Journeybeyond Opiniones 24

We had been looking forward to our journey on The Ghan for a long time, and after a promising check-in in Darwin, we left with high expectations. Unfortunately, the experience did not live up to the premium price tag.

There were several issues throughout the trip, including poor communication before departure, an old and unpleasant-smelling transfer vehicle, rushed excursions, cold meals, and activities that were shortened due to delays.

The staff were friendly and clearly trying their best, and we especially appreciated the knowledgeable guides in Coober Pedy. However, the service often felt scripted and lacked the personalised attention and professionalism you would expect from a luxury experience.

Overall, the journey felt rushed, with a constant sense of “let’s just get through it” rather than creating memorable experiences for guests. For the amount we paid, we expected something truly exceptional. Sadly, we found The Ghan to be poor value for money and far from the premium experience it promises.

Nice train ride with it's NR class locomotives at the front. I really enjoyed it, apart from it being noisy & very bumpy at night, unlike the Rocky Mountaineer train in Canada! Was a smooth train ride.

I was on the Perth to Sydney package hotel & train 10 days total with the train part departing on the 10th Jan 2026. I recieved an email in Perth a day before departure saying my holiday was cancelled due to a derailment. Offers were made and accepted to fly to Adelaide and take a diimbula loop rail journey for a similar duration and resume from Adelaide to Sydney. Upon arrival in Adelaide i was informed that due to bush fires, the Dimbula loop wouldnt take place. The option was to remain on a motionless train stuck in an out of town Adelaide train station for several days, with a curfew on when you could exit and enter the stationary train. Prior to all of this i was informed that the Sydney Harbour Cruise was also going to be cancelled. All communication was done verbally by rail albeit 2 emails one informing me about the cancelled harbour cruise, the other about the cancelled train (dimbula option) and a single page letter of apology. Since then all emails to a multitude of email addresses all go unresponded. All on line chats result in the chat operator saying 'cant help'. The customer service is none-existant. What should have been a dream holiday ended up being a soul destroying period with great stress. They dont even want to engage in any dialogue a classic case of 'take the money & run'.

The Indian Pacific is NOT worth taking!!

We have just completed our trip which started 28th January.
Been on 3 European and 1 Canadian train trip. I consider myself well travelled.
Those who organise the schedule for the Indian pacific should be dismissed.

Below are the excursions that should have made a train fun & entertaining, but their cancellation made the trip a disaster

My partner and I paid good money and only got to get off the train once!
The Broken hill stop was skipped because we were running late.
Adelaide winery excursion was cancelled AND changed to a japanese restaurant because we were also running late.
Rawlinna sheep station excursion was cancelled because.......we were running late.
The only time off the train was the Cook ghost town. Were originally told we had 30 mins, but we were called back after only 15!! Yes, a 15 min "excusion".
and....
Obviously the dinner under the stars in Cook was also cancelled.

Imagine 4 days & 3 nights on a train with only a 15 min break!!

THEN
One morning the train ran out of water, YES ran out if water. Toilets couldn't be flushed, couldn't take showers and could use the sink.
In the evening, the aircon broke in 2 carriages meaning a night for approx 30 people sweating in bed, unable to sleep.

The speaker system in half the carriages failed which meant important announcements were completely missed!

Oh My GOD!!! what else could go wrong?
Well.....for us, arriving late in Perth meant missing our flight back to Sydney.
For others, it was missing a tour to Rottness Island.

While upset about the aircon, speaker system & the water, those are things that are technical and out of human fault.
But again, scheduling is the MAIN thing on a cruise or train trip.
Passengers were annoyed and taking it out on the onboard staff. We highly disapprove of such behaviour, specially since the staff couldn't do anything about the issues nor was it their fault.
We'd like to congratulate barman Nick, dinning room waitress Debbie and manager Taira for their service and exceptional professionalism.
We booked through flight Centre and took out insurance.
Insurance did NOT cover any of our issues.
So,
Needless to say, we are not ever, ever, ever doing the Indian pacific again nor any of the other trips (e.g. the Ghan, etc) by the same company
At almost $10,000, that was a very expensive way to get to Perth.
My name is Jeff Santry and I gave this rating a 1 star because there is no option for zeros

I have lived in the UK for 14 & 1/2yrs & 4 & 1/2yrs in Canada!
International Train Journeys are percentage wise far superior & better value for money spent!

