Albanianbus Omdömen 

Dangerous driver, inadequate response – my 13-year-old son was left on the bus

On 3 July 2026, I travelled with Albanianbus from Tirana to Sarandë with my 13-year-old son and our puppy.

During a stop, my puppy became ill outside the bus. While I was attending to her, the driver closed the door and started driving away with my son still on board, along with our documents, money and belongings. I had to chase the bus, bang on the door and shout to make the driver stop. I injured my fingers in the process.

The next morning, I submitted a formal complaint. Just 12 minutes later, the company replied that it had reviewed the incident with the driver and found no grounds for compensation. Its response focused on my sick puppy rather than adequately addressing my concerns about my child's safety.

My hat, worth approximately €100, was also left on the bus and has not been returned or compensated.

After failing to obtain a satisfactory resolution, I submitted formal complaints to Albania's Consumer Protection Commission (KMK) and Road Transport Authority (DPSHTRR).

I cannot recommend this company to families travelling with children.

Shofer i rrezikshëm dhe reagim i papërshtatshëm – djali im 13-vjeçar mbeti në autobus

Më 3 korrik 2026, udhëtova me Albanianbus nga Tirana në Sarandë, së bashku me djalin tim 13-vjeçar dhe qenin tonë të vogël.

Gjatë një ndalese, qeni im u sëmur jashtë autobusit. Ndërsa po kujdesesha për të, shoferi mbylli derën dhe nisi të largohej me autobus, ndërkohë që djali im ndodhej ende brenda, së bashku me dokumentet, paratë dhe sendet tona personale. U detyrova të vrapoja pas autobusit, të godisja derën dhe të bërtisja që shoferi të ndalonte. Gjatë kësaj përpjekjeje dëmtova gishtat.

Të nesërmen në mëngjes paraqita një ankesë zyrtare. Vetëm 12 minuta më vonë, kompania u përgjigj se e kishte shqyrtuar incidentin me shoferin dhe se nuk kishte arsye për kompensim. Përgjigjja u përqendrua te qeni im i sëmurë, pa trajtuar në mënyrë të mjaftueshme shqetësimet e mia për sigurinë e fëmijës.

Gjithashtu, kapela ime me vlerë rreth 100 euro mbeti në autobus dhe nuk më është kthyer apo kompensuar.

Pasi nuk arrita një zgjidhje të kënaqshme, paraqita ankesa zyrtare pranë Komisionit të Mbrojtjes së Konsumatorëve (KMK) dhe Drejtorisë së Përgjithshme të Shërbimeve të Transportit Rrugor (DPSHTRR).

Nuk mund ta rekomandoj këtë kompani për familjet që udhëtojnë me fëmijë.

We waited for the bus (whose tickets we have bought online 3 weeks before the trip) that was supposed to leave Dhermi at 11.30 more than an hour under the sun (there is no bus stop and no place where you can seat) alongside the road. Once on the bus, there were no free seats. We’re told we’d find seats when we reach Vlore, but the driver gave the only two seats to other people who stepped in the bus after us. In a few words: a terrible experience! Tickets can be also bought on the bus so there is no need to pay a supplementary charge if that doesn’t correspond to a service!

Just to mention that I travelled from Tirana to Saranda and from Saranda to Tirana. The bus was decent, at least driving to Tirana air conditioner blowed cold air that even was cold at some point. But… DO NOT believe that it drives from Tirana Airport because it is not. It goes to their bus station and from there you have to take another transport to airport what makes all the trip more longer and exausting. Never I am coming again to Albania. Sorry not sorry.

Extremely unprofessional service. Our driver took an unbooked detour that made us hours late and cost us extra money. When I reached out to customer support to get a resolution, they simply blocked me. Do not book with them!

Truffatori? Mi hanno annullato il mio viaggio a poche ore dalla partenza e non mi hanno mai rimborsato i soldi.
Ho pagato per 3 persone.

