eDreams’ Customer Service: Why Prime Members Love It — and Some Others Don’t

A closer look at Trustpilot data, Prime subscription user experience, and why customer experiences diverge.

I’ve previously written about eDreams here and shared an update following their FY25 results here. In this post I dig into eDreams’ customer service quality to assess whether the company remains an attractive investment. Thoughts are welcome — what have I missed? Please comment.

Trustpilot Scores and Review Management

The table below shows Trustpilot stats on eDreams’ five brands (shaded) alongside peers in the travel industry, ranked by score.

eDreams’ brands with the most reviews score highly (similar to Jet2Holidays — see my write-up here). By contrast, eDreams brands with fewer reviews and without the Prime subscription model tend to score lower.

Key takeaways:

• High scores aren’t essential for success. Both Ryanair and Booking.com lead their industries despite weak Trustpilot ratings.

• Organic reviews tend to drag down scores. There’s a negative correlation between the share of organic reviews (those not prompted by the business) and overall ratings. eDreams and others with high scores clearly lean on inviting customers to review.

• eDreams is more active than peers in challenging reviews in the interest of managing their score. Trustpilot removed 34.4% of those flagged by eDreams, meaning the company was justified in their actions about a third of the time.

eDreams’ negative reviews often cite typical OTA–airline issues (refunds, cancellations). But many also reflect surprise that they have been enrolled in Prime, or frustration with cancelling Prime. It’s worth noting, however, that some reviews rate staff and the service highly for assisting with cancelling Prime.

Unintentionally Subscribing to Prime

When booking a flight on eDreams, you’ll see two price options: a Prime price (blue box) and a non-Prime price (white box). Either can be selected.

Towards the end of the process, if you have selected Prime you get to the below page/section. If you choose Prime, you’re offered a 15-day free trial, after which an annual fee applies unless you cancel. The trial offer is highlighted in bold. At this point, you can still opt out and pay the standard fare. If you start with the non-Prime option, the flow looks similar but defaults to the higher price. In my view, it’s clear whether you’re subscribing to Prime or not.

Struggling to Cancel Prime

If you take the lower fare, you’re enrolled in Prime. It may be tempting to take advantage of the free trial to receive the lower price and cancel before it ends, but each user can only take advantage of this free trial once, as stated in the terms and conditions:

Reviews vary on how cancelling membership work:

• Some say cancellation is only possible by phone.

• Others say it can only be done via the app.

• eDreams’ site indicates online cancellation is available (I confirmed this across the sites for some different countries via VPN).

The process may, of course, differ for other users or may have differed in the past.

When googling “cancel eDreams Prime,” you’re directed to a page that encourages phone cancellation whilst assuring that online is an option:

It is likely that they prefer cancellation by phone so that their agents can encourage customers to keep their subscription, sometimes by offering discounts. Some reviews mention long wait times, agents reminding them of Prime’s benefits, or sales tactics that felt pushy. There are also reported cases where agents said the “system is down” and so they could not process a cancellation. It appears there are some agents behaving poorly. Nevertheless, the option to cancel online remains available.

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

In March, eDreams announced it became the “first major European travel tech company to earn BBB Accreditation in the USA,” achieving the highest rating of A+. You can browse complaints and responses on the BBB site here.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Prime members report significantly higher satisfaction than other customers, with an NPS of 50 — a very strong score for the travel sector. Those booking hotels rate eDreams even higher.

Customer service is cited as the main driver of Prime promoters’ loyalty. Many aspects of the service are not available to non-subscribers.

To sum up, there is a clear divide between committed subscribers and casual users in how they view eDreams’ customer service.

Conclusion

eDreams’ reputation is mixed: Trustpilot features plenty of positive reviews and a high overall score, but also some concerning negative reviews — echoed on other platforms.

In my own use, it’s clear that selecting the lower fare enrols you in Prime, and online cancellation is available as far as I can see (though I haven’t personally tested it). Still, the negative reviews are disappointing, and addressing the issue would likely help with customer acquisition.

On the flip side, Prime is thriving: membership is growing, NPS is high.

We know these subscribers are not new customers tricked into joining to replace those that are churning; margins continue to improve as Prime members mature and have no associated acquisition cost.

Taken together, I believe eDreams is providing a fundamentally strong service. Though there may be room for improvement, the negative reviews alone don’t outweigh the evidence of member and margin growth.

What do you think? Have I missed an angle, or do your experiences suggest otherwise? Please share your thoughts below.

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Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. I am not a licensed financial advisor. All investments carry risk, and you should conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. I may hold positions in the stocks discussed and may buy or sell them at any time.