The Indian Pacific is below standard & have taken away any options to travel with your vehicle!

In 2014, they removed the option for vehicle transport from Adelaide ti Sydney giving justification of logistics & difficulties of travel through the Blue Mountains!
In subsequent years, they removed all the vehicular transport from the Indian Pacific & the GHAN!

Despite being a privately own Australian Company, the Australian Government removed the Incentive Discounts for Pensioners & Veterans for both the Indian Pacific & The GHAN!

The tickets available are too pricey!

I have travelled previously on the Indian Pacific & knowing any minor refurbishments in the past 10yrs since I travelled, fail to impress me to pay out anywhere near that sort of money!

Journey Beyond deleted all vehicle transport and compared to other well known International Train Journeys, it is a failure!

I am saddened by the overall standard on offer and not prepared to pay such a price!

I haven't set foot on the train yet, but I am disgusted to stumble on the information that the trip we've booked will be on a coach, not a train, when we chose to journey by train for health reasons, to avoid thrombosis. They didn't even have the courtesy to advise about this beforehand. When we rang to cancel we were refused a refund, and only offered a voucher for 12 months. Apart from having no plans to do the same journey again within 12 months, and having to pay for plane flights as replacement, we don't think this is good enough and will be making a formal complaint to consumer affairs. An 8-hour coach trip is not the same product as a train journey where one can get up and walk around and have plenty of leg room.

The meet prior to boarding herded into a cafe the food very average nowhere to sit had to ask! The train needs a serious revamp, the staff polite very young and acted more like careers from an old age facility! The food over advertised that too was average! Extremely overpriced experience never tobe repeated

Had an amazing time, can't believe there are so many negative reviews... food was fab, staff were obliging...drinks were flowing...couldn't fault the 4 days. Will definitely do it again... the trips were so interesting, the blue mountains were stunning....11/10 from me and my 2 sons

Working at Journey Beyond is a masterclass in poor leadership and mismanagement. The management team is disorganised, unprofessional, and completely out of touch with frontline staff. Schedules are changed with no notice, communication is inconsistent at best, and decisions are made with zero logic or accountability. Staff are treated as replaceable, morale is constantly low, and burnout is ignored. Concerns raised by employees are routinely brushed off or met with hostility. Instead of creating a supportive environment, management fosters a culture of fear, blame, and confusion. Professionalism is clearly not a priority. Favouritism runs rampant, training is rushed or non-existent, and any attempt at improvement is quickly squashed under the weight of egos in charge. Journey Beyond presents itself as a luxury brand—but behind the scenes, its chaos held together by overworked, undervalued staff. Avoid working here unless desperation is the only option.
Some team members are friendly and there are occasional travel perks, but they’re not worth the toxic management and lack of job security.
The management is disorganised, HR is unresponsive, and staff are let go without warning or explanation. There's no support, poor communication, and a complete lack of respect for employees.

I flew to Perth from Melbourne on March 21, 2025, stayed a night in Perth, and prepared to join the Indian Pacific on the Saturday. Saturday arrived, and I received a call to say that there had been an incident on the Nullarbor. I wasn’t provided any information, other than that, and was told the trip was cancelled and you’ll get a refund in a few weeks. I have never heard from Journey Beyond again. I think this is disgusting public relations, and demonstrates disdain for customers. Never again! I asked about reimbursement for costs incurred going to, and staying in, Perth, and they couldn’t answer the question and I have not heard from them since.
How shameful

