Sunwing Travel Group
reviews and complaints

Booked an all-inclusive with Sunwing to Puerto Vallarta. Arrived at the airport to be informed that the flight uses Westjet airplanes and they do not have a free checked baggage allowance. Charged us $160 return for the baggages. Got to the resort and they informed us that we were not registered as all-inclusive but econo and would have to pay for all the food and drinks. Bad customer service to get our booking changed and a refund for baggage charges. Have been trying for 5 weeks to talk to someone in customer service. Will never fly Sunwing again!

Please you should be close this hotel (memories flamenco cayo coco).. We are a group for 5 persons we still there 1 week from 6 till 13 of december 2023. No food no water to drink no shapoo no towel... And the importance was no water to take our shower so we still 1 week changing our room and all the rooms was the same no water... We took our shower at the pool and we are sick now. Please I need an agent to call me to explain our situation. My phone number : [protected]. Thank you

On a recent vacation package to Jamaica leaving on a Friday evening (Jan 26 2024), there was a two hour delay in departure, no reasons provided. This resulted in arrival at vacation resort at midnight, with nothing open but the bar. A week later on the return flight on Friday night (February 2 2024), the flight departure was delayed 5 hours, with a departure time at Jamaica airport of 3 am. On check in at airport, SUNWING provided a voucher of $15 towards food. A hopeless certificate as everything in airport was closed except a kiosk selling expensive potato chips, chocolate bars, pop and water type items.

On filing a complaint with SUNWING, there response is it was a safety issue with the aircraft, that no one can confirm. Case closed from their perspective

My Husband and I were booked on WG6276leaving for Vardera Jan23/2024 at 9.00am but our flight did not leave until 15hours later, because of this delay we lost 1 day of our vacation. We are regular customers on Sunwing and have not had anything like this before. I was wondering if we could get some compensation for the 1 day we lost in The Royalton Varadera.

Sincerely,

Ann & Eric Bowman

My Husband and I were booked on WG6276 from Vancouver to Varadera.Our Flight was to leave at 9.00am. We were delayed 15hrs before leaving Vancouver for Veradera. We lost 1 day of our 7 day trip is there any compensation for leaving 15hours late and losing a day of our trip. We have been travelling with Sunwing for many years and this incident never happened before,

Sincerely

Ann Bowman

Travelling with my daughter and two grandchildren aged 3 and 5 on January 14 from Punta Cana to Ottawa. The flight was delayed 3 hours due to weather conditions in Ottawa... for this I completely understand. However. as the three year old was vomiting and diarrhea.. we were completely absorbed with his care and did not realize there was a gate change. Luckily realized at last minute and made it to the plane. The steward was not overly helpful as we asked for water which he never brought. Everyone on the plane was talking about how they received $20 US per person for their lunch to compensate for the delay of flight times. We received no voucher for meals. All I received was the boarding passes.. no extra vouchers for food. I would like to be compensated for this. I have another destination booking in February... which I could use the money towards the meals then. Pls advise

Lori Rothwell cinanni... [protected]@gmail.com [protected]

Will Sunwing do anything , to make us feel we appreciated and would like use Sunwing in the Future. My name is Jerry Bartzen. My group of five included wife Bonnie, son Lowell, grand daugter Mackenzie and her husband Darian. We purchased our tickets from Direct travel Saskatoon from our agent Manya. This mainly covers the problem and I do hope Sunwing or Westjet will be able to do better. Flight WG2692 was sceduled to leave Dec. 15:40 but did not leave until after 9 pm due to missing pilot. I hope someone will e-mail me at [protected]@shaw.ca or call or text me at [protected]. Thanks Jerry Bartzen

I had a flight with Sunwing Airlines (WG3424) scheduled to departure at 5 pm on Thursday, December 28th, 2023 from Windsor International Airport and was supposed to arrive at Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport in Varadero, Cuba at 8:10 pm on the same day. This flight's departure was changed multiple times and I received a final departure time which was at 10:15 pm the same day. This is over 5 hours of delay and I arrived at my hotel on the morning of Friday, December 29th because of it. We arrived at Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport at 1:30 am on December 29th.

