Avgtravels Reviews 

Don't waste your time. Contacted them numerous times with no reply. Finally got a hold of someone, and they told me the tour is now closed and would NOT offer the 10% disc off their website. Go with another company!

I was very causious and anxious before and after booking our trip with AVG Travels, mainly after reading heaps of negative reviews. The agent Fabio, whom we were booking the trip with, was very friendly and helpful, he always replied to my queries in a timely manner. Unfortunately, he then left and another agent wasn't so timely with their replies - I had to wait for days and even sometimes weeks to get a reply from her which was annoying. I had to sometimes call the agency because the replies by e-mails were not coming. Fortunately enough, our trip to China finally happened. First of all, I wish the itenerary itself was less exhausting. Three flights in a day's time were a very tiresome experience (Brisbane-Syd-Hong Kong-Beijing). I wish there were direct flights to China offered to us from Brisbane and/or Sydney. In fact, they exist but I think the agency is always looking for cheaper options. So, we were extremely tired when we landed in Beijing abt midnight, and the Day 1 tours were starting at 9-30 am next day. In fact, the guide did give us some time to rest because otherwise the tours normally start at 8-45 am. So, we were constantly lacking sleep which wasn't good. I think, AVG Travels have to work on itineraries. Same happened when we took a bullet train from Beijing to Suzhou and arrived very late with a morning excursion next day, haveing just abt 4,5 hours to sleep. I also wish we were spending less time at factories (in fact, the silk factory was good but I wasn't impressed with the pearl factory). Again, the way back was exhausting. And we were lucky to get on the flight from Hong Kong just before the typhoon hit the coast. We liked Shanghai most of all. However, we were shown another Shanghai - which we were not shown by the guides (our nephew lives and works there). So, I think Shanghai deserves more days to spend there. Chinese guides (2 Lilies) were nice and helpful, they spoke good English which is rare in China.

China & Yangtze River cruise. The China English speaking tour guides are very pushy on the optional tours. (They are quite happy to drop you off miles from the motel and don't want to pick you up again as it is too busy in the big cities, so you end up having to pay for Taxis). The cruise is great with no push on the optional tours. Great value with flights, nice motels and nice breakfast include. 2 x early morning starts to bullet train & an internal flight mean you get a crappy packed lunch instead of a nice breakfast at motel. No bus turned up 1 morning at 4.30am and the motel had trouble finding Taxi's which was stressful, and we just made the flight. AVG gave us all a nice restaurant lunch and repaid Taxi fare to make up for this. We were the last to leave the cruise and we had to ring AVG as no one picked us up to take us to the airport until a couple of hours later. The tour guide was very helpful when she arrived and helped us arrange our seating on the plane and time in the airport lounge as we had a long wait until our flight. On the flight to China my wife was on one side of the plane, and I was on the other. China South airlines have good meals, but they DO NOT keep couples and families together. One couple was separated from each other and their 2 young children into 4 different areas until the hostess managed to get people to swap around.

We booked a 10-day China tour with AVG Travels (also known as Asia Vacation Group) for four people in early July 2024, paying in full, over a year in advance. The trip was planned for September 2025 and carefully coordinated around our work and family commitments.
Then, just two months before departure, we received an abrupt email stating that the tour was cancelled due to “last-minute changes from local suppliers.” No real explanation! No accountability!
The company offered us two poor alternatives:
1. Reschedule to a later date, which wasn’t possible due to our personal and work commitments.
2. Upgrade to a 12-day tour (which included the exact same first 10 days) for an extra $1,600 per person, totalling $6,400 extra for our group of four.
This “upgrade” raised serious concerns. The revised itinerary was identical to the original for the first 10 days. Why weren’t we allowed to return home from Shanghai as originally planned? This casts doubt on whether the cancellation was genuinely due to supplier issues, or if it was a deliberate attempt to steer customers toward a more expensive product.
After numerous back-and-forth emails, the company agreed to issue a full refund. Weeks passed. We followed up repeatedly, only to receive vague, non-committal replies and no clear timeline:
“Please rest assured that your refund request is already on our accounting team’s list and will be processed when it reaches its turn in the queue.”
We were left wondering: how many refunds are they processing, and why is there no clear timeline?
It was only after we issued a final demand, giving them 48 hours to process the refund or we’d file a formal complaint with the ACCC, that the refund finally came through.
The ordeal cost us time, energy, stress, and the card processing fee, which was never refunded. We feel misled, ignored, and disrespected. We paid in good faith for a service they failed to deliver, and they held our money for over a month after agreeing to refund it.
To make matters worse, they continue to heavily advertise tours across social media, as if nothing’s wrong. How many others are still waiting for refunds? How many had their tours cancelled at the last minute?
This company should not be allowed to operate like this in Australia.
We’re sharing our experience to warn others:
⚠️ Be extremely cautious before booking with this company.
⚠️ Check other reviews! You’ll see we’re not alone.
When a company cancels a fully paid service and then refuses to return customer funds in a timely and transparent manner, that’s not just bad business. IT’S UNETHICAL.
Until this company cleans up its act, avoid them at all costs.
Finally, if only I could give 0 STARS, I would!