No refund policy, even if there is a death in the family, because you (and I quote) 'should have travel insurance' to claim back.
We do have insurance but still disgusted that they will sell the cabin again and receive 2 payments for 1 cabin but not refund... Companies like this are why our premiums keep increasing ☹️

Our trip was canceled -4- hours before departure (Perth-Sydney). The responsible people couldn't be reached by phone (no response), and the alternatives offered by email (flight to Adelaide and an overnight hotel there) couldn't be implemented (because we did not get any answer in terms of flight and/or hotel). We've now booked a hotel in Perth and still don't know when we'll be able to continue. The phone number provided stated that they would call back on the next business day (today is Saturday).
These people are obviously totally overwhelmed and have no idea about customer service.

A few weeks ago, we decided to do The Ghan trip in July 25 as it's been on our bucket list for ages. Well, the correspondence with one of the agents at JBR started well - she did our preliminary booking and then...disappeared! After a week or so of endlessly emailing her to get some answers to questions we had on the journey as our booking was about to expire, we finally got a response from another JBR person saying our agent was on leave for the week but she couldn't help us. Have they heard of "out of office replies" or "mail forwarding"? After more emails to JBR "Sales Enquiries" and repeating our questions for the fifth time, we are none the wiser. We take this as a sign to not spend our money on a clearly unprofessional business. Reading some recent reviews on JBR and the train journeys themselves, it's obvious JBR has some things to work on. We're going on a cruise to Vietnam/Cambodia instead!

The trip is marketed, sold and priced as a premium travel experience. We opted for the Platinum option. However, it turned out to be a rather expensive train journey across Australia. This is a worthwhile experience from which you gain a true appreciation of the scale of the country and its interior.
First the good things. Our double cabin with full en-suite was comfortable, clean and well looked after by on-train staff. During the day it was converted into a sitting room. A lounge-dining car provided alternative seating during the day and the venue for meals, drinks, refreshments and the chance to mix with fellow passengers. The food & drink was generally good but not the promised cordon bleu standard. The on-board train crew were attentive, eager to please and pleasant - although some seemed a little inexperienced.
The quality of the track in many places leaves a lot to be desired. But we did manage to get some sleep.
One thing that was not clear is the configuration of the train. In Platinum class the train is split into sections containing 2 or 3 cabin carriages and 1 lounge-dining car. You cannot move between sections. This means either 20 or 30 passengers per section with no opportunity to mix with other sections whilst onboard.
The not so good stuff is mainly around the schedule and off-train experiences.
The day prior to departure we were informed that due to industrial action the train could not depart from Sydney but we would be taken by coach to Lithgow for departure. This is a 3 hour journey that turned out to be a very unpleasant and uncomfortable experience. The coach could in no way be described as luxury as It was cramped, uncomfortable and resembled something normally used for a school run. Why we were not put on a local train service from Sydney to Lithgow is beyond me.
We left Lithgow on schedule due to arrive in Broken Hill early the next morning for our first off-train experience. During the night we travelled through some stormy weather and in the early hours of the morning it was clear that we had been stopped for a considerable length of time - 3 hours. Various rumours were circulating as to what had caused the delay - the storm? and/or a maintenance crew had forgotten to reset the signal after doing some work on the track? JBR did not full communicate the cause of the delay.
We were 3 hours late arriving at Broken Hill and although the train had to stop for water, all off-board excursions were cancelled. We were allowed off the train for a short walk around Broken Hill Station. Later that day we were given a letter apologising for the cancellations and offering us AUD 150 per person as way of compensation.
The train did not make any up any time on its way to Adelaide with the result that the excursion we had booked to the Coriole Winery was also cancelled. Clearly JBR could not provide dinner on the train as it needed to get the passengers off to change crew and replenish kitchens etc. So we were offered an alternative from 2 excursions that we had already rejected in favour of the winery tour. Reluctantly we chose the trip to Hansdorf and a German evening. After a 45 minute bus trip we were rushed in and out of a restaurant with ok food and a dreadful band, with none of the advertised wine or cheese tastings.
Interestingly there was no letter of apology or offer of any refund after this debacle.
Apparently we left Adelaide on schedule but the next 2 off-train experiences were also curtailed. We stopped at Cooke in the middle of the Nullarbor for re-watering and short wander around this tiny outpost. The next scheduled stop was at Rawlina Station where we were supposed to have an under-the-stars barbecue, drinks and entertainment. However, as the train was still behind schedule the train manager decided we would have dinner on the train and stop at Rawlina Station for drinks and entertainment only. This was ok. The dining car tables were reconfigured into one long table and drinks under the stars was fine.
Clearly the train manager was under a bit of pressure by this stage but he did his best and did not shrink from communicating with the passengers as best he could.
We arrived in Perth more or less on time - clearly at the expense of the off-train experiences - feeling as if we had just paid a lot of money for 3 days on a train.
We have tried communicating with JBR about our concerns but they have not responded to our emails or voice messages. Their head office team has no concept of customer service. And judging by the lack of a JBR response to any poor reviews on Trustpilot or TripAdvisor they don’t care either. Very poor show.
Overall we could not recommend this to any of our well traveled friends as a must do luxury experience. Unless you have a burning desire to see the Nullarbor in all its glory spend your money on something else.

