after booking was made/agreed. That said after talks, agreement was to honour original booking cost so once again happy.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 month ago
Hello Mr Daunter, we are pleased to note you were happy with the online booking process but are surprised that if this was the case you were not familiar with how it operated and that you are making an offer to purchase the Package Holiday selected at the price quoted. Firstly and in order to explain, whilst our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same and whilst the vast majority of bookings will be confirmed without issue, we, along with many other well-known Tour Operators in the market cannot be held responsible whereby these changes affect our ability to confirm travel arrangements. In your case we can see this is exactly what happened. Should we not be able to confirm your arrangements, your order is passed to one of our sales agents who will then investigate and try their utmost to provide you with an identical or near-matched arrangements and we will offer this to you. Ultimately, we applied a discretionary discount as a gesture of goodwill to assist your party and have absorbed the higher costs. At all times, we work within strict company guidelines and always with your interests at heart. We would also like to mention that further details of the aforementioned process are listed throughout the website in our Terms and Conditions to which you duly ticked when you made your online order with us. In closing, we hope the above explanation and facts helps you understand the situation which gave you cause to issue a negative review and on balance, once you have had time to digest the above, we would appreciate any amendment you could make to your review which would then be reflective of the service level and experience you had with us.
Posted 1 month ago
If you had confirmed the holiday at the time of booking the price would have been the same price but to only call three days later course the price would increase so we had to change hotel to manage our budget. This is a con in reality to the consumer. Call handler was good but will never recommend you or use you again.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 month ago
Hello Mr Sykes, thank you for your review. We must categorically deny the allegation that our process for your booking was a con. You ticked to accept the terms and conditions which warn that it may take up to 72 hours or longer to confirm arrangements with the suppliers at the price offered. Whilst our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same. Should we not be able to confirm your arrangements, your order is passed to one of our sales agents who will then investigate and try their utmost to provide you with an identical or near-matched arrangements and we will offer this to you. It is then up to yourself to proceed or not with the new arrangements at the cost that does suit your budget. We regret that this experience will result in your not booking with us again since we have always been open about the process.
Posted 1 month ago
Tried making a booking but unfortunately although went through on website, ultimately there was no availability. The booking agent Surayah was very helpful, trying her best to resolve this issue but unfortunately in the end this was not possible. Will keep looking.
Helpful Report
Posted 5 months ago
Hello Roy, we thank you for your feedback and hope that you find some arrangements to suit your requirements. Our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines so we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same and whilst the vast majority of bookings will be confirmed without issue, we, along with many other well-known Tour Operators in the market cannot be held responsible whereby these changes affect our ability to confirm travel arrangements. None the less we are sorry.
Posted 5 months ago
Stuart who contacted me was brilliant, sorted out the problem quickly. The website needs attention though as it allowed our booking then subsequently needed to change it.
Helpful Report
Posted 7 months ago
Hello Helen thank you for your comments here, we will pass on your kind words about Stuart. Turning to the website perhaps you have misunderstood how this operates. Firstly and in order to explain, whilst our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same and whilst the vast majority of bookings will be confirmed without issue, we, along with many other well-known Tour Operators in the market cannot be held responsible whereby these changes affect our ability to confirm travel arrangements. In your case we can see this is exactly what happened but Stuart sourced alternative supply for you to enable you to proceed with your holiday.
Posted 7 months ago
Booking very easy now let’s experience the holiday
Helpful Report
Posted 8 months ago
Thank you Ronald we are pleased to hear this and wish you a wonderful holiday.
Posted 8 months ago
Easy to book but very disappointed to pay £58 more for the holiday when it was put through by holiday gems. Think they should honour the price charged on your card at time of booking
Helpful Report
Posted 10 months ago
Hello Sarah, many thanks for your review and we’re sorry you feel we did not meet expectations. Firstly and in order to explain, whilst our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same and whilst the vast majority of bookings will be confirmed without issue, we, along with many other well-known Tour Operators in the market cannot be held responsible whereby these changes affect our ability to confirm travel arrangements. In your case we can see this is exactly what happened. When you make a booking with us and prior to the point of actually confirming the arrangements for you, we “ring fence” the amount from your payment method although, and critically, we do not debit your payment type and it is only held within your account until the point of us confirming your chosen arrangement and ourselves obtaining the relevant confirmation codes from our suppliers, brokers and airlines. Should we not be able to confirm your arrangements, your order is assigned to one of our sales agents who will then investigate and try their utmost to provide you with identical or near-matched arrangements and we will offer this to you. It is then up to yourself to proceed or not, with the new arrangements. If you do not wish to proceed, we cancel your order down and release the “ring fence” amount for you. We also note in your case, you decided to proceed with the alternative and your payment type was therefore debited. Please note, our sales agent will always try to obtain the same, similar or cheaper pricing for any alternative arrangements found however, this may not be possible as once again, we are simply not in control of pricing, yield changes and availability of our suppliers, brokers and airlines. At all times, we work within strict company guidelines and always with your interests at heart. We would also like to mention that further details of the aforementioned are listed throughout the website in our Terms and Conditions to which you duly ticked when you made your online order with us. In closing, we hope the above explanation and facts helps you understand the situation which gave you cause to issue a negative review and on balance, once you have had time to digest the above, we would appreciate any amendment you could make to your review which would then be reflective of the promised service level and experience you had with us.
