Anyone heard of final-flights.com?

[Mal]

I was also wondering if they're a 'con'. I thought because I found them advertised here through the Linkedin site that they must be legit - but now I'm concerned as it does sound 2 good 2 b true.

There is no proof that the website is "bad", just that our collective wisdom, collective professional work knowledge and various "seen this before" knowledge rates this VERY high on the "stay away" scale.

V Australia is your first call. Check that you have a booking, and the booking is in the correct class of travel. You should have been provided Itinerary details by the website - you can also check this online via the V Australia website.

Out of interest - what did you pay, and how did you pay for your tickets?

 

[jsd]

I was also wondering if they're a 'con'. I thought because I found them advertised here through the Linkedin site that they must be legit - but now I'm concerned as it does sound 2 good 2 b true.

Please Advise ASAP. They have sent me a 'booking' with V airlines for this Wednesday for a trip to America.
I'll be ringing V Australia first thing in the morning to see if my Business Class flights are secure and paid for?

Welcome to AFF

Easiest way to tell is to punch the booking reference number that they have given you in here: V Australia > Retrieve Booking

It will soon tell you if you have tickets or not :!:


Josh

 

[markis10]

Welcome to AFF

Easiest way to tell is to punch the booking reference number that they have given you in here: V Australia > Retrieve Booking

It will soon tell you if you have tickets or not :!:


Josh

No it wont, it will tell you that a booking is in the system, not if tickets have been paid for and issued. TAs often have bookings without tickets in their GDS's, but without a ticket they are just a virtual seat hold.

 

[BadgerBoi]

The suburb and postcode doesn't add up:
Admin Address........ Springvale
Admin Address........ 6693

6693 doesn't appear to be a WA postcode, and there is a Springvale-Landsdown road located in Ord River (6700), I can't find the place above.

Australia Post website returns that there is no such post code as 6693 :shock:

 

[FoFuey]

TOTAL SCAM!! Run from this. Unfortunately, there are so many revolting human beings out there that have no issue with taking people for a ride.

 

[straitman]

TOTAL SCAM!! Run from this. Unfortunately, there are so many revolting human beings out there that have no issue with taking people for a ride.

Hi FoFuey,

WElcome to AFF.

Why do you say this is a scam :?: Is it from experience of yourself or a friend.

I'm not disagreeing with you, just trying to get more information.

 

[FoFuey]

Hi FoFuey,

WElcome to AFF.

Why do you say this is a scam :?: Is it from experience of yourself or a friend.

I'm not disagreeing with you, just trying to get more information.

Hi Bill,

I sent them an email inquiry in regard to booking flights. He emailed back:

Good morning,
Thank you for your flight request, we appreciate your inquiry, and we hope we can answer any questions you may have and assist you in finding the cheapest airfare! We are able to book flights from Brisbane to Los Angeles at $799 return per person – economy class - this is inclusive of all airport fees and taxes and also includes full comprehensive insurance. There are no other fees to pay outside of the price we quote you, insurance is included at no additional cost to you as an added bonus, and we also provide this to ensure security and peace of mind for all our passengers.
Please let me know if this suits you, and if you'd like us to go ahead and book your flights. If you have any particular preferred times of travel on the day these can be arranged as well, but bear in mind that flights at certain times of the day tend to be more higher priced, the quote we have given you is the cheapest on the day.
Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance!
Andrew Vezeley

So I sent him back an email asking him for their email address and phone number. He responded, stating 60 Hastings Street, Noosa, however, that they don't currently offer phone support.

I thought, fair enough, but after looking a little further into it, I discovered that 60 Hastings Street is a resort in Noosa, gave them a call, and they had no knowledge of final-flights or any other businesses operating on their property. They were very concerned, took down details to investigate.

I Googled final-flights (of course, being the online detectives that we all are hehe) they come up on most online search directories, eg: true local, etc. The address they have on all other online correspondence is 23 Hastings Street Noosa, which is a well known realtor who manages the holiday apartments which are right above their office and they know nothing about a company called final-flights running business from their holiday apartments.

