By clicking a retailer link you consent to third party cookies that track your onward journey. If you make a purchase, Which? will receive an affiliate commission which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.

13 Dec 2023

Barrhead Travel

See how Barrhead Travel fares against competitors for beach/resort holidays, city breaks, family and tailor-made holidays in our survey of more than 8,000 holidaymakers

Which? Team

In this article

Who is Barrhead Travel?
Which? verdict
Barrhead Travel customer ratings
What's Barrhead Travel like?
Should I book with Barrhead Travel?

Who is Barrhead Travel?

Barrhead Travel was founded in Glasgow in 1975 and now has more than 80 branches across the UK. As a tour operator, it offers a wide variety of tailor-made trips to suit anyone wanting either relaxing beach stays or more active city breaks. However, it told us it mainly acts as a travel agent, selling holidays from third parties.

Find out more: What is a package holiday and why should you book one?

Which? verdict

We are unable to recommend Barrhead Travel as it told us ‘we predominantly act as an agent for other tour operators’ and when we checked its website, it wasn’t clear before booking whether the holiday is operated by Barrhead or another tour operator.

For beach/resort, family holidays, and tailor-made holidays there are better-rated options available.

Barrhead Travel customer ratings

Holiday	Which? Recommended Provider?	Customer score
Beach/resort holiday	No	79%
City break	No	82%
Family holiday	No	80%
Tailor-made holiday	No	81%

Customer score Based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the company. In August 2022, we asked 8,361 Which? Connect panel members and the public to complete an online survey about their experiences of booking and going on holiday in the past two years.

What's Barrhead Travel like?

Barrhead topped our table of city break providers with its 82% customer score. Customers were especially impressed with how well the description of the holiday matched the reality. One said: ‘For the price I thought that we got everything we expected from the holiday.’

Barrhead Travel was also praised for its 'excellent customer service’, with specific mention to its ‘knowledgeable and friendly staff.’ This was reflected in the ratings as Barrhead’s customer service got five-star ratings twice, for its beach/resort and family holidays.

However, there were some issues with transport to and from the destination of Barrhead’s holidays. It scored an average three stars for this in the tailor-made holiday table. One customer told us: ‘Our transfer turned up late but there weren't enough seats on the coach, so they had to send another, which meant our flight was delayed.’

Should I book with Barrhead Travel?

Barrhead is worth considering for a city break, but make sure you check whether Barrhead or another operator is responsible for your holiday. If it is a third party, check how that tour operator fares in our survey results before booking.

For a beach/resort or family holiday, Jet2holidays and Hays Travel are both cheaper and received better scores in our survey.

For tailor-made holidays, our survey shows Trailfinders to be a better option.