After they tried to push us into another, “more expensive tour” to cater for children, we stood our ground and advised AVG that it was their mistake, we don’t have anymore money nor can we simply change our leave around. The next day, Paul emailed me to confirm that the company will honour our original agreement.

About 6 weeks ago, I still did not receive the link for the final payment so I rang to ask where it was only to be pass onto Paul again. He started by asking me what my understanding of the agreement was. He then tried to say they will honour the children for a different tour but this tour will be additional $300 per person to which I said no, I have it all in writing and that I want a full refund now given that they have not honoured their words - twice. Later that day or the next day, they rang me saying they will issue a refund, to be issued up to 30 days. My husband suggested emailing our account details in case we got told they got a digit wrong or something.

Exactly 30 days later there was still no refund. I rang them in the morning and said they’ll investigate. I rang them again in the evening at 4.30pm. The operator said he’ll investigate too. I then had enough and rang our financial provider to put through a dispute claim. I am not sure if it’s because we got our financial provider involved or that we paid via credit card but we finally got our refund.

The experience has been horrible - simply a nightmare. The kids are disappointed that they couldnt go to China. We had to find a last minute interstate trip to ease the disappointment however getting our refund was a relief.

I travelled on 16day china/Japan tour with AVG and enjoyed all of it. The guides were very good at looking after me and knowledge of areas was excellent. Hotel stays were of the best level. Top 4 star . This is a budget tour so a lot of travellers however the guides seemed to handle strays and stragglers courteously and friendly but firmly. Tour guides May and Savid in China and Linh in Japan, i cannot praise them enough for their service. I purchased optional packages prior to leaving and was refunded for missed trips due to AVG itinerary change but an optional missed due to a cancelled flight was only refunded 1/2 (not their fault and not mine). Some optional were cheaper on the tour than I paid but too bad. I would not repurchase optionals before travelling in the future

I have a $500 credit with AVG travel from a previous failed trip and I have been trying to rebook the Vietnam trip. I was threatened today by sales12 that I have to delete a previous review I left or they won't book any trip with them also by email. She said I'm unwanted by the company because of the review which I stand by. As many other people have said AVOID THIS COMPANY & Vietjet airlines who they use.
Disgusting lack of customer service if they understand what you are saying . I could barely understand sales12 today she's yelling at me & threatened me & I told her I would add another review.
I will look into reporting them further because going by these reviews it is a systemic problem. As I thought a bit of a scam take peoples money and never give it back.
If this company treats potential customers with aggression and threats then they have crossed the line.
KEEP AWAY DON'T USE THIS COMPANY

How do you take an otherwise good product and ruin it? By wrapping it in a soiled garbage bag.

We went on an 11 day tour of Vietnam through AVG. Their local staff were brilliant. The tour design was great. But to squeeze a few extra dollars of profit out of us, they put us on possibly the worst airline known - VietJet Air. The planes were dirty. The food was offensive. The flights were consistently late or cancelled. It makes flying with JetStar feel like Singapore Airlines first class.

