Bestpricetravel.com.au flight cancellation 2 days before flight

[banana boy]

I've had a couple of bookings cancelled by BCD Travel after I received confirmation emails and booking references. BCD failed to ticket in time due to their office hours and the bookings were auto cancelled by the airline. At least they didn't charge the corporate credit card. So it's not just small OTAs who do this - BCD being one of the biggest corporate travel agents. In both cases the original fare was no longer available.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Im sure youre not wrong at all

But when i generally book via a lcc directly , or even a premium carrier, i choose the flight i want, confirm detials, make payment via card and then the itinerary is emailed pretty quickly

Im sure in my limited experience with reward booking its the same.

Just surprised that this can actually happen, or these companies still exist!

The itinerary is emailed... but those carriers (with the exception of LCCs) may not ticket immediately. Qantas is well known for adding tickets 'to a queue' to be issued.

The thing is if you book with a major carrier and they muck up you are less likely to even know about it because they will fix it behind the scenes. Award flights are the exception (as again we see with QF issuing CX and QR awards... they snooze, you lose).

With large OTAs, they have the power and resources to fix their mistakes. Smaller operators, possibly displaying cahed prices, won't have the ability to fork out hundreds of dollars to rectify the mistake. So they cancel and refund your money.

 

[Kate_2020]

Yes indeed, Qantas have done this to me with a CX award booking. I received the itinerary, a PNR, and my credit card was charged, but the trip wasn't ticketed (Qantas slackness, I believe).

I only became aware of this when I checked the booking a week or two later and found that it had been cancelled by CX. When I asked Qantas to fix the problem (I was plat at the time) they said that there were no longer any award seats available, so there was nothing they could do. I wasn't impressed, but had to wear it and book something elsewhere.

There is always a reason why that happened! And they can easily see it in the system! It’s someone’s fault and if you dig deep you would find out! The airline knows you can’t really see the right reason and will tell you whatever is the best for them to tell you. I am from the airline industry and know well what I am talking about. Sad story but that’s how it is.

 

[SOPOOR]

The itinerary is emailed... but those carriers (with the exception of LCCs) may not ticket immediately. Qantas is well known for adding tickets 'to a queue' to be issued.

The thing is if you book with a major carrier and they muck up you are less likely to even know about it because they will fix it behind the scenes. Award flights are the exception (as again we see with QF issuing CX and QR awards... they snooze, you lose).

With large OTAs, they have the power and resources to fix their mistakes. Smaller operators, possibly displaying cahed prices, won't have the ability to fork out hundreds of dollars to rectify the mistake. So they cancel and refund your money.

Obviously this is all a new experience to me, but im still flabberghasted this is allowed or possible, or how you can have a business model like this

Its like having a website that sells afl grand final tickets, takes you money, and then last minute says, oh we couldnt get them for you.

Definitely will be avoiding from now on

 

[Aus ATC]

It seems to me that this distinction between booking/confirmation and ticketing is a hangover from a "pre-computer/internet world". Can anyone "in the know" explain the rationale as to why the 2 processes are not so tightly linked and automated that they are not occurring at the same time?

 

[dylarr]

One reason is due to the dynamic nature of airline pricing and how quickly fares and inventory changes. Creating a reservation allows for a call centre agents, travel agent etc to be able to build out a complex itinerary, price it up and wait for acceptance from the customer whilst securing all the seats from the inventory and holding the fare. Kind of like a quoting mechanism. Also if the customer wants to make changes, they can alter the reservation as much as needed as it hasn't been ticketed none of the rules around change and cancellation fees apply.

This stops situations of "Oh sorry, that itinerary I quoted you - now one of the flights has gone up by $400, another $200 and another all of Business has sold out". Once the customer accepts, the travel agent will send the reservation for ticketing. This is technically when the financial transaction occurs for the airline.

The TTL is a mechanism built in to the airline systems to cancel reservations that haven't been ticketed in time so that inventory isn't tied up by unneeded bookings. Travel agents can also be penalised for misuse of unticketed reservations. For example, the airline will usually charge a travel agent for the no show of a passenger on an unticketed reservation.

I'm sure there are other reasons too that someone more in the know can explain.

 

[Kate_2020]

I've had a couple of bookings cancelled by BCD Travel after I received confirmation emails and booking references. BCD failed to ticket in time due to their office hours and the bookings were auto cancelled by the airline. At least they didn't charge the corporate credit card. So it's not just small OTAs who do this - BCD being one of the biggest corporate travel agents. In both cases the original fare was no longer available.

The agency should always tell you when’s the due for ticketing! If you provide your CC and they forget to issue the ticket on time then it’s their mistake and they should pay for it!

 

[Chicken]

Yes indeed, Qantas have done this to me with a CX award booking. I received the itinerary, a PNR, and my credit card was charged, but the trip wasn't ticketed (Qantas slackness, I believe).

At least you found out / realised early.

My friend booked SQ saver award in J, on SQ metal. Arrived at SYD airport last Aug, ground crew told her "You don't exist, not on manifest, not on any computer list". Imagine how you would feel in this situation. Searched her name on computer and found nothing. Asked her for her KrisFlyer number so they could try to search, but she could not find her KF number from her Outlook because she was panicking (and I think she is one of those people with e-mail hoarding problem). The end was, KrisFlyer staffs found her account, traced her PNR, then ticketing for her, while the gate agents were closing the gate and my friend was wetting her pants. This is how close it got.

