FlixBus Reviews 17,548

What the business committed to provide: What the nature of the dispute is: I arrived on time at the exact bus stop location provided by the Flixbus app directions. The expected green, branded Flixbus did not arrive. An unmarked, non-green bus was in the parking lot. It had no visible Flixbus branding, no destination signage, and no route number 2240 displayed. Flixbus provided no warning in the app or via email that an unmarked bus would be used. Approximately seven passengers, over 20 percent of the bus capacity, were at this correct stop and missed the unidentifiable bus (still unclear if that was even the right bus as many of us remained waiting for the Flixbus to arrive). Customer service incorrectly claimed we were at the wrong stop. The representative cited a Starbucks that closed five years ago as a landmark. A salon located directly above the former Starbucks proved we were in the correct location. I possess a photograph of the parking lot labeled as a FlixBus stop where we waited.. The customer service representative confirmed empty seats on a bus arriving two hours later but refused to transfer our paid tickets. The representative also refused to escalate the call, stating there was no manager available. If the issue involves advertising, when and where the ad was seen or heard: The Flixbus app and ticket displayed the standard green Flixbus branding, setting the expectation for a distinctly marked vehicle and did not clearly indicate otherwise.

Tried to purchase ticket online before arrival @ terminal, but was unable to do so because of their app. When I got to the line there was pile of feces on the floor I had 5 minutes before the bus was scheduled to depart, but it departed early. Without warning...last call...nada.

0 stars if I could. This was beyond unacceptable.

I was at the Bayfront pickup location—which, by the way, has no clear signage whatsoever—waiting for my bus. About 15 minutes before arrival, I was assisting my friend, who is in a wheelchair, into an Uber.

I am also ADA, though not in a wheelchair.

While I was actively helping him safely load into the vehicle, the bus arrived (around 2:03), boarded quickly, and immediately tried to leave. The driver began honking aggressively at traffic instead of taking a moment to assess the situation.

I approached the bus with my luggage and told the driver clearly:
“I have a ticket. This is my bus. I was helping a wheelchair passenger.”

His response?
He said he “would not risk his job” for me and refused to let me board.

I was present, on time, ticket in hand, and delayed only because I was assisting a disabled passenger—something any responsible company should accommodate, not punish.

By 2:05 PM, I was already on the phone with customer service trying to resolve the situation in real time—so the claim that I was “late” is completely false.

Instead of helping, they did nothing.

The situation escalated to the point that the Uber driver—who had just picked up the wheelchair passenger—noticed the chaos, stopped, and came back to get me. I had to pay out of pocket and go to the airport, completely abandoned.

It gets worse.

Customer service later claimed this was being “handled internally.” That’s a joke. Nothing was handled. They denied my refund, hid behind a false “late” excuse, and took zero accountability.

When I called support, I was routed overseas, told there was no supervisor available, and given scripted responses with no resolution.

This is not just bad service—this is a complete failure to handle an ADA-related situation with even basic decency or judgment.

Avoid this company at all costs.

The worst experience I ever had.
I used to take very often flexi bus but the last time I felt very disappointed with the service.
I booked the ticket from Markham to Ottawa and my number sit was 20 B .
Driver sat me at the last sit close to the washroom not on my sit. And the bus was empty. I don’t know why he put me there? Wasn’t the sit I paid to . That was very rude and offensive.

I had a very upsetting and unacceptable experience with FlixBus in Kyiv.

The bus was not clearly on time, and I had to search for it across the station area. After finally finding it, I approached the driver to ask a simple question about whether the bus stops in a city on the way to the destination.

Without properly listening or checking my ticket, the driver abruptly said “no,” immediately closed the door, and physically pushed me away from the bus. At that very moment, I was telling him that I had a valid ticket and asking him to wait, but he ignored me completely.

What is even more shocking is that the destination displayed on the bus screen matched exactly what was written on my ticket. When I tried to show this to him on my phone, he refused to look and repeated “no,” without verifying anything.

He did not ask for my ticket, did not check my passport, and made no effort to clarify the situation. Instead, he closed the door, started the engine, and left while I was still trying to explain and even ran after the bus.

I was so shocked that I immediately took photos as evidence — one from the front when the engine had just started, and another from behind as the bus quickly left the station. These clearly show the bus and confirm the situation.

This behavior is extremely unprofessional, disrespectful, and unacceptable. A passenger with a valid ticket was denied boarding without any proper reason or verification.

I expect FlixBus to investigate this incident seriously and ensure that drivers are properly trained to treat passengers with basic respect and professionalism.

I strongly advise others to be cautious.

