Agents booked our nri trip and than merged us with indian discovery tour which was given at much lower price to indian customers .we were told it's an upgraded tour with good hotels. But hotels were far away for which we spend most of our time in bus travelling to hotels and time cut off from sight seeing. The tour manager had bad approach towards indians..she on each and every step used to say hurting words like they r not interested in history...dnt know how to behav in hotels...for breakfast etc....it was disgusting... Even to city guide she used to tell in her ears dnt tell them too much they r indians not interested. Always worried about reaching hotEl om time and cut our sight seeing time.. No promises kept by cox and kings..

First family tour was spoiled by I experienced tour Guide, who had no knowledge about the main places we visited. Everyone was sarcastically commenting on his knowledge of tour..He was only arranging the Dinner in time. At Chamonix Mont Blanc he misguided the people that cable ride to go down the mountain to see Glacier museum from railway station is not included in our tour. Whereas it was . He would say Google and find out if we say tell us something about particular place. Hotels were good but so much rushing up for dinner... The tour manager really spoiled our tour. Would not travel by this company again..

Well..I vl GV my true opinion...don't spoil ur dream holiday with Cox n kings...just waste of money...no prior bookings done , hotel not gud, literally same food everyday...v paid extra for Gujarati tour bt not at all managed well...n before all this. Our tour manager lost his passport on the 2 nd day our tour so an inexperienced other tour manager came who knew nothing abt Europe or bookings...total waste of money ...

My family just returned from the Cox & Kings American Bonanza (12-25 July 2015) tour. From booking the tour till our return it was a disaster for us. In short, it was a pathetic tour and we now regret opting for Cox & Kings. We will not recommend Cox & Kings to any of our friends and family members. Ambady Manoharan

Experience with Cox & Kings on USA tour On July 15th, 2015, my wife and I went to USA on a Coast to Coast 12 Night, 13 day tour using the Cox & King tour & travel. Our tour started from Los Angeles and ended in New York. The group traveled to 8 Cities, crossing 9 states. While there were some positive segments of our trip, we found many discomforts during our excursion. Two very pleasing components of our trip were the hotel and travel arrangements. However, much of the time, the arranged hotels were too far from the main city to be visited. Due to this, we lost a considerable amount of time merely traveling to our hotel and finding restaurants for dinner. Overall, we expended more than 70 % of our tour time, simply on the bus drive. Furthermore, the tour management was deplorable. The total mismanagement by Cox & Kings created confusion amongst the individuals traveling in our group. For example, Cox & Kings did not arrange any briefing session prior to our departure from Kolkata, making for a hectic and unpleasant departure of many of the person in the group. The most upsetting aspect of the tour was the tour manager. He was very unfriendly and treated us as students in a school. When asked a question, his answers were always insufficient. There were few supper senior citizens were traveling us but the manager never bother to take care of them. He would always leave for his hotel room without ever caring about the comfort of the guests and without communicating to us his room number or how to contact him in an emergency. He never told us the upcoming day’s plan in advance and would occasionally change plans at the last minute, so-to-speak. Many times he didn’t follow the itinerary, instead of stopping the bus, just pass through the important places, where we were supposed to be dropped off so that we could visit the place properly and take photographs. Most of us in the group had an unpleasant experience with the tour manager. One Panjabi family was so upset, that they quit the tour in the middle and left the group. Even the bus driver was very unhappy and angry the way he was communicated with him. All in all, I am a senior citizen and I have traveled with my wife for many years to numerous overseas countries through other tour operators. Never in my life have I experienced such a disorganized and unpleasant tour. This is the first time I have traveled with Cox & Kings and I had a very bad experience from the departure of our tour. I understand Cox & Kings is a very well-known, large and popular tour operator and is supposed to be a worthy tour operator. However the Cox & Kings management is requested kindly to look into the matter of their poor management and take necessary steps to improve their services and to ensure the comfort of customers. Otherwise, in today’s competitive market, the popularity of the company will descend and will lose market.

People nice but their processing very slow. They kept blaming "the computers are slow". That's not acceptable. We had the appt when they open and we were there for 2-3 hours. They had a lobby full! We pay enough fees to process visas-- they need to work on improving their computers, processing system etc. Too inefficient!! Not acceptable. Sadly disappointed!!!!!

I took super saver Kashmir package from COX & kings thinking its reputation & name but to my surprise the services offered & customer service experience was pathetic, in future will never ever take will plan a trip with cox & kings and would nor even suggest to my friends or family. Hotel given by them were below average without basis necessities & food served was bad & stale

Firstly not enough people on our tour so no tour guide, we were reliant on local guides to meet us and take the local tours. Most guides were good, some fantastic, knowledgeable, helpful, and some downright unprofessional. The latter hurried us through the tours because they had other places to be or completely mucked up the tour. I've done several tours with Cox and Kings but no more. Not worth the money you pay. I don't think changing flights so you have a stopover that lasts from midday until 9pm part of a "luxury" tour especially when my itinerary stated the earlier flight which would have given us more time in Shanghai. Yes the hotels were luxurious but we were put into the worst rooms in those luxurious hotels, my last hotel in Shanghai I had to change the room 3 times - no window in the bedroom, room smelt of sewerage. With no tour guide to cover this you have to do the job yourself, so be prepared to do the leg work. The complaints list is endless.

