Australian travellers who booked heavily discounted overseas holidays with AVG Travels say they have been left chasing tickets, itineraries and refunds after trips were cancelled days and weeks before departure, putting renewed scrutiny on cheap package deals sold direct to consumers.
The Melbourne-based travel company emailed more than 200 customers last week advising their itineraries were “under review” due to “operational scheduling adjustments”, according to the ABC. More than a dozen tour packages are understood to have been affected, many of them to China.
The fallout has since widened beyond missed holidays. The Council of Australian Tour Operators has suspended AVG Travels’ accreditation, travellers have reported matters to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and a public Facebook group titled AVG Travels Scamming Aussies and Kiwis has attracted more than 345 members.
AVG Travels has said it remains “fully operational” and is working with affected customers.
At the time of writing, AVG Travels’ website still appeared to be advertising overseas packages, including China tours, with 2026 departures listed as available.
Travellers say documents never arrived
Melbourne travellers Elizabeth and John Jennings were due to depart for China this week on an 11-day tour. Elizabeth Jennings told the ABC the couple spent weeks trying to obtain their tickets and final itinerary before being told the trip had been cancelled.
“We were given the brush-off every time,” Elizabeth Jennings said.
She said they were offered the option of travelling in August or September, or taking a credit voucher.
“I said no three times. I just want my money back,” she said.
Perth traveller Sam Chisholm had booked an 11-day China tour with her daughter Chelsey, departing 27 May. The pair paid $2,736, including optional tours, and expected to receive e-tickets and hotel details before travel.
Chisholm told the ABC they had not received the documents, despite booking information stating e-tickets and hotel details would be provided about 30 days before departure, and airline tickets issued four to six weeks before travel.
The pair have since booked another China holiday independently, spending another $3,500 while waiting for their AVG Travels refund.
“This experience has crushed our faith in handing over money to others up-front for this kind of thing,” Chisholm said.
After the ABC published its story on Monday afternoon, AVG Travels refunded both Elizabeth Jennings and Sam Chisholm in full.
CATO suspends accreditation
CATO general manager Mira Yates advised impacted travellers that the organisation moved to review AVG Travels’ accreditation after becoming aware of complaints.
“On becoming aware of complaints against AVG Travels this week, we moved quickly to review their accreditation status. That review has resulted in the immediate suspension of AVG Travels’ CATO accreditation,” she said.
The ABC also reported AVG Travels’ membership with the Australian Travel Industry Association was cancelled in August 2022 for failing to meet required “financial and ethical standards”.
ATIA’s public list of cancelled or withdrawn ATAS participants says businesses listed there have had accreditation cancelled under the ATAS Charter or have voluntarily withdrawn and may continue to operate. It also directs consumers to Travel Tick to check whether a business is currently ATIA accredited.
For many travellers, accreditation only becomes visible after something has gone wrong. For the trade, it raises a more uncomfortable question: how clearly do consumers understand who they are booking with, what protections apply and what the difference is between an accredited operator, an online package seller, a travel advisor and a wholesaler in the minds of travellers?
Customers organise online
Travellers are now comparing notes through the public Facebook group AVG Travels Scamming Aussies and Kiwis, where members are seeking advice, sharing refund updates and discussing approaches to media and consumer authorities.
One post in the group, referring to an 11-day China tour booked in December 2025 for a 17 May 2026 departure, claimed travellers were still without confirmed flights, a final itinerary or clear communication three days before departure.
“Instead of delivering the trip we paid for, they suddenly told us to ‘rebook’ for August — as if customers can simply change work schedules, annual leave, and personal commitments overnight,” the post said.
The poster described the experience as “completely unreliable and unprofessional” and said customers deserved “honesty, transparency, and professionalism”.
“We feel misled, stressed, and extremely disappointed after trusting this company with our money and travel plans,” the post said.
The post said the travellers were prepared to escalate the matter legally and report their experience to consumer authorities.
For an industry built on confidence, the Facebook group points to a larger issue than one cancelled departure. Travellers are documenting timelines, comparing communication and trying to work out whether their money, leave and long-planned holidays can be recovered.
AVG Travels says it remains operational
In a statement to the ABC, AVG Travels said it took “customer concern seriously” and was “proactively engaging with all affected travellers to provide fair and appropriate resolutions”.
“While current industry-wide and operational pressures have necessitated some itinerary adjustments, our team is proactively engaging with all affected travellers to provide fair and appropriate resolutions,” the company said.
“We are maintaining close collaboration with our global network of partners to ensure the continuity of our services.
“Our focus is on resolving all pending matters swiftly and restoring the high standard of service our customers expect.”
In an email sent to customers, chief executive David Dao wrote that “many customers are concerned while waiting for travel updates and final flight confirmations for upcoming departures”.
“We sincerely apologise for the uncertainty this has caused,” the email said.
“Due to ongoing operational disruptions during this current peak travel period, some bookings are taking longer to finalise.”
The email also exposed the email addresses of hundreds of recipients. A second email apologised for an “administrative error” in which customer addresses were “unintentionally visible to other recipients”.
Website appears to remain open for bookings
AVG Travels’ website continues to promote overseas packages, including China tours, with booking options and future departure dates appearing live at the time of publication.
A current AVG Travels listing for an 11-day China tour describes the package as visiting Beijing, the Great Wall, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai. The company’s homepage also lists a 16-day China with Yangtze Cruise package with available dates from October 2026 to November 2027.
The company describes itself as “proudly Australian-owned” and says it has taken more than 200,000 travellers around the world.
Its website says the business began as an online travel agency in Vietnam in 2012, established an office in Melbourne in 2015 and opened offices in Japan and the United Kingdom last year.
The ABC also reported there were customers posting in support of the company, including one traveller who said she had travelled to China with AVG Travels in March and had a positive experience.
“It was wonderful, jam packed with history, UNESCO site and bullet trains,” Gill Shipley wrote, according to the ABC.
“Communication with them was never a problem.”
Why this matters beyond AVG Travels
The AVG Travels cancellations are a consumer refund story. They are also a trade confidence story.
Cheap package deals have obvious appeal, especially as Australians continue to look for value in long-haul travel. China, in particular, has been gaining momentum among Australian travellers, with recent data showing outbound travel from Australia to China rose 16.5 per cent in the 12 months to March 2026.
Low-cost packages can help convert that interest into bookings. They can also leave travellers exposed if communication breaks down close to departure, especially when customers have paid months in advance and are relying on one company to coordinate flights, hotels, touring and support.
But consumers often only see one broad category: travel company. They may not separate an online package seller from a retail advisor, a tour operator, a wholesaler, an airline holiday brand or an accredited industry member. When something goes wrong, the reputational damage can spread across the wider travel sector.
For advisors, the case is a blunt reminder of the value they bring when clients are comparing price-led packages online. The cheapest deal is rarely judged on price alone once a traveller is days from departure without tickets.For operators and industry bodies, it raises harder questions about visibility. Are accreditation, financial standards and consumer protections clear enough at the point of booking? Do travellers know where to check membership status before they pay? Are refund terms, supplier arrangements and document timelines visible enough before a customer commits?
For the trade, that is the real warning. When trust breaks, price stops being the strongest selling point.