Had been really looking forward to our trip on The Ghan - expected 5 star trip as the price is expensive - food was OK not brilliant, wines poor, off train experiences were enjoyable - But after first night on board woke up to find that I had been badly bitten. Initially thought mosquitos but had long sleeved pyjamas on and slept under sheet/duvet. So unlikely. Reported to cabin steward who sprayed room with insect killer but on second and final night on Ghan woke to more bites. Very red/itchy. After a quick internet search of what bed bugs look like which were identical to my significant number of bites reported such to carriage manager. Moved cabin but disembarked a couple of hours later with our hand luggage in plastic bags so we didn’t transfer the bugs to our next hotel. Told Journeys would be in contact. Had to spend a day in laundrette near our next hotel washing all our clothes and bags plus an expensive trip to the pharmacy to get anti itch cream etc. Having heard nothing from Journeys so wrote complaint letter - rejected routine inspection of our cabin found no bed bugs. Took it further by sending the photos of my arms but still rejected by claim and told me the bites were midge bites. No compensation or even apology.
Such a shame as our trip is now memorable for the wrong reasons and poor customer service making me feel that I don’t know what I am talking about. I still believe that this was a case of bed bugs.

Our Ghan Expedition trip from Darwin to Adelaide was absolutely wonderful. #theghan Organisation and pre-trip information were excellent. It was easy to login to the Journey Beyond site, find documentation and book onboard excursions etc. The website can be frustrating at times though, as it is easy to log yourself out and have to log back in several times during a session, but that’s a bit of a ‘first world problem’ really.

Registration and booking in at our hotel and at Darwin Convention Centre went without a hitch. The welcome breakfast was nice (but more tables and chairs for guests wanting to sit down would have been welcome).

The Ghan itself is a seriously impressive train. It is an older train, but that is its character, not a flaw. Yes, the Gold Cabins are small and you need to negotiate bunk beds but it is a train, not a hotel. We didn’t spend a lot of time in the cabin as there were great excursions to take every day, meals to eat in the Queen Adelaide dining car and a lovely guest lounge to sit in to read, socialise and have a drink or two. The cabin was perfectly fine for 3 nights of sleep and travel. If you have ever travelled in a 2 berth campervan, you’ll get the idea.

The meals during our trip were exceptional, not just ‘good’. Not a single meal; breakfast, lunch or dinner, was disappointing and all of our various dining companions agreed. It is amazing that such quality can be achieved on a train. The Ghan’s chefs deserve some massive kudos!