We went to Srilanka thru Cox and Kings Kolkata and had a very bad time....at the Airport, even though we had paid for visit visa, there was some problem and we had to apply for Visa on arrival. The Srilankan Authorities were very cooperative and the matter got sorted out. But Cox and Kings put up their hand saying it is a one off thing. The Driver, who was supposed to be a tour guide/driver was completely unco-operative and was only interested in ensuring that he does minimum number of kms and saves his money/petrol though we had before hand paid for the travel. He refused to show us the relevant site...was rude and non cooperative. It was only after putting in complaints a number of times with their representative in Srilanka and India that he toned down. The Srilankan Agent to Cox and Kings was also non cooperative since apparently he was not paid well and was hence trying to cut corners and make his money and hence we were made to suffer. We were 9 of us, including 3 kids and it is only because of our boundless enthu that we enjoyed the trip else Cox and Kings had ensured that it would be a complete disaster...will never recommend Cox and Kings to anyone.

I booked a private Andalusian tour that included transportation. This was important to me because I use a cane. In Cordoba, no car arrived for either the trip to or from the hotel. I finally went onto the street and found and paid for my own transportation. On my return I informed the company who said they would look into it. After a month of no response, I asked for an explanation. I was informed that the car company had been paid and that the situation was "regrettable.' No explanation. No apology. Since they all got paid, I wonder who is to feel "Regret?" I know. The regret is mine. To show my displeasure, I directed them to remove my name from the email list. That wasn't done so now I get weekly reminders of their "regrettable" service. Don Robertson

An expensive trip to Bhutan after Cox and Kings recommended. Tickets not sent until 5 days before departure. Hotels changed at short notice. The ones allocated were very disappointing and guide had to take us out to eat at several restaurants as food limited and poor quality. Hotel facilities inadequate and of poor standard for such an expensive trip. The vehicle assigned to us was only only suitable for short journeys and we were travelling 7/8 hours in it some days. Very cramped and not fit to cope with the difficult roads. Told 3 days before we were due to fly out of a Bhutan flight over booked and we would have to stay an extra night This was extremely stressful as we had made arrangements in Katmandu that we would miss. Eventually after toing and froing we told after two days we could get on the flight the next day We were upgraded to business class. We were also given a guide and car in Katmandu for which we were grateful We wrote to Cox and Kings about this and received a rather hollow respond to our complaints They offered £150 off a future trip Just to let others know Cox and Kings did not live up our standards of expectations and would not recommend them to any one without reviewing thoroughly their intinerary

We booked this trip with Cox and Kings rather than cheaper tours with other companies because we mistakenly believed that for the extra money we would get a better experience. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! From start to finish this was a very poor holiday. From being left to hang around for over an hour on arrival at Moscow Airport, to being taken to the train station over an hour before our train to St Petersburg departed, being left standing on the station platform for an hour. Being "whizzed" around the sights with no time to explore properly, to being stuck in an out of city centre hotel in St Petersburg, being offered expensive optional tours which could be undertaken by yourselves at a fraction of the cost, to having not a single Cox and Kings rep in Russia, using the same tour guides as used by other "cheaper" tour companies. A bad experience from start to finish. We had so looked forward to this holiday. But it was simply not up to scratch or worth the considerable cost. We will never travel with Cox and Kings again.

Cox and Kings cleverly market themselves as being a centuries-established and rather pukkah, traditional British company. But, in essence, they are a glorified travel agent who organise tours from their central office, and pass on the actual running of those tours to secondary agents, who are located in their trip destinations.

Our trip to South America was so-so, but there was NO Cox and Kings representative anywhere. In Peru, Argentina, and Brazil, we were solely in the hands of travel company organisers from the respective countries.

Our first disaster was on arriving in Lima. A third of the party had missed the connecting flight from Madrid because of French industrial action. When we eventually arrived in Lima, there was no one to meet us. We eventually got to our hotel to discover that the Peruvian rep knew nothing about our situation, and was happily preparing to continue the trip with the two thirds of the party who had turned up.

This was a stressful, tiring start to the trip, but we all carried on, knowing that a three night stay at Cusco, 48 hours ahead, would allow a period of comfortable recovery. We had overlooked the significance to a "change" in our hotel accommodation. Instead of a 5 star hotel in Cusco, which we saw from the outside looked very comfortable, we had been moved to a 4 star hotel, which was very, very poor, and was worth 2 stars at best. We hardly slept in our airless rooms (no air conditioning, small windows looking onto a hotel corridor, etc)

I could go on, but you get the picture. I didn't bother complaining to Cox and Kings, but I did decide not to book with them again. I can get a similar service from any run-of-the-mill, second-rate company without paying the Cox and Kings "quality" premium, and I won't be conned by their nonsensical marketing claptrap in the future.

Don't be taken in by the Cox and Kings pukkah claptrap. This is not a quality operation.

My experience with Cox and Kings: A nightmare

We planned, a tour for USA in the month of May. I approached Cox and Kings a reputed travel agency.

I booked for the coast to coast tour with their agent located in Thane. The company is well establisehd and operating for many years, hence I did not feel the necessity to check with the other tour operators. I made the bookings well in advance(2 months). The tour was scheduled for 22nd May. I visited the agent 3-4 times for making payments and information etc. Every time I requested for the itinerary. They insisted that it was given just one day earlier to the departure as a practice. I requested again in May and received the same answer. I found this very ridiculous, being handed your ticket and itinerary just th previous day, though these plans are made well in advance. Yet I trusted the agent and waited till the 20th. Then I called the head office and asked them to send the itinerary. Despite having my address the documents were ,mailed to the agent on that day. He opened the mail the next day and called me at 12.00 pm saying my tickets were ready and I could pick them up any time in the day. As I was anxious, I rushed to collect them. It was the 21st of May. I checked the documents and was confused to see the date 21st May writtten on the documents. I asked him to clearify this. He called at the office and to my horror I was told that the flight was scheduled for the 21st may which meant I had to leave for USA within an hour. I was speechless.I had no time to argue. One can imagine my predicament. I rushed home and after a lot of hassles we reached the airport.
I least expected such a treatment from the tour operators of their repute. I write this so that whoever makes bookings should insist for the information under the right to information act.