Is Trip.com legit? I’ve been using Trip.com for more than 4 years now, and it’s pretty much the ONLY travel app I use nowadays! Read on to find out why!
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Is Trip.com Legit? My Thoughts as an Expat
Okay, so full disclosure: this post has sponsored LINKS (meaning I get a small commission if you book through them), but I was not asked to write this whole post! I WANTED to!
I honestly just LOVE Trip.com that much. I’m recommending it to traveling friends ALL the time, because it really is a super-app for traveling, in my opinion!
Why is that? Tons of reason, but the 10 I’ll cover in this post are:
- TONS of booking options
- AMAZING customer service
- Up-to-date information
- Clear policies (which they follow!)
- Amazing flight and railway experiences
- Fun ways to earn rewards
- Giveaways which are REAL (I won one!!)
How I Discovered Trip.com’s App
I used a bunch of different travel apps to get around when I moved abroad to China. And don’t get me wrong, most of them were pretty decent!
So why am I so “gung-ho” about Trip.com?
Honestly I only started using it because one of my friends told me that I could book train tickets through it. And at the time, NO apps supported train bookings for foreign passport holders in China!
Prior to discovering Trip.com during my time in China, I would have to physically go to the train station to book train tickets. And the closest one was over an hour away (ick).
So I downloaded Trip just to have a way to book train tickets…and within several months, it was the ONLY travel app I was using.
7 Reasons Why Trip.com Is Legit AND Worth Using
Without further ado, here are the 7 reasons why Trip.com is not only legit, but also worth using!
1. They Have Tons of Booking Options
At first when using Trip.com, I would flip between 2-3 other booking apps to compare hotels and prices. There was only one instance so far when another app had a hotel which I couldn’t find on Trip.
Also, the nightly rates for hotels were often best on Trip, and the discounts tend to improve the more you book through the app!
The only apps which had cheaper hotel rates in China were local Chinese apps (which I couldn’t even register on with a foreign passport).
I like options, and I like knowing that I’m getting the best deals. Four years with Trip.com and I KNOW I’m getting the best of both!
2. Their Customer Service is Amazing!
I have had TONS of bumps and scrapes with trip planning over the years. And every time I had to call Trip.com to sort it out, I was ALWAYS connected to a real person!
I had an issue with an expensive hotel in Beijing which I’d booked for a friend’s bachelorette party last year, and I spent several hours on the phone with both Trip AND the hotel.
In the end, the Trip.com employees were SUPER helpful and helped me sort everything out. They even remembered me when I called back after several hours…which goes a long way when you’re stressed!
When you’re having a travel problem, it is SO helpful to be connected to an ACTUAL person, who is LEGITIMATELY helpful and attentive to your situation.
The one Time my Trip.Com Tickets Fell Through & What Happened
So far, in my dozens of bookings with Trip, there was only one which I wasn’t able to use in the end.
We were visiting the Panda Reserve in Chengdu, China, and bought park tickets via Trip.com’s app, which were supposed to be sent to me via email from a third-party organization.
I’ve done these kinds of bookings several times on Trip, and never had issues. However, this time the third-party group didn’t get us the tickets in time, and we couldn’t get in contact with them.
When we arrived to the park, we bought tickets at the counter and simply got on the phone with Trip. They got on the phone with the third-party ticket issuer…and boom!
The Trip.com customer service agent apologized profusely for the problems with our tickets, issued a full refund, and that was that!
In my opinion, it’s one thing to work with a travel service that handles seamless bookings well…
…but it’s another thing to have a travel service that handles PROBLEMS well. Because let’s face it: problems DO pop up from time to time, especially when you’re booking stays or experiences in less-traveled areas.
For the legit and fantastic customer service alone, Trip.com is SO worth using!
3. Trip.com Has Up-to-Date Information
In China, some hotels didn’t have the ability to host foreign passport holders. And prior to using Trip, there were several times where I booked and arrived at a hotel, only to have issues completing the stay.
For each hotel on their app, Trip.com has detailed information about their individual policies. And after staying at dozens of hotels, I’ve yet to bump into any incorrect information!
The same goes for most parks and experiences. Users can leave reviews and posts for most tourist sites, so in addition to Trip’s page for each hotel or site, you can read users’ tips, as well.