Posted 10 months ago
Good choicees and prices on the site, I struggled a bit with the site going forward with the booking it was very stressful. At that point
Helpful Report
Posted 11 months ago
Hello Caroline, thank you for your feedback. If there is a particular aspect of the website you wish to highlight our customer service team are the right department to take onboard your comments and address or arrange for internal investigation.
Posted 11 months ago
Most of holiday booking was great. Transportation from airport in Tenerife to hotel was disgraceful. Firstly, our coach failed to show up, so we were shunted on to another coach. Several people were dropped off at their hotel front BUT when our hotel was called we were dumped off with all our luggage at roadside. I asked where our hotel was and I was pointed across 3 road crossings and told our hotel was then behind another large hotel. After struggling across the 3 crossings, we had to walk the full length of the large hotel and turn down a road on the right to find our hotel whilst asking other people for help to find our hotel. We found this quite distressing and completely unacceptable. I would like a response please.
Helpful Report
Posted 11 months ago
Mrs Dunn we are sorry to hear of your experience but this is not the platform to address the matter. We have a formal complaint process which allows investigation with the relevant suppliers in order to provide accurate response and outcome. We trust you have followed that course of action to receive reply.
Posted 11 months ago
The score is based on my online booking, based on the staff it would have been a 5/5. I booked online Friday night but I booked the wrong flight, I tried to call straight away but you were closed, I emailed immediately but by the time you opened the following day, the flights had been confirmed. I did speak to customer services and they tried to rebook the flight I needed but the cost was an extra £170.06 which I simply cannot afford. Had I booked over the phone, as I have done in the past, all the information would have been confirmed back to me at each point and this would not have happened. I'd have the flights I wanted at no extra cost.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Mrs Welch we are sorry you booked incorrectly and that you did not appreciate how the online order system operates which is clearly advised in the terms you accepted. The email sent from the system did confirm 'your reservation is now complete' as elements including the flights were booked so charges to amend would apply. Our website is available 24/7 to allow booking at any time for convenience but in doing so the responsibility for any information submitted or accepted is with our customers.
Posted 11 months ago
Bought a package online to be told next day the flight sold out. So we lost a day and made to pay extra to rebook another. Not good enough.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Mr Abraham you were not made to pay anything to us, you did so voluntarily however we’re sorry you feel we did not meet expectations. Firstly and in order to explain, whilst our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same and whilst the vast majority of bookings will be confirmed without issue, we, along with many other well-known Tour Operators in the market cannot be held responsible whereby these changes affect our ability to confirm travel arrangements. In your case we can see this is exactly what happened. When you make a booking with us and prior to the point of actually confirming the arrangements for you, we “ring fence” the amount from your payment method although, and critically, we do not debit your payment type and it is only held within your account until the point of us confirming your chosen arrangement and ourselves obtaining the relevant confirmation codes from our suppliers, brokers and airlines. Should we not be able to confirm your arrangements, your order is assigned to one of our sales agents who will then investigate and try their utmost to provide you with identical or near-matched arrangements and we will offer this to you. It is then up to yourself to proceed or not, with the new arrangements. If you do not wish to proceed, we cancel your order down and release the “ring fence” amount for you. We note in your case, you decided to proceed with the alternative and your payment type was therefore debited. Please note, our sales agent will always try to obtain the same, similar or cheaper pricing for any alternative arrangements found however, this may not be possible as once again, we are simply not in control of pricing, yield changes and availability of our suppliers, brokers and airlines. At all times, we work within strict company guidelines and always with your interests at heart. We would also like to mention that further details of the aforementioned are listed throughout the website in our Terms and Conditions to which you duly ticked when you made your online order with us. In closing, we hope the above explanation and facts helps you understand the situation which gave you cause to issue a negative review and on balance, once you have had time to digest the above, we would appreciate any amendment you could make to your review which would then be reflective of the promised service level and experience you had with us.
Posted 1 year ago
I was disappointed to find out our hotel room was no longer available. When booking online one would expect the holiday that was booked would be available. However, the company was quick to respond to alert us to this situation. Samer ,who was dealing with it , tried his best to accommodate by offering us another accommodation. But they were not suitable and I was happy to cancel . Samer managed to find us a room in the same hotel , I don’t know how. With the help of managers we are now booked in the same hotel for no extra cost .