A special mention has to be made of The Ghan staff / crew who were simply outstanding. Every crew member that we encountered on the journey was cheerful, engaging, knowledgeable and more than willing to help with anything at all. It really was a pleasure meeting and chatting with them each day. Whether Journey Beyond hire the best people or have superb staff training or both, I don’t know, but I doubt that you will encounter such exemplary hospitality staff anywhere else in the world. Also worth noting was that there were plenty of staff available when most needed, at registrations, meal times etc. We never once had to ‘go looking’ for a member of staff.

The off-train excursions were excellent and each of the three that we chose, Nitmiluk Gorge, West Ventures in Alice Springs and Coober Pedy, were well worth doing. A wonderful way to see some of the best of Australia. Even when police had suddenly closed off access to one of the scheduled attractions, our driver immediately picked another one for us and took us there.

The Ghan Expedition journey did not disappoint in the slightest. It was even better than I had hoped. If you are even THINKING about doing it, just do it. Take any negative reviews and moans that you might read with a HUGE pinch of salt. Go with an open mind, ready to enjoy seeing such special parts of Australia, ready to enjoy riding the rails on a truly lovely train, ready to meet new people and ready to be served and looked after by some of Australia’s best hospitality staff. Go, and enjoy it.

We really enjoyed our trip on the Ghan from Darwin to Adelaide in April 2024.
Thanks to all the team, we had a fabulous time!
The food was lovely, service was great, dinner under the stars with a camel ride thrown in was amazing.
Even the staff waited with us at the end of our trip to make sure our transport arrived to get us.
Great activities and suprisingly nice hot showers :)
Thanks Ghan team!

My trip on the Indian Pacific was cancelled due to flooding on the Nullarbor Plain. I received no notification until I arrived at Sydney Central. Although Journey Beyond spends heaps of money advertising, it does nothing for customer service. As I had to drive 4 1/2 hours to Sydney from my home, I was out of pocket for my Sydney hotel and parking. They refused to reimburse me my costs and then the audacity to ask if they could help me with a future booking. Don't book with the again!

Booked 2 platinum cabins as part of a group and as part of a larger tour that included stage show, opera house, harbour river cruise. Expensive but wanted to do it for my parents who are elderly and have disabled mobility issues. The online process and constant emails with the itinerary that they sent to me on multiple occasions was very hard to navigate and follow. We successfully booked the disabled / accessible tour of the Opera House as part of the tour. This was all booked in September 2023, plenty of time to prepare.

The most terrible thing happened 3 days before we were due to leave, Journey Beyond phoned to say they had overbooked the Platinum Cabins and that they were going to move me to Gold Class, i rejected as I needed to be close to my parents to look after them, but they would not accept, so I had to take the gold cabin and be separated from my parents on the group booking. Next day they ring me again and now say both I and my parents are all being moved out of platinum to gold class cabins. How this is possible with my parents who cannot climb into a bunk, they have mobility issues and have disabled access parking permits etc. It's a breach of contract and a breach of human dignity

Please be careful of Journey Beyond, you will not be able to consistently speak to the same person looking after your booking, it's like ringing a telco company.

Please be very weary of booking, you will be treated as a commodity, no human or respectful touches to be found here. Zero for customer service and respect.

Took the Indian Pacific from Perth to Adelaide and was hugely disappointed. They fraudulently advertise this leg as 3 days whereas it is actually less than 48 hours.The en route excursions were a joke: we stopped at Kalgoorlie at midnight to see the huge mine but it was pitch black so we saw a black hole from the viewing area. Our coach driver was most excited about showing us where the 'brothel' used to be. Our sunrise trip (which I was really looking forward to) was cancelled 'due to flooding in the east' which was a highly unlikely excuse and other passengers confirmed that excursions have frequently been dropped on previous trips. The train itself is rather tired and our 'room' was much less glorious than the literature promised. Despite clearly stating that smart shirts and long trousers were required for men when taking dinner we saw many wearing shorts and T shirts, diminishing the ambience considerably.
The train is hugely expensive and I am sad to say it is not a great experience or good value for money.