Booking hotels with confidence and accuracy is one of the things that made me fall in love with Trip.com!
4. Policies Are Clear & Easy To Understand
So often with booking companies, we bump into “the fine print”.
In these situations, hidden or unclear policies can stop you from cancelling or changing your travel plans, even if they led you to initially believe that you could do so without penalty.
With Trip.com, their booking policies (as well as individual hotels’ policies), are really easy to locate during the booking process. The language is simple and clear, so you can know exactly what to expect.
I have yet to discover any major “fine print” issues with Trip.com. Of course, I always read a hotel’s policies before booking it, and pay attention to Trip.com’s booking policies for hotels/travel tickets before booking.
Until today, I have not encountered a single instance so far in which the policies were either “ambiguous”, mis-aligned with reality, or where there was some secret fine-print which screwed me over.
With Trip.com, what you see in the booking policies is really what you get. I love that!!
5. Trip.com’s Flight & Railway Bookings are a Breeze!
Flights on Trip.com: All the Details at Your Fingertips
While living in China, I was usually booking tickets through WeChat. It wasn’t until recently that I booked a flight home through Trip.com…and let me just say, I was blown away!
I got prompt notifications in the app about my flight, both prior to and during the actual flight.
I chose my seats easily, was able to see all kinds of information about the airplane, and was prompted through EVERY step of the way. When delays happened to my flight, I was prompted to confirm and accept them.
We had to transfer in Seoul, and the app even walked us through the steps of how we could check whether we needed transfer visas. It was SEAMLESS and SO helpful!
Plus, since I travel a lot, I was able to use my Diamond Status traveler bonus to get my partner and I into a VIP lounge in Seoul for FREE!! And we did all of that on the app as well…so the Trip.com perks are legit!!
Trains on Trip.com: All Information COVERED!
As I mentioned before, booking train tickets on Trip.com’s app was the whole reason I started using it. Until recently, it was the ONLY app where foreign passport holders in China could book tickets.
And booking them is SO easy!! Not only is it easy, but the day of, all of the platform and train information is made visible, even with instructions on how to navigate individual train stations.
I just cannot say enough wonderful things about booking travel tickets through Trip.com. The user interface is amazing!
6. Fun Ways to Earn Rewards on Trip.com’s App!
Every time you book through Trip.com, you can write reviews to earn “Trip Coins”, which can be put towards future hotel/flight/train bookings.
On top of that, Trip.com’s app has a sort of “social media” where you can post “Trip Moments”, which include your photos and descriptions of places you’ve visited.
Through posting high-quality Trip Moments, which will be visible to people looking to book or visit the site you tag in your post, Trip.com will actually let you earn rewards which can get pretty massive.
My Trip Coins have already covered several nights of hotels in China for my partner and I, which is a HUGE perk!!
With enough time, bookings, and posts, you can start earning more significant rewards!
7. Trip.com Holds Giveaways, And They’re REAL!!
You know how there are always contests going on on travel apps? I’ve entered a few over the years (without success).
At the end of last year, I saw a contest for a Hotel Stay Giveaway on Trip.com’s app, and all I had to do was post one qualifying Trip moment using the contest hashtag to enter. It took five minutes.
Since I post Trip moments often to earn rewards, it was pretty easy to just add the contest hashtag to one of my moments…and that was that!
Several weeks later, they contacted me via email to tell me that I’d WON! They also shared detailed instructions on how to enjoy the free hotel stay.
I was SHOCKED! But everything went seamlessly. I stayed at a hotel in the USA, as I was going to be in the US during the time for which I had to redeem the hotel stay.
They made the booking for me and handled everything, and it was indeed FREE! (Check out my post about it).
So I can testify that the giveaways on Trip.com are DEFINITELY legit!
Summary
Honestly if you haven’t already gotten the drift…I have genuinely LOVED my experiences with Trip.com, and am ALWAYS recommending them as a super-app for travel.
For their user-friendly layouts, great booking options, and rewards which really do add up–they’re the whole package, in my opinion!
So is Trip.com legit? Coming from a longtime user – yes, yes, YES! I’d love to hear your questions about or experiences with Trip.com in the comments! Let’s talk!
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