The first and last contact with a tour is alwats the airline. And when tour operators choose the cheapest and nastiest airline to make a few extra dollars it sets the tone for the whole tour. A sour taste made all the worse by AVG constantly saying that such matters are ouf of their control. Except they chose the airline!

We selected them over cheaper options based on a recommendation but we will not use them ever again and will share our views with others.

To make an extra couple of dollars on the front end, they have likely lost far more at the back end.

I booked a trip with AVG. My partner read a lot of negative reviews and we decided to ask for our deposit back. I rang them and got to speak to someone within a minute. They gave thorough advice and explained the 7 day cooling off period. I contacted the original consultant and advised that I wish to cancel. She arranged it and within 48 hours I got my refund. I was expecting to have a hard time getting my money refunded, I didn't.
My conclusion is that I was given very good service, honest and transparent. My wife advised that she is going to keep an eye on their reviews and that we may use them the following year. I am writing this because I think they deserve some positive feedback.

"I had intended to book a China tour for two travelers this week through AVG Travel. However, upon reviewing their customer feedback, I have significant reservations about proceeding."

Just my next update. I’m baffled how this company has any good reviews.
Well after 5 months AVG finally sent my refund back. Not before I had consulted a solicitor, involved my bank to intervene, and finally lodging a dispute claim with VCAT at a cost of $250. 5 months of phone calls, emails and a very rude ‘consultant’ telling me to go ahead and sue them because under their Terms and Conditions, they have control of my money now.
On advice from VCAT I have kept the claim open to claim fees for my dispute application.
Good luck everyone. These guys will ruin your holiday and cause unnecessary stress at a time that should be exciting. Find another company or organise your tour yourself.
Thank you TrustPilot for allowing me to share my experience.

We booked a 23 day Africa safari tour with AVG Travels in December 2024, to travel in October 2025. When we booked, we enquired about flight upgrades and an early arrival, and were told these could be accommodated but to talk with them in April when the flight bookings were open.

In April 2025, AVG Travel’s price to upgrade flights was more than double the price we could buy the flights outright, so we said we would book our own flights. We just needed AVG to confirm the tour was going ahead before we booked – which they would not. After several weeks of hesitation and offers to move our booking to a later date (that we could not do), they finally cancelled the tour.
We then spent the next 2 months chasing for a refund. While we paid all progress payments when they fell due, and AVG Travels had no outgoings, their ‘policy’ is that refunds won’t be processed in less than 30 days – even when they cancel the tour. Unfortunately, they do not even do it in 30 days! We had over 30 phone calls, 20 emails and endless hours of pain, stress and frustration dealing with this company. I’m sure they were just hoping we would give up. (They even asked us if we would take ‘a reduced amount’ to get the refund processed!) We will never even consider any dealings with them again.

In our experience:
• They cancel tours.
• They inflate prices – a cheap deal to get you in, and then gouge you for everything once they think they have you captured.
• They don't return calls.
• They are just straight out dishonest.
• The only person you can deal with is your particular consultant. If that person is sick or away, no-one else can help. We are so glad our trip was cancelled because if we needed help when overseas it would have been an absolute nightmare.
• If there are problems or disputes, there is nobody you can elevate the issue to - just keep dealing with the same agent you are having the problem with.
• If forced to make a refund, they procrastinate, make excuses, delay, make promises and do everything possible to avoid paying.
• When refunds are due, you cannot talk with their accounts department – apparently even their own staff cannot talk with Accounts, but can only message them.
• It took us over 30 phone calls, 20 emails, enormous stress, threats and endless patience to even get our deposit back, and more to finally get all our payments. Most others would have just given up...

Do not waste your time with AVG Travels!
They cancelled our entire trip only 5 days before we were supposed to leave.
They never gave us a reason for the cancellation and couldn’t provide us with a refund.
All of our calls and emails never got answered or replied within their correct timeframe for that.
We had to fight for a refund even after they had promised us, week after week, that we would get our money back.
They have the worst customer service I’ve ever seen!

Awful experience. I've had my entire holiday cancelled less than 1 week prior to it starting with no reason why. It then took me over 2 months with countless emails and phone calls not being responded to. I ended up having to involve third parties just to get a refund. Worst experience ever. Please look elsewhere for a travel company!

DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY

I was part of a cancelled trip to Vietnam. No refund as yet, extremely tough to deal with. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Under Dao’s leadership, the company has grown significantly, becoming known for its high-quality service, attention to detail, and commitment to customer satisfaction. His strategic vision and dedication to excellence have been pivotal in the company’s success and its reputation as a leading provider of immersive travel experiences beyond just Asia. IF ONLY THIS WAS TRUE.

Dear David The above statement is on your Website. Unfortunately, your Company is struggling to provide commitment to customer satisfaction. I booked a 14 Day Endless Japan tour, it was a disaster. Every hotel was changed and the hotels were not similar or comparable. All the hotels were not in the tourist areas and it at times was very difficult to find places to eat because we were literally in the middle of nowhere.

Example - Hiroshima Airport Hotel - 50 minutes from Hiroshima Hotel 2 places for dinner the Airport (OMG) or the hotel, HOW CAN ANYONE EXPERIENCE JAPANENE FOOD AND CULTURE if we are stuck in the middle of nowhere. I accepted the hotels would be around 10-20 minutes outside of the tourist areas but not in the middle of nowhere.

Our tour was a group of 6, it was like we were the forgotten 6 sent to hotels in the middle of nowhere and given a tour guide which could not speak English and had very little knowledge of Japan.

Maybe David Dao should change the wording on the website to this is a Non-Transparent Non-Communicating SCAM.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)

We booked a “Flights Included” tour, but were advised 28 days before departure that our flights had been cancelled. We were given three options: delay our trip, cancel, or proceed on a land-only basis. As this was our honeymoon and we had pre-approved leave, postponing was not feasible. We chose to continue and paid for our own international flights at a personal cost of over $2,900 — nearly five times the partial refund we were offered (which took nearly two months to receive).

Communication around this issue was confusing and stressful both before departure and after our return when we sought clarification. We were initially told all Australian travellers were affected, which we later discovered was not accurate.

The land component of the tour was well-organised, and the local guides were knowledgeable and helpful, particularly with language support. The itinerary included high-pressure shopping stops, which are common for this tour style. The land tour alone was a solid 3-star experience, but the unresolved flight issue and poor communication significantly impacted our overall satisfaction.

We hope our experience encourages improved transparency and customer care in the future.