I put a call into V Australia asking if said booking agent books flights through them, they know nothing about them either, nor currently enabling a booking agent to access $799 round trip USA flights. V suggested a call to the ACCC and check with them prior to using FF's services, and upon explaining it all to ACCC, they said it was extremely suspicious to stay clear of it and that they would investigate.

Not to mention all the other facts relating to ABN, domain etc.
If a business wants to be taken seriously, then they should be set up as a legitimate entity, with correct contact details etc etc. Final-flights has ticked all the boxes to dodgyness, lol.

 

[Misha]

Great investigating.

I am sure VAustralia will appreciate the tip-off. Perhaps you could ask for bonus points and SC for giving them a heads up... or at least a job at the ABC

 

[Nigelinoz]

I put in a call to both the Australian Federation of Travel Agents and the Travel Compensation Fund and neither organisation were able to find a member matching the details of the business
so that definitely rings alarm bells with me.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[goldenhorn]

There is no proof that the website is "bad", just that our collective wisdom, collective professional work knowledge and various "seen this before" knowledge rates this VERY high on the "stay away" scale.

V Australia is your first call. Check that you have a booking, and the booking is in the correct class of travel. You should have been provided Itinerary details by the website - you can also check this online via the V Australia website.

Out of interest - what did you pay, and how did you pay for your tickets?

So I have put an inquiry into them. They said they could do $2,499 biz class return to London. I was very suspicious, but he has made the booking on the dates I have requested. I have got the e-ticket and the QBE insurance confirmation PDF's from QANTAS. The booking number is legitimate and I can go onto the QANTAS website and manage my booking.

The PDF confirmation says that the ticket costs $12,016 and a credit card is holding the booking.

I am very suspicious the he wants the $5000 via EFT Bank transfer and I am reluctant to send as I have no recourse if this is a scam.

One red flag is the phone numbers for holding the booking are not active and the mobile number on one of the bookings has 1 too many digits.

If it is a scam, he is working very hard as the booking is in the QANTAS system and he has updated all the changes I have wanted.

If this is a business, there is no phone number to call and speak with the company, which is very unusual for a travel agent.

I'm holding off until I can get some decent answers from the guy, but leaning towards this being a scam at this point after reading the forum.

 

[goldenhorn]

To add to the disbelief .. their website proclaims them to be a limited company, yet they're registered as a trust. No prizes for guessing whether they're a member of the Travel Compensation Fund, either..

No airline issues a ticket without first extracting payment. No similar business would consider doing same. I absolutely expect to see a first-time poster join in the next few days to tell us how wonderful they are and how much money they saved using them

I have received an business class e-ticket from them and there is a company credit card holding the payment. They also send through the QANTAS and QBE insurance PDF for the booking. But they only take bank EFT transfer- highly suspicious, but a very clever scam if it is one. If it's not...very very sloppy biz practices.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Well I have asked them to quote me for MEL-LHR in PE for October,I have also asked for their travel agent license number and travel compensation fund membership details,I'll wait to see if I get a response.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[goldenhorn]

Well I have asked them to quote me for MEL-LHR in PE for October,I have also asked for their travel agent license number and travel compensation fund membership details,I'll wait to see if I get a response.
Cheers
N'oz

Well done. Will be interested to hear if they have one.
I have a friend that works for QANTAS and they are SO strict with their pricing, there is NO WAY they can give me biz class to LHR for $2,499, even though I have a confirmed e-ticket with my name on it. I'm guessing once you pay via bank transfer, he cancels the ticket.
At this point, I think I'll run in the opposite direction.

 

[straitman]

Only 5 FAQs on the web site :!:

 

[Nigelinoz]

$2499 would be a good fare for return PE to London let alone J class! nah has to be a scam or it's someone who wants to spend a lot of money by paying for plane tickets at a loss.:mrgreen:
and if that's the case he could just start an airline himself.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[mdy_118]

Hi all,

I'm a total newbie here and just joined mainly because I made a booking for a ticket for my father through final-flights.com. I'm very skeptical about whether this website is a scam or not. I've been in contact with Andrew Vezeley for the last few days, he's been quiet responsive and even sent responses in the evening times.