I Pius Boniface Kalatharan from Canada booked (BOOKING NO [protected]) a hotel in Cuba for my friend to stay one week and enjoy, that "Hotel Room All inclusive" hotel Name is "Aston Costa Verde Beach Resort" HOLQUIN from 20 OCT. TO 27 oct ,2023. On 20 Oct my friend went to the above Hotei but the Hotel management not allowed stay in the hotel. they sent out. so is un acceptable. what ever now i request the money back to my credit card account which i paid.

this mail send through my friend because some lanquage problem

more conduct

my own email..

[protected]@gmail.com

My T.P . [protected]

thanks

P.B.Kalatharan

please take action and send the reply as soon as possible

4 hr delay going. No rep. ever, at hotel. Rep did not show up to scheduled orientation via email.

On return flight 7 hrs waited in limbo to be finally told flight was cancelled and were transported to another hotel. Total waste of daylight hours sitting in lobby.

8 am flight no breakfast or, even a cup of coffee at overnight hotel. No meal offered on flight despite aircraft and Crew staying over night. Advertised free shuttle between Sister hotels; not available.

No compensation offered at all.

Sunwing does not give a crap. The cream of the crop have been laid off and what is left are more concerned about getting the ax and believe me the lazy cabin crew on the return flight spent more time behind the curtains.

We travelled in late July for 2 weeks this summer. We had a rat in our room which caused significant anxiety and stress (and eventually had to change resorts which we had to pay extra..) I’ve emailed several times including the president and CEO of Sunwing to no avail.. will keep trying to get this resolved. Not holding our breath and are spreading the word…

Hello,

My flight was delayed July 25 2023 with a flight from Santa Clara, Cuba to Toronto, Canada for over 3 hours. My plane was scheduled to leave at 10:35 pm, but instead left at 1 am.

This delay we received was due to an unknown reason.

I originally had a trained book from Toronto to Ottawa at approx. 5 am, but had to cancel and rebook a train, which incurred extra costs. The cost of the new train tickets were 284$

I would like to be reimbursed for these out of pocket expenses.

Thank you.

My name is Tamara Campbell, My daughter checked into this Resort on September 5th, and it was the worst experience she has ever had, she had to check out a day early. She was sexually harassed from the moment she went to this resort. While relaxing in a cabana, the cabana guy pulled his pants down and asked her to perform oral sex to him. It was the most degrading experience she has ever has and obviously women are not safe at this resort. She reported the incident to guest services and not once did the manager come out to speak with her or apologize. My family, my friends or anyone I know will never go to any Royalton Resort. For further information I can be reached at [protected]@gourmetadvisory.com or [protected]. Thank You

We were issued a COVID19 Travel Credit in the amount of $6825 in 2020 by Sunwing Travel Group. When we called Sunwing to use our credit in 2022, we were told that our credit card had been refunded in the full amount. No such credit has ever been issued.

Each time we call Sunwing, we are told the same thing. When we ask for a reference number for the transaction, agents refuse to give us a reference number and will not release a screenshot of where they are getting their information.

We have tried several times to connect with Sunwing personnel above and beyond call centre agents, and each time we are disconnected.

We would like to escalate our claim with Sunwing, as we have evidence that proves a credit has never been issued.

Dear Mr. Escarrer, Mr. Hunter and Mr. Corrado,

I am writing to bring to your attention our awful experience the four of us had at Melia, Paradisus in Varadero, Cuba. Additionally, Sunwing fraudulently represented and advertised your hotel.