I booked a 17 day Vietnam small group tour as surprise birthday trip for my husbands 50th birthday, it would be 2 adults and a 15 year old.We were told there would be 12 people in our group. We flew into Hanoi and were picked up by a driver and taken to a hotel that appeared to be well out of the tourist area. It was in fact a 10 minute taxi ride to the city area where most tourists stay.
We were picked up the next morning for our transport to Halong Bay where we were to spend the night aboard a boat with our tour group. There were 24 people in the tour group (double the advertised and confirmed amount). Upon arriving at the harbour we were then told we would be joined by 14 other people from another group. We now had 38 people on board a ship that originally was meant to be 12. The first night our rooms were ok, the second time however, the floor in our room sagged and I was worried we would actually fall through and our sons room smelt strongly of urine. We were not able to change rooms.
When our booking was made, I was very clear that our son had a disability and would need to stay in a room on the same floor, preferably close to us. ( The tour company advised there was no triple share rooms so he would need to stay in his own room at an additional cost). I had advised our booking consultant who was a direct employee of AVG that due to his disability he would not be able to climb up onto a bunk in a sleeper carriage for the train to Hue. I was assured this would not be a problem. We arrived at the train and we were told by our tour guide, that it was tough luck about our son, but he didnt have a choice he would need to go on the top. The other person in our group could not climb up either, and she was told the same, climb up too bad. She ended up going and finding another carriage and paying additional money to the staff on board.We arrived in Hue on the sleeper train and taken to our hotel, a 2 or 3 star hotel with no facilities
I asked our tour guide about a money changer in Hue as the hotel rate was very low at 1400, and the street/bank rate was 1600. He said that the bank was a long way away and he could offer 1500. I said no thats fine, tell us where the bank is, it turns out the bank was 300 metres around the corner from the hotel. I didnt like the idea that he appeared to want to take advantage so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
However, I was under the impression that we were paying for guides that were there to assist and help. The other traveller in our carriage on the train became very unwell and needed to be admitted to hospital and our guide just gave her directions to catch a cab. She was in hospital for 3 days with Influenza A and remained very weak for the rest of the trip. At no time did he check in on her. When we arrived by coach to Hoi An, we were taken to a place of accomodation that does not even have a star. The beds were broken, the curtains were torn, the bathrooms flooded and there was no restaurant nearby and it was in the middle of nowhere, they said the pool and gym were being repaired. A google check revealed the pool has been under repair for over a year. Several guests complained to their travel agents and we were moved the next day to a lovely hotel that was about a 15 minute walk from the city of Hoi An. I emailed our consultant Paul regarding the dismal accomodation but never received an answer. They also tried to put our son and us in separate hotel buildings and when I objected our guide told me to just deal with it.
I asked our travel guide Hoang about organising something special for my husband on his 50th birthday, and he said he could help. He told me it would cost 1 million VND for the hotel to help decorate it for me. I accepted this amount. I went to see Reception about paying the money and they told me that it was no charge, it was their pleasure to help celebrate. I made sure twice that this was ok, as I was happy to pay. Both times I was advised it was no charge. On the morning of my husbands birthday we went out and I keep receiving messages from Hoang about the money.He keep saying I needed to leave him 1 million VMD in an envelope or the hotel would not be able to decorate. I told him I had sorted with hotel, and he asked for the money again. It was not until I told him they had said no charge did he stop messaging for the money. I cannot believe how dishonest this man is.
Our flights were changed and we were split up some on Vietnam Airlines and some on Vietjet, the ones on Vietjet were delayed by 10 hours. We were taken to a hotel in District 10, where there are no facilities and no one speaks English, and a 20 min taxi trip to District 1.We value honesty above all else and found that this tour did not provide what was promised, there was no follow up and the employees are dishonest and would steal from the guests if given a chance

I'm back to write another review. Unfortunately last year I booked 2 tours with AVG Travels. China in April, which was cancelled and a long battle with the company to receive my refund, and Sri Lanka for July 2025. I have just been notified that the tour is cancelled, and again I have requested a refund as I have already booked my flights to go to Sri Lanka, and I need the money to pay for another land only tour in the time I have booked my flight for. I am travelling this time on my own and feeling quite stressed to get this organised. I've been advised I'd be waiting 30 days to get the refund, however I'm sure they can process this quicker for circumstances like this. Paul Nicholson advises me through email he is not "Superman" and cannot make this happen as he does not work in Accounts. Paul will not take my calls even though I have tried 4 times in the past 2 days. I cannot believe this has happened to me again, and I need to go down a long process to get my money. I will be contacting Consumer Protection and A Current Affair as there are many complaints regarding customer service and people receiving their refunds back.
I should not have to wait 30 days or more to receive a refund of money that belongs to me due to their cancelling of trips.
UPDATE: David Dao - CEO of company has compensated the issue and apologised. He has assured me that my itinerary will go ahead as scheduled (at a loss to the company) to regain my trust in the company. I will do a review again after the holiday to advise customers of the outcome.

UNACCEPTABLE DELAY – REFUND STILL NOT PROCESSED AFTER 2 MONTHS

I booked a tour with AVG Travels, which was cancelled just one month before departure due to operational issues. While they offered to move us to a different date, we requested a refund. They promised it would be processed within a month.

It has now been over 2 months and we haven’t received a cent.

We spent money on visas and made travel arrangements based on the original schedule — all of which is now lost. Despite numerous follow-ups, all we’ve received are copy-paste responses blaming their accounting team and asking for “a few more days” — with no actual result.

This is completely unacceptable. AVG Travels needs to take full responsibility for cancelling the trip and process our refund immediately.

At this point, it’s clear that this company is not taking its obligations seriously, and their communication has been poor and dismissive. I’ve had to mention Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and leave this public review in hopes of getting any accountability.

I strongly advise others to avoid this company until they demonstrate they can meet even the most basic standards of professionalism and responsibility.