There are many points which suggest that this website is a scam.
- They gave me 2 different quotes when I made the same booking under 2 different names
- Andrew seems quiet complacent about me making payments. It took them days to give me details on how to make payments
- When I went to the bank to make payments (I didn't want to pay using credit card and/or bank account just in case), the people at St.George said that the bank account details I provided was related to kid's account

However, here's where everything goes fuzzy. I was sent an e-ticket confirmation from QANTAS and QBE insurance. I've been in contact with QANTAS twice now and they have confirmed that the tickets were valid, is registered under the correct name AND has been paid for. They have also mentioned that if there were to be last minute changes to the ticket, it will have to be paid for.

My father is scheduled to leave tomorrow. I've yet to make payments to Final Flights. What to do????

 

[goldenhorn]

Hi all,

I'm a total newbie here and just joined mainly because I made a booking for a ticket for my father through final-flights.com. I'm very skeptical about whether this website is a scam or not. I've been in contact with Andrew Vezeley for the last few days, he's been quiet responsive and even sent responses in the evening times.

There are many points which suggest that this website is a scam.
- They gave me 2 different quotes when I made the same booking under 2 different names
- Andrew seems quiet complacent about me making payments. It took them days to give me details on how to make payments
- When I went to the bank to make payments (I didn't want to pay using credit card and/or bank account just in case), the people at St.George said that the bank account details I provided was related to kid's account

However, here's where everything goes fuzzy. I was sent an e-ticket confirmation from QANTAS and QBE insurance. I've been in contact with QANTAS twice now and they have confirmed that the tickets were valid, is registered under the correct name AND has been paid for. They have also mentioned that if there were to be last minute changes to the ticket, it will have to be paid for.

My father is scheduled to leave tomorrow. I've yet to make payments to Final Flights. What to do????

I too have a e-ticket and QBE insurance confirmed for biz class to London that he quoted at $2499, though my booking is for July.

I think the fact the bank account was not a biz account is a big red flag. I wouldn't be surprised if the ticket is cancelled before the flight. You might turn up at the airport and not have a valid ticket.

I'm trying to work out if this is a scam how he can make his money. My guess is if he is a travel agent (he must be to get access to the QANTAS site) that he is booking them with his travel agent status, but then cancels once you transfer the money to his account.

I asked to use credit card as I have no recourse if it is EFT bank transfer. At least I could dispute the charge through the credit card company. He told me there was no credit card option at the moment, even thought he has all the credit card logos on the website. It is also not a registered Verisign website, as the logo suggests. There is no secure payment facility as he states in the FAQ.

Give it a go at your own risk. If the ticket works, please let us know.

Good luck.

 

[Nigelinoz]

Could be an ex travel agency employee who still has access to the agency login and therefore is booking up travel on a legit agency trust fund,or a hacker who has hacked into an agency website and picked up login details etc.
Cheers
N'oz

 

[mdy_118]

Hey all,

Well I've just accessed the booking details through the QANTAS website. It was under the Final Flights details for contact details and I changed them to mine. I'm not sure the significance of this but did it anyway, just in case? I linked it up to a hotmail account.

Since my dad is due to depart tomorrow morning, the online check-in system is already allowed. I can actually check him in now but I don't know if this is risky? I can ultimately enter his passport details etc and print the boarding pass. Should I go do this? Can they still change the customer's details if I already checked in? Moreover, if my dad did get in...he wouldn't be by any chance arrested for any weird reasons?

 

[FoFuey]

Okay, so I emailed him (Andrew Vezeley from final-flight.com) earlier this morning and wrote:

"So if we go ahead with the booking and final-flight issues tickets, I will be able to cross reference the booking ref number with V Australia and they will state that booking is confirmed and paid for?? Then I pay final-flights?"

I haven't heard back from him, considering he was right on when I was making inquiries.

I would assume, that once you make the transfer, poof, gone is your money along with the held flights.