SUNWING COMPLAINTS:

1. Firstly, Sunwing's website advertises over 9 restaurants and bars for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. This is completely false. Half the Princess resort was closed unbeknownst to ALL GUESTS in advance. Rather, we eventually learned when we arrived, we only had the option of picking from only 4 restaurants for dinner only. No lunches, no breakfasts a la cart. The only option we had for breakfast and lunch was a 24 outdoor cafe which served the exact same sandwiches and a horrible, distasteful buffet which also included the same food every single day.

2. The racket club, additional bars and restaurants that are advertised on your website were all closed. We were not aware half the resort was completely closed. Not one guest was made aware of this in advance. The closed side of the hotel was not maintained or cleaned. The landscaping is was extremely filthy, only to walk through tall weeds and grass and decrepit buildings. Visually, it appeared awful. It was obvious the closed side was not maintained in months, if not years. As such, Princess should NOT advertise on the Sunwing website the entire resort is open. Rather, it should be transparent with its guests in advance the resort, restaurants, bars and amenities are closed or not fully functional. Your add is false and extremely deceptive. We chose this hotel because we assumed all that Princess and Sunwing advertised was accurate and true.

3. Sunwing further advertises the beach is cleaned nightly. In the early morning, they merely rake the seaweed and put them in piles, 5-10ft apart. The seaweed is merely raked and left on the beach. It is not removed at all. As such, guests are left to look at piles and piles of seaweed or eventually, swim in it. Sunwing advertises the beach is cleaned daily. This is completely false.

4. Sunwing (see attached) also booked our two rooms having a POOL SIDE view. Additionally, the four of us required us to be close together. This was confirmed. Please take note that Alexandar (son) has severe autism, thus we all needed to be close and/or supervising him at all times. Hence, the request for connecting and/or rooms close together.

5. We were not advised when a Sunwing representative would be present to learn about excursions and/or tours onsite. We eventually learned there are postings of times a Sunwing representative would be present at the hotel, at the side of the hotel. No one advised us at the hotel The hours did NOT reflect the staff times. Rather, the staff came a different hours thus we would miss them and we could not attend any tours or excursions.

6. We were advised by hotel staff our pick up bus for the airport would arrive four hours before our flight on July 26th. When preparing for our departure, no one at the front desk knew or could confirm when our bus would arrive to pick us up. As such, we had them contact Sunwing who eventually told them we were to be at the lobby at 5:55pm. The bus eventually arrived at 7:30pm and our flight was at 9:55pm. Many guests were worried and uncertain what was happening, including elderly couples who were much more vulnerable. Hotel staff did not help us or make one phone call to assist or alleviate our worries. They just told us to wait.

PARADISUS COMPLAINTS:

1. Upon arrival at 11:30pm to the hotel, we were provided keys to our two room. We were assured our rooms were meters apart. I provided our booking details, confirming we have a Pool View. Front desk smiled and confirmed we had adjoining room with a Pool View (see attached) in building #6. We waited over a half hour for the a travel cart to take us to our rooms at 12am. Once we got to our rooms on the second floor of building 6, they were not side by side or even close to each other. Rather, the rooms were on the opposite side of building #6, on the same floor. Once Anna Marija and Alexandar got to their room, they realized there was no air conditioner (July, 2023). We called the front desk immediately and they assured us a "mechanic" would come look. We waited an hour and no one arrived. Please keep in mind, we are exhausted having travelled over 12 hours. We called the front desk at 1am for over an hour and no one would answer. At 1:00am they finally answered and they promised the mechanic would come again. He arrived at 1:30am and confirmed there was no air conditioning in the room. The front desk provided a room change and someone would come to help us to the new room. At 2:30am, a staff member came to the door and did NOT take our luggage or help us to a new room. The new room was on the first floor, far from Donna Dobrijevic and Natasha Maksimovic who were on the second floor. BOTH rooms faced shrubs and dead grass, not the pool. We were all in bed by 3:30am on our first evening.