Very unprofessional! Avoid, be careful. Book directly with a reliable tour agent once you get to Albania. I bookend a trip from Kasimil to Tirana and it was pricey (paid 140 euros for 4 tickets). I was sent a picture of the pick up point and I thought it looked suspicious (outside a busy supermarket). I investigated a bit and was told that this company operates online (no physical office) and has no permission as an official bus (therefore it keeps changing the pick up points until the very last minute). After my pick up point and time changed 3 or 4 times, on the day of my trip I received a WhatsApp message from a phone number in the USA stating another pick up point on the day. I was sooo concerned about being let down. Why they texted from the USA? that I decided to book the only legal bus in Kasimil (kasimil Explore)in their office as I was very concerned about not being picked up). I lost my money and I advice not to book with Albanian bus. Unprofessional and illegal. You been warned.

ARNAQUE TOTALE - A FUIR ABSOLUMENT - BANDE DE VOLEURS - ILS METTENT EN VENTE PLUS DE BILLETS QUE DE PLACES DISPONIBLES ET TRÈS DÉSAGRÉABLES AU DEMEURANT - AUCUN REMBOURSEMENT MÊME POUR 50 EUROS - NE PAS LEUR FAIRE CONFIANCE - GROS VOLEURS - PAS DU TOUT COMMERÇANTS

Booked a last minute trip from Valbona to Tirana and everything went perfect. A big tip is to text with them via their phone number which is on the site. Since i booked the trip late at 10 in the evening i wanted to dubble check thing and they were very helpfull. Highly reccomend

Good Experience with them. All journey was great and smooth. Just pickup time little bit late. The guy explained well in English. I will recommend.

Truffatori legalizzati. Acquistato biglietto da Valona south and north station, arriviamo mezz ora in anticipo e nessuno sapeva l esistenza di questa compagnia. Gli unici bus che partivano erano di altre compagnie. Nessun cartello o comunicazione per i turisti. Abbiamo contattato il servizio clienti che ci ha risposto oramai dopo l orario di partenza del bus dicendoci che era colpa nostra non aver trovato il bus! Abbiamo chiesto a chiunque. Chiedendo il rimborso oltre ad averci trattato malissimo non c hanno più risposto. Non acquistate da questi truffatori. Ci sono bus sul posto e pagate lì direttamente.

Our bus never showed up. We booked online for a trip from Durres to Dhermi via the Tirana - Himarë “Coastal Route”. The pickup was at a random market on the highway, we arrived 30 minutes before the supposed departure time and waited 4 hours for the bus to arrive. For the first two hours we called and messaged the company, they told us after two hours of waiting the bus would come in 35 minutes. After another hour they were unresponsive, we asked for a refund so that we could book alternate arrangements and go no response. The large number of bad reviews and no show buses prove this is not worth even trying to book. We ended up having to get a private transfer after missing all alternate options.

Bad organization, lack of information and even worse communication.

Incredible trip from Golem area to the blue eye and Ksmil, the tour guide Aurel made the trip very good, he was informative and made sure we had enough time in each stop, even giving us extra time at the beach in Ksmil. Really recommend we had the best time!

We took the bus from Sarandë to Tirana with this agency. Unfortunately, our experience started off on the wrong foot.

When we entered the office, we were not welcomed in a friendly way. A bald man with a beard was assisting us, but instead of focusing on us, he was talking on the phone with other people, which only added to our confusion.

Things became even more frustrating when we showed him the confirmation emails for our booking. Apparently, this was not enough, as he insisted on a QR code with our seat numbers, which we had never received. We would like to point out that the confirmation emails clearly stated that we had to go to the agency to receive our seat assignments.

Eventually, we were given our seat numbers, but only after an unpleasant interaction and in a very rude manner. In the end, we were simply handed a piece of paper with our seat numbers and dismissed without even a goodbye.

We understand that everyone can have a bad day, but that does not justify treating customers this way.

Finally, the journey itself was extremely long, and for this reason we would not recommend this route.

The worst travel experience by FAR. They asked us to be 30 minutes early but they refused so many times to turn on the AC in 35C degrees. We were BOILING inside the car with sweat rolling down everyone. And the operators were so RUDE. I asked them to turn on the AC since they requested us to be so early, and they showed me out of the bus. They don’t give a shit. Also they are hysterical about people sitting at their imaginary numbered seats. They made all the passengers change their seats because no one could see the numbers on their seats.