My father is a soldier, he was returning from the front in Ukraine and due to false reports of mines, he was kept at the border for two hours. Because of this, he did not have time to catch the bus, which was booked three hours before departure. I went into the application before departure, but I was not able to get a refund or change the bus to another one. I called the line, also before departure, and they told me that they would not refund the money. My father has been risking his life every day for 4 years for the sake of peace in Europe and they are doing this to him, they cannot simply change the bus to another one from the same company, although it will not bring any losses to the company
reservation number 3341221197

1/5 — Driver forcibly removed us for using restroom

On March 24, 2026, Santiago–Porto route. The onboard toilet was broken. During a scheduled stop in Vigo, we used the station restroom. The driver started the bus with the door open while I was standing in the doorway — dangerous. Then he forcibly removed us from the bus without explanation.

FlixBus confirmed in writing that we were "forcibly removed" and that our second leg was "unchecked" — yet refused any refund or compensation after 3 attempts. Ticket + compensation claim: €170.

Booking reference: #3339575763

Thank you for your response. However, "handled internally" is not a resolution. You confirmed in writing that we were "forcibly removed" and our second leg was "unchecked." Yet you refuse any refund or compensation.

I am requesting a specific outcome: €20 refund + €150 compensation. If this cannot be resolved here, I will proceed with a formal complaint to the Spanish transport authority.

We were going Bristol Heathrow return - they cancelled the outward bus just over 2 hrs before departure.

Our return flight was early so we rebooked for an earlier bus - they charged more than half the original ticket price to change to an earlier bus. The bus was delayed by twenty minutes but they didn't say that until we'd paid to change the booking. The bus we took had a broken toilet, the driver stopped twice (once for half an hour toilet and taco meter break and once to refuel) and we ended up one hour ten minutes late and were in fact back in Bristol twenty minutes later than the original time, out of pocket by an additional £40.

When I complained they weren't really interested and certainly wouldn't refund the extra we paid for the poor service.

I won't be using them again and recommend you look for an alternative service.

The bus driver let passengers get off at a different stop than they booked. Those passengers then stole my suitcase because the driver let them in the luggage hold. Absolutely awful customer service that claim it isn't their responsibility. Except it is. Avoid at all costs.

Edit: no I will not give you another chance to let my bags get stolen. Please everyone look at other comments and reviews. They will allow your luggage to be stolen or lost and then claim no responsibility. Scammers no wonder you’re getting booted out of Leeds bus station

Today our family faced a very unpleasant and unacceptable situation with Flexibus.

We were denied boarding because our 1-year-old child (Emanuel) did not have a car seat.
The issue is NOT the rule itself — the problem is that this critical requirement was NOT clearly communicated during the online booking process.

As international travelers, we relied on the information provided on the website. Such an important requirement must be clearly stated before payment.

As a result:
• Our family was forced to split up
• We faced unexpected extra costs
• We went through significant stress and inconvenience
• No suitable alternative transport was available in time

This is completely unacceptable.

We are requesting a full refund and will not leave this issue unresolved.

❗️If anyone has had a similar experience or can help us with advice on how to file a stronger complaint or take legal action, please comment or message me.

#Flexibus #TravelFail #CustomerRights #RefundNow #BadService #FamilyTravel #TouristRights #TravelProblems #Complaint
Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your response.

However, your latest message raises even more serious concerns, as it shifts the focus to seat reservation, which is entirely unrelated to the actual issue: the denial of boarding of a 1-year-old child due to an alleged child seat requirement that was not clearly communicated at the time of booking.

⸻

1. Irrelevant Reference to Seat Reservation

Your explanation regarding seat reassignment and the absence of a seat reservation is not relevant to this case.

The denial of boarding was not due to seat allocation, but explicitly due to the alleged requirement for a child seat.

Attempting to redirect the issue in this way is misleading and does not address the core problem.

⸻

2. Failure of Transparent Communication (Critical Point)

You are now referring to a policy link stating that:

“Children up to 3 years of age must be seated in a suitable child seat”

However, this requirement was not clearly and prominently communicated during the booking process.

Providing such critical safety requirements only via a secondary help page is not sufficient under EU consumer protection standards.

Passengers cannot reasonably be expected to search external help pages for essential boarding conditions.

⸻

3. Contradictory and Inconsistent Communication

In your previous message, you described the child seat as a recommendation, while in your latest response it is presented as mandatory.

This inconsistency further demonstrates that your policy is not clearly or properly communicated, and therefore cannot be enforced against passengers.

⸻

4. Unlawful Denial of Boarding and Resulting Damages

As a result of your failure to provide clear pre-contractual information:
• A 1-year-old child was denied boarding
• A family was forced to separate
• Additional financial costs and significant inconvenience were incurred

This situation constitutes a clear case of misleading information and unfair commercial practice.

