My Worst Travel Experience – Strongly DO NOT Recommend PickYourTrail for Turkey
Our experience with PickYourTrail (PYT) was extremely disappointing from start to finish. I would strongly advise anyone planning a Turkey trip to avoid them.
1. Poor Planning from the Beginning
I am based in Hyderabad, yet PYT assigned a Chennai-based agent to handle our trip. Initially, the Hyderabad team kept calling and suggesting we should go with them instead because we might face problems later, but they never clearly explained what those problems would be. Eventually, we proceeded with the Chennai team.
Once the itinerary was finalized, the PYT agent asked us to send our passports to their Chennai office for the Turkey visa process. Since we had never travelled to Europe before and usually visited countries where visas are easy or on-arrival, this process was new to us. Sending passports to Chennai felt uncomfortable and poorly planned, especially when a Hyderabad office existed.
It became clear that the Chennai agent simply wanted the project under her account without proper coordination.
2. Visa Process Chaos
Because we were hesitant to send our passports, we ended up coordinating with another visa agent and handled the entire documentation process ourselves—downloading papers, preparing documents, and spending a significant amount of money on it. Eventually PYT refunded the visa fee they had charged, but the entire situation showed how disorganized the process was.
3. Activities in Turkey – Completely Mismanaged
We had specifically requested activities like the hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia and the Red City Underground Tour.
The hot air balloon ride was cancelled on the first day due to snow (which is understandable).
However, for the next day they were supposed to arrange another slot. Despite constant follow-ups, their so-called 24×7 concierge service was completely useless.
Since PYT failed to secure a slot, we were forced to book the hot air balloon ourselves locally, which cost us significantly more.
In the itinerary, PYT had charged ₹50,000 for the balloon ride, and I have the detailed cost breakdown. Yet when they finally refunded the amount, they only returned ₹26,000, claiming that was their internal cost. This lack of transparency is unacceptable.
4. No Ground Support in Turkey
Throughout the trip, PYT kept saying their “Turkey team was not responding.” That itself is a major red flag. If you are charging premium prices for a destination, you should have proper local support and manpower.
It became clear that they have no real operational presence in Turkey and rely on unreliable third parties while marketing themselves as experts.
5. No Accountability Even After Escalation
Even after formally escalating the issue via email and sharing screenshots of their ineffective “24×7 concierge” support, there has been no proper response or resolution.
This was by far the worst travel planning experience I have had. Poor coordination, lack of transparency, no local support, and ineffective customer service.
If a minus rating existed, I would give that.
Strongly NOT recommended if you are planning a trip to Turkey with PickYourTrail.
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