omio - Reviews and experiences

I booked two train trips with Omio for my family of five and paid extra for the “fully refundable” fare option. Due to a family emergency, I requested cancellation well in advance of the travel date. I was shocked to be told that the tickets were non-refundable because they had been downloaded.

This was never shown during checkout or before payment. The condition was buried in the confirmation email — after I had already paid. When I asked for proof that this was presented before payment, no evidence was given. I was denied access to a manager or legal representative and told all other agents would say the same.

Here are the details:

Rome → Munich (Aug 18, 2025) ... Booking ...: 0784984696824487

Munich → Venice (Aug 23, 2025) ... Booking ...: 0131002808709858

Their system claims downloading voids the refund — but that makes no sense. Why would downloading a file count as "non-refundable," especially if the trip is canceled and the ticket is no longer usable?

👉 I live outside the EU and will not even be in Europe on the departure date. How could I possibly use this ticket?

If Omio is concerned about fraudulent cancellations, they could easily solve this without punishing honest travelers. For example, they could delay sending tickets and instead email a message like:

“Thanks for your purchase! Your tickets will be sent 24 hours before departure. You may cancel at any time up to ...cancellation deadline...”

This would work for both customers and the company.
Instead, they sent the tickets immediately, I downloaded them as part of my travel prep — and that became the reason for denying the refund.

This is not transparent. It feels like a trap, not a customer-first policy.

I had to deal with a cancelled train trip in Portugal back in July 2023 because of a strike. It's been 9 months now, and I still haven't heard back from OMIO customer service about getting my refund. It's so annoying how they always say they're too busy to help me, especially when it has cost me six train tickets. This kind of customer service is just not right.