⸻

⚠️ Final Notice Before Formal Action

If a full refund is not issued promptly, I will proceed without further notice to:
• File a formal complaint with the European Consumer Centre (ECC-Net)
• Report this case to relevant national enforcement authorities for consumer protection
• Publicly escalate the matter through media, Trustpilot, and travel platforms, including full documentation of your inconsistent and misleading responses

⸻

✅ Requested Resolution

I expect:
• A full refund of the ticket
• A formal acknowledgment of the lack of clear and consistent communication

⸻

I strongly recommend resolving this matter immediately to avoid escalation.

Traveling from Riga to Tallin in March. Upon arrival my suitcase has absorbed urine that leaked from the toilet. No words from the driver nor customer service regarding the refund.

I had a very uncomfortable and concerning experience on a FlixBus journey from Leipzig to Prague.

Several passengers were heavily intoxicated, had their own alcohol, and continued buying beers from the driver. They became very loud and started making sexually explicit and aggressive remarks towards me.

I reported the situation to the driver twice, explaining that I felt unsafe. The response was minimal, and alcohol continued to be sold to these passengers. I eventually had to move to the front of the bus to avoid further interaction.

As a woman travelling alone, I felt genuinely unsafe during this situation. At that moment, I felt completely helpless, as no one — including the driver — was willing to properly address what was happening.

Unfortunately, I felt a similar sense of frustration even after contacting customer service. While they acknowledged inappropriate behaviour, I did not receive any clear information about how the situation was handled, and no compensation was offered.

This experience raised serious concerns about passenger safety and how such situations are managed.

I was a huge fan of Flixbus, booked about 10 return trips in Europe, mostly from Amsterdam. However, my budegt friendly travel quickly became my largest financial expense. They cancelled late night busses and arrived late, so I had to rebook trains, accommodation and alternative transport with no assitance. I have lodged several complaints on their website and havent received any feeback in 3 months. Be warned, it's only affordable if everything goes exactly to plan. 0/10 for customer service.

Avoid FlixBus in Croatia at all costs. On March 24, 2026, my bus failed to stop at Gornja Zdenčina (Ul. Hrvatske državnosti). Despite calling support and being rebooked on three different buses, NONE of them arrived, leaving me stranded in a remote rural/industrial area with no alternative transport.To ensure my safety, I had to pay €32.24 for an Uber to reach the nearest bus hub in Karlovac and then €8.60 for an Autotrans bus to reach Rijeka. FlixBus is now refusing to reimburse these emergency costs, hiding behind 'internal policies' that violate Regulation (EU) No 181/2011.They are unscrupulous and show zero duty of care for passenger safety. Formal complaints have been filed with ECC Spain and the Croatian State Inspectorate. Do not trust them with your safety.

UPDATE [30/03/2026]: Response to FlixBus's dismissive response. FlixBus claims that the case has been "handled internally." This is a deceptive script. "Handled internally" means they sent a generic rejection email refusing to pay for the 40,84 € rescue transport I was forced to take after they failed to show up four times (original bus + 3 rebookings).They "hope to see me on board again"? I was waiting on your "board" for hours in the middle of a dark road in Klinča Sela and your buses never appeared.I have officially escalated this case to the following authorities:ECC Spain (Centro Europeo del Consumidor).Državni inspektorat (State Inspectorate of the Republic of Croatia).European Commission ODR Platform (Online Dispute Resolution).EBA (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt - National Enforcement Body in Germany).I will not stop until FlixBus complies with EU Law and reimburses the full amount. Stop using bots and fulfill your legal obligations.

I booked a bus trip and had printed out tickets and receipts. Flixbus refunded the money and cancelled the ticket without notifying me. If I had not noticed the transaction in my account, I would have turned up at 4 am without a valid ticket. I did not get an email, text, or anything. The help line was not able to fix this or even explain why it happened. Entering the booking number to check the ticket did not work. The AI bot told me I was fine with the printed ticket, but after insisting on chatting with a human, I finally found out. I had hotels booked and activities planned, now I have to cancel and reschedule everything.

Bus Aberdeen to Edinburgh Airport simply did not turn up. Advised 1 hour later it was cancelled . Only offered vouchers , no cash refund. Tried several times to correspond with customer service but only got spurious AI replies . Will never use Flixbus again😡😡

Best bus ride experience in years. It’s a very easy process to book your trip. The buses are clean bathrooms are usable
This is going to be my go to bus service throughout my travels
And the price is right

Good experience

Traveled from NJ to Jacksonville FL. The most horrible trip ever. First bus has no heat. It was 18°f outside. They had no instructions for the transfer in D.C. The driver cursed and yelled at me. I'm handicapped and couldn't rush up the stairs fast enough for him Complained to company. They gave me a coupon. Like I want to go through that again.

I booked in advance and pay for a specific seat and when I entered the bus, the row didn’t exist, it was taken away for a wheelchair space (that was unused), I had nowhere to sit, the driver refused to help me and when I contacted customer service to ask for refund, they refuse to accept it even though I even had a picture proving I was not able to sit in my seat that I paid for. Terrible customer service!