So it's not just QF who could do this sort of things.

 

[Aus ATC]

"Oh sorry, that itinerary I quoted you - now one of the flights has gone up by $400, another $200 and another all of Business has sold out". Once the customer accepts, the travel agent will send the reservation for ticketing. This is technically when the financial transaction occurs for the airline.

Thanks @dylarr. Your post certainly makes sense. I have myself been on the other end of TA transactions where a ticketing deadline has been imposed, missed and the price went up (it was my employer's fault so I was not personally out of pocket!).

The "gap", or "failure of process" more broadly, seems to be that in the internet world, when the customer books/pays for the fare on line (or even via a phone call when the itinerary is agreed), the transaction to ticket should be instantaneous, so the likelihood of that fare being no longer available/ticketing deadline missed should be very close to nil.

I guess the shonky operators like to take our payments up front, but not actually pay out till later, hence the loss of inventory.

 

[lakeman]

this is not my situation but for a friends situation ive now unfortunately been dragged into,

they booked a flight from Melb to Sing FOR 8th Jan on 3rd

You need to educate your friend that booking so close to departure is better booked direct or with a reputable provider with 24 hr assistance.

I get annoyed when I have used an OTA and have trouble or fees for booking seats so I mostly avoid them unless it is a huge bargain

 

[adenda]

Yes indeed, Qantas have done this to me with a CX award booking. I received the itinerary, a PNR, and my credit card was charged, but the trip wasn't ticketed (Qantas slackness, I believe).

I only became aware of this when I checked the booking a week or two later and found that it had been cancelled by CX. When I asked Qantas to fix the problem (I was plat at the time) they said that there were no longer any award seats available, so there was nothing they could do. I wasn't impressed, but had to wear it and book something elsewhere.

Had this happen to me on 2 separate occasions with the same OWA booking - including being told there was no longer availabily despite it showing on BA, AA and other websites. Thanks to advice on this forum I either HUACA or stood my ground and got the result I wanted.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I guess the shonky operators like to take our payments up front, but not actually pay out till later, hence the loss of inventory.

It may also be a case of cached fares. Smaller operators may not update their internet fares instantaneously.

 

[SOPOOR]

You need to educate your friend that booking so close to departure is better booked direct or with a reputable provider with 24 hr assistance.

I get annoyed when I have used an OTA and have trouble or fees for booking seats so I mostly avoid them unless it is a huge bargain

Given that im not a first timer booking a flight i didnt know of how this all works but its opened up.my eyes

My friend managed to catch the flight today on the same flight however via fly365, for $40 more

But i was honestly worried that the repeat would occur

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It was only about $20 cheaper
Flight was $640

My friend managed to catch the flight today on the same flight however via fly365, for $40 more

So the flight through fly365 was more expensive than going through the airline direct and they still did it? That makes no sense given the first round of problems

 

[SOPOOR]

So the flight through fly365 was more expensive than going through the airline direct and they still did it? That makes no sense given the first round of problems

Apologies, what i meant was it was only $40 more than bestpricetravels price,

They didnt check emirates site directly, i think they were in a panic

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Apologies, what i meant was it was only $40 more than bestpricetravels price,

They didnt check emirates site directly, i think they were in a panic

I guess it could have been worse... they could have used webjet with their hefty service fees and $50 'fare lock guarantee' added to the prices

 

[SOPOOR]

I guess it could have been worse... they could have used webjet with their hefty service fees and $50 'fare lock guarantee' added to the prices

Webjet I am proud to say is a service I've never used and never will

 

[RAM]

Unfortunately, they did it on their own accoed.
They said theyve called fly365 and got told their flights confirmed,
Their flight is tomorrow so we shall see

Im still flabberghasted that this practice is legal/still around.

Ive never used any of them before

Howver i recall when i was using skyscanner to search for flights a while ago, every price quoted for these agencies, none of them worked, and would jump astronomically upon booking.
And i thought wth is the point of skyscanner if none of the prices were real!

Every time I book flights with an online 'agent' as soon as the confirmation comes through I call the respective airline to confirm they have the booking confirmed at their end.

Also do seat allocation then (if available). Often the OTA will not provide your email to the airline - so it is always worthwhile calling if only to ensure you get notified of any flight time changes etc. Just for additional 'insurance' I ask the airlines to email me an updated itinerary.

So far (10+ years) never a problem but never hurts to check once you get the confirmation email.

 

[Port Power]

Webjet I am proud to say is a service I've never used and never will

But I do find their website useful to research carriers for a certain route as well as various flight options. I have found really good options, but then either book on line directly with my chosen carrier or hand the route over to my TA to book.

 

[SOPOOR]

But I do find their website useful to research carriers for a certain route as well as various flight options. I have found really good options, but then either book on line directly with my chosen carrier or hand the route over to my TA to book.

Nice, I did that first when webjet started!!! (was it early 2000s?)
the fee was $20 or $25 back then, at the time I thought what a joke it was!