2. I asked to speak to the Hotel Manager the on July 24th, 2023. Each staff member was providing a different response. One said she was in a meeting, another said she was not in, and another said she would return tomorrow. A customer service representative, who did not speak English, said he would help only to give us another room on the third floor. No pool view. Nothing was resolved nor did anyone attempt to accommodate or assure us.

3. On July 25th, I returned to the front desk and demanded I speak with the Hotel Manager. They advised me to wait and she would be out to speak with me. I waited in the lobby for over an hour only to learn she would return at 4pm. I came back at 4pm and they advised me there is no Hotel Manager in at that time. As you can imagine, I was furious. They assured me someone would contact me. No one did.

4. Manuela, Customer Service representative, eventually met with me on July 26th because I returned to the lobby again. She merely listened and offered us a 20 minute massage and a catamaran ride. She directed me to go directly to the beach were Emmanuel was waiting for us. We went to the beach, there was no boat or an Emmanuel. In calling the front desk, asking what to do, no one could provide an answer. I was frustrated, angry and confused and assumed Manuela lied or did not provide accurate directions. As such, I walked a half a kilometer down the beach to ask for an Emmanuel given I saw boats in that direction. The 20 minute massages were offensive to say the least. I am not sure why Manuela did not provide us with a day at the spa, or an hour massage. Please keep in mind, there are four guests. She merely offered us two massages. She did not offer any of us a new room or make any suggestions. Rather, I demanded she provide us a pool room as we paid for. She would not. She advised us the Pool Rooms were for Royal Guests only, to which we were not advised in advance. Nevertheless, I provided the attached booking document and she did not care. I never got to speak to the Princess Del Mar Hotel Manager as I requested. Rather, they did all they could to ignore us and other guests.

5. I learned from other guests, Manuela merely provided 20 minute massages to those who demanded to speak to the Hotel Manager also. This was amazing to witness. If this was a response in Toronto and/or a 5 star Caribbean Resort, the Management Team and staff would be immediately fired. Not one guest was able to speak to the Hotel Manager. All front desk staff provided us with numerous excuses. One even told us the Hotel Manager was on vacation. It was evident each one was lying which was incredibly offensive, insulting and frustrating.

6. We had to leave notes for cleaner/maid to change our bathroom towels daily and, provide new beach towels. They were NOT changed. All they did was make the beds. No refill of water, beer, pop, etc. in fridge. I had to contact customer service every single day for basic necessities in the room. Our fridge was never fully stalked.

7. We asked for room service given we witnessed MANY servers taking food to the room. The hotel denied us of any room service. No room service at all in a five star hotel was shocking.

8. We had to ask for bottles of water and beer EVERYDAY from the front desk or customer service. They would not fill up our fridges with water or beer. We had to call each day and ask. They assured us we would receive this immediately but we had to wait the next day again.

9. I learned there are two phone numbers to call from the rooms. 700 for front desk, and 289 for customer service. Not all rooms have this information, including one of our rooms. As such, guests do no have this information. There were times I was calling both numbers for over an hour. No one would answer

10. There is NO COFFEE in the rooms? The hotel told us everyday there is no coffee or ketchup in the hotel to provide guests which was a lie. We witnessed ketchup bottles in some restaurants. Anna Marija and I demanded coffee machines for three days to which they eventually brought to each of our rooms on July 26th. One machine worked, they other did not. Again, room service never left coffee pods (which they had). I had to call over 3 times each day to demand they bring me coffee for my machine. They would leave ONE coffee pod the next day.

11. Toilets were not working in our rooms. We had to pour our own water from the sink to flush our toilets.

12. One of our rooms had bedbugs. We immediately told the front desk and they reported they were merely black flies. Anna Marija and Alexander were had bites all over their bodies (arms, legs, hands, feet). On July 31st, 2023, their doctor's in Toronto, ON confirmed they were indeed, bit by bedbugs, not black flies.