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Hello Maureen, many thanks for your review and we’re sorry you feel we did not meet expectations. Firstly and in order to explain, whilst our booking system relies on live feeds from our suppliers, brokers and airlines we are unfortunately not in control of momentary price changes, fluctuations or changes in availability provided by the same and whilst the vast majority of bookings will be confirmed without issue, we, along with many other well-known Tour Operators in the market cannot be held responsible whereby these changes affect our ability to confirm travel arrangements. In your case we can see this is exactly what happened. When you make a booking with us and prior to the point of actually confirming the arrangements for you, we “ring fence” the amount from your payment method although, and critically, we do not debit your payment type and it is only held within your account until the point of us confirming your chosen arrangement and ourselves obtaining the relevant confirmation codes from our suppliers, brokers and airlines. Should we not be able to confirm your arrangements, your order is assigned to one of our sales agents who will then investigate and try their utmost to provide you with identical or near-matched arrangements and we will offer this to you. It is then up to yourself to proceed or not, with the new arrangements. If you do not wish to proceed, we cancel your order down and release the “ring fence” amount for you. This as you mention was a valid option for you, but in the end you decided to proceed when our consultant made a gesture towards the costs from a different supplier that were higher and your payment type was therefore debited. Please note, our sales agent will always try to obtain the same, similar or cheaper pricing for any alternative arrangements found however, this may not be possible as once again, we are simply not in control of pricing, yield changes and availability of our suppliers, brokers and airlines. At all times, we work within strict company guidelines and always with your interests at heart. We would also like to mention that further details of the aforementioned are listed throughout the website in our Terms and Conditions to which you duly ticked when you made your online order with us. In closing, we hope the above explanation and facts helps you understand the situation which gave you cause to issue a negative review and on balance, once you have had time to digest the above, we would appreciate any amendment you could make to your review which would then be reflective of the promised service level and experience you had with us.
Posted 1 year ago
Everything seems to be booked and on track as per the advertised price. Don’t let an ambitious sales person hike the price.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Hello Nigel, thank you for your review. Our sales consultants only offer the price they can achieve from suppliers which may have been higher than the original order. It sounds like you were given a gesture of goodwill in honouring the original price despite costs increasing.
Posted 1 year ago
Like all other reviews I have to say mine is no different. Booked online then had a call to say flights and transfers ok but hotel room not available, however, there is a better bigger room and it will cost more money. So beware the price you see is not the price you pay. Need to get this addressed as it's letting company down.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
When booking online the price was 2100 only to be rang and told that the tickets on wat back were not available and we had to pay more. So we ended up paying £400 more ! Not impressed at all
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
The children constantly complain about the poor internet here at the hawian aqua park resort, The same food almost every day and could do with more options. And if anything isn’t part of the all inclusive it’s very expensive. The pools are ok and the rooms too ,the main thing is poor internet
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Booking and payment taking, received phone call stating no room available, trying another site, then asking for another £40 on top of the cost.Dave was very helpful but still had to pay extra £19
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
I booked a weekend break and paid upfront. I received a call the next day asking for £45 more each per person if we wanted the hotel I had booked. I found this really unreasonable to be honest. I have gone with an alternative hotel, but it's not what I booked and paid for.
Helpful Report
Posted 1 year ago
Was very disappointed when contacted to confirm booking, apparently room wasn’t available with the supplier specified so had to pay an extra £57 to get a room at the hotel we wanted. My brother & his wife had booked an hour after me and they got the holiday at the price quoted, don’t know how this happened. Overall not pleased with the outcome of having to pay the extra
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Posted 1 year ago
I have used holiday gems on and off for over a decade now and at the start they couldn't do enough for you but as the years have rolled on the service has become worse to the point our last holiday in Fuerteventura in June this year our flight was cancelled 48 before our return home, I spoke with holiday gems and basically left us to fend for ourselves whilst abroad, that certainly isn't good, just booked another holiday this coming Jan 2023 as a family Christmas treat in the Canary Islands, 6 of us, we arrive on the 14th for 7 nights but they had us arriving and leaving on the 14th, 3 hours apart, flights,hotel and taxi all booked wrongly, pls pls pls improve........
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Posted 1 year ago
Just signed up for our first holiday with HolidayGems - therefore experience was limited to your website. The site was straightforward until the payment section when it timed out. Not a unique problem except that the same thing happened to my daughter. Despite timing out the payment was accepted but it is disconcerting not knowing whether the money has gone out and the holiday has been booked. Do you have a problem with your servers?
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Posted 1 year ago
Holiday Gems is rated 4.5 based on 2,122 reviews