DON”T USE THIS COMPANY AND BETTER DON”T TRAVEL TO ALBANIA!!!

Really poor service, arrived 1 hour late and bus was full and we were asked to stand. Refund requested

Good bus with airconditioning, but the trip took two hours longer than it said. Took at 1pm from Tirana was going to be at Himare at 4pm, but was after 6pm. Was not the coastal route that it said either.

Durrës - Saranda experiences
Sorry to say that, but this company is really amateur considering the fact they're working with tourists and not only locals. Like zero communication...First the client needs to ask, where is the pick up point, because there is no information provided, not even after you purchased the ticket. It just stands on the ticket from Durrës to Saranda. 😄
So you ask and then they send you into the middle of nowhere, you're waiting 1 hour, and you're wondering, are they still coming or they left me there? You can't reach anyone and you don't even know what type of vehicle you should search for grom the thousand buses which are getting by on the highway. In the toilet break again not even a single word, then
you ask, how many minutes you have, they say 30 minutes and then they bump after 15 minutes probably because they want to make up lost ground. 🤷‍♀️
2 stars because the bus eventually arrived, and brought me to my destination, actually the moment, I lost hope and wanted to book an another ticket. And I know about cultural differences, traffic problems and that you need to be flexibel etc. but there are limits.

Tirana AL pickup of just 2 pax by company rep @Tirana Internationl Hotel was perfect; he knew where to look for us, and escorted us to waiting SUV & driver. Trip involved segments, first to Durres,AL, by car, then by new,well maintained Mercedes airporter bus, to Berat, picking up pax @hotels enroute. I expected transport only, point A to B; but a complete TOUR was included, with rest stops & a meal stop enroute.
Entire drive was OUTSTANDING, well planned visitor trip in a still-developing Albania. AlbanianBus was at the top of their transport/tour offering!

We saw the bad reviews, but we still thought it couldn't be that bad! And how wrong we were. It was much worse. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this company. With a little research, you can find cheaper, better quality, more comfortable travel online.
We booked a trip from Tirana to Theth (April 2026). We also accepted that the bus would stop often and people would get on and off, given the lack of public transport. Let's just say the condition of the bus was quite objectionable, only the "driver"'s" maneuvers (clamping the brakes in the inner lane of the highway, almost coming at us from behind, etc.) were more drastic. Without any information, at the edge of the roundabout in Shkoder they indicated (since they didn't speak English of course) that that was it, let's get off. They took our suitcases out of the car, and we looked and saw that this wasn't Theth. They showed us that another bus would leave from here in 2 hours, but they didn’t say anything more specific. After a long thought and a little looking around, we found the “Komani Lake Ferry Berisha” office, where they were very kind and helpful, they told us that this is how it works, we just didn’t understand why Albanian Bus didn’t inform us about it. By the way, we highly recommend the services of this office, their routes covering the whole of Albania are available online.
A few days later (since the tickets were booked in advance) we also used the services of Albanian Bus from Shkoder to Tirana. Instead of the Mercedes bus mentioned on our ticket, they transferred us to a beat-up, very bad condition, 9-seater bus (none of the drivers spoke a word of English), which left 1 hour late. There was a time when we turned back with the full bus to pick up 2 more people, so 11 of us sat on the bus, with 5 in the back 3-person seat. The sign was always on the windshield of the bus, saying that Tirana, except when the "driver" saw police officers, he would suddenly take them off. He definitely didn't have a permit. We were already 2 hours late because of the stops, when he suddenly stopped, still very far from the final stop on the ticket, pointed out that it was over, this was the final stop, unloaded the suitcase, and after a meaningless exchange (since we didn't understand each other) simply drove away. From there, we were able to arrive at the planned stop by public transport (for extra money), almost 3 hours late, so we didn't even make it to the pre-paid program organized for that day. We reported what had happened to Albanian Bus on WhatsApp, and after 2-3 meaningless questions, they simply didn't write anything back.
Never use this service again.