13. All customer service staff and front desk staff lied, made attempts to manipulate and/or avoid our suggestions and/or requests for help. Not one staff member did anything to alleviate our frustrations or make suggestions to ease our stay. I have never witnessed anything like this on any resort.

14. The food at Princess is bland and made many of us sick. All meals in the restaurants were too salty. Your chefs are not chefs. They are cooks and need to be trained well to accommodate your guests. We have been to Cuba over 15 times and never witnessed this before. We spent a day in downtown Varadero. The restaurants and food was fabulous for lunch and dinner. As such, not one excuse should be made regarding the food for your 5 star hotel.

15. The guests had absolutely no clue where the restaurants were, the entertainment schedule or what was open upon arrival. The front desk did not make any efforts to inform guests about ANY amenities, times of restaurants or entertainment. They merely had a screen which advertised yoga sessions in the morning. Rooms did not provide any pamphlets or information to inform guests. We all had to learn about the hotel amenities and restaurants amongst each other or randomly ask servers on the property. Upon arrival, not one staff member greeted us.

16. In asking staff for a transportation cart to take us from A to B (i.e. Hilltop Restaurant to our rooms), we would wait for over an hour each time. No one would confirm how long the cart would take. Rather, "they will be here soon." We would find the carts in front of they Royalton most times. Eventually, we learned to walk rather than ask for a cart.

17. The entertainment was awful. All guests would be informed by an entertainer an hour before the show, only if one was in the lobby. Given the hotel was empty, dry, dull and there were many angry, resentful and unhappy guests; many declined being present for much of the entertainment. We did not know about a piano bar that was merely opened one evening the entire week.

18. Not one guest was advised there were stingwrays in the water at your beach. One guest saw a stingray while in the water and never went near the beach again. Another was stung and was taken to emergency while we were there.

19. We learned there was new management at this hotel and new staff. As such, the hotel, customer service and lack of advertised amenities, restaurants and restaurant hours were falsely advertised.

Amongst the four of us, we have been on hundreds of vacations. This, by far, is the most terrible and distastefu all inclusive vacation we experienced. We talked and socialized with many, many guests at the pool and all discussed our terrible experiences . We have never seen such lazy, incompetent and unenthusiastic employees who did absolutely nothing to make our trip memorable, pleasurable and/or peaceful. It is a disorganized, dirty hotel with staff who do not accommodate, assist or welcome guests. It is deplorable this hotel is considered a five star. Your customer service staff should be fired.

I have never written an email like this following a vacation. I am livid, resentful and enraged we spent over $5000 to stay at a 5 star Melia hotel which felt like a 1 star Comfort Inn in Toronto. I learned there were less than 250 guests at your hotel while witnessing hundreds of other guests at alternative hotels lying on the beach resorts in Varadero. I trust not one guest will ever return to your Princess resort or use Sunwing in the future. Most servers and lifeguards reported and agreed the hotel is horrible and they are awaiting new management. They confirmed the hotel is a very bad reputation in Varadero.

Paradisus front desk and customer service staff should be fired and new staff must be professionally trained if this hotel remains open. I advised all of them all guests will return to Cananda and create poor reviews and deter anyone to use Sunwing or go to a Melia resort. They did not show any concern or interest. As you know, the Princess Del Mar poor reputation will spread like wildfire.

If we (4) of us do not get compensated, I will certainly post this email online and proceed further. We all desperately needed a relaxing vacation and we chose Melia. We regret this decision immensely. We feel sick and disheartened we used our hard earned money at your resort. We will never go to a Melia resort nor will we use Sunwing again. I will do everything in my power to deter anyone too.

I trust you will respond accordingly and provide full compensation to all four of us given our terrible experience. Some of the guests we spoke with are planning to sue Sunwing or ask for a full refund.

I await your response.

Respectfully,

Donna Dobrijevic, Anna Marija, Alexander and Natasha Maksimovic

Toronto, ON

Canada

[protected]

https://book.sunwing.ca/cgi-bin/roomsforf.cgi

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