Bestpricetravel.com.au flight cancellation 2 days before flight

[SOPOOR]

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 Jan 2020

they got confirmation emails, booking ref etc

this morning they receive an email saying due to dynamic ticket pricing, the tickets were not issued,
my credit card was used and now the charge has gone

weve called them and they say to call back after midnight to speak to the rep (02 sydney number)

surely tickets cant be booked/issued/payment accepted and then cancelled!?
or is this another case of businesses big or small doing coughpy behaviour and can get away with it?

 

[ftm]

It sounds like the reservation wasn’t ticketed and the airline the cancelled the seats out, or the fare expired and it was more expensive the following day. What time of the day was it booked on the 3rd? Late in the day?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It sounds like the reservation wasn’t ticketed and the airline the cancelled the seats out, or the fare expired and it was more expensive the following day. What time of the day was it booked on the 3rd? Late in the day?

This.

Even Qantas sends out a confirmation email and booking, but ticketing might not occur until some time later. Travel agencies that don't have real-time price information, and no price guarantee, might not be able to ticket at the advertised price.

SOPOOR - was bestprice a lot cheaper than other channels? (might explain an old price)

 

[SOPOOR]

This.

Even Qantas sends out a confirmation email and booking, but ticketing might not occur until some time later. Travel agencies that don't have real-time price information, and no price guarantee, might not be able to ticket at the advertised price.

SOPOOR - was bestprice a lot cheaper than other channels? (might explain an old price)

It was only about $20 cheaper

Flight was $640

What i found strange was i got a booking reference number, it charged my card, and i got an booking summary,

Just find it odd that these sort of things can occur.
Thankfully we booked via another 'travel' agency travel365 (i thinj it was) for only a bit more

Lets see if this works

 

[dylarr]

A booking reference / PNR can be created in the airlines reservation system without actually issuing a ticket. If the reservation hasn’t been ticketed (by the airline call centre agent or travel agent or online travel agent or whoever created it) then it isn’t valid for travel.

Usually the reservation will have a “TTL” (ticketing time limit) associated with it, and this could range from instant to days or weeks depending on the fare type and how far away the flight departure is. Whilst the reservation is within the TTL, the seats and any pricing associated will be held. This would allow the initiator to validate and finalise payments from the customer and allow for any changes to be made etc.

This differs from bookings made directly on the airline website are usually ticketed immediately unless there is some issue with the reservation (i.e. missing APIS data on a US bound flight).

Once the TTL has expired then the reservation is auto cancelled by the airline system and the seat will be released back into inventory. The same fare and pricing may no longer be available.

This is what has probably happened in this instance. Why the OTA didn’t ticket the reservation in time is another question.

 

[Kate_2020]

They

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 Jan 2020

they got confirmation emails, booking ref etc

this morning they receive an email saying due to dynamic ticket pricing, the tickets were not issued,
my credit card was used and now the charge has gone

weve called them and they say to call back after midnight to speak to the rep (02 sydney number)

surely tickets cant be booked/issued/payment accepted and then cancelled!?
or is this another case of businesses big or small doing coughpy behaviour and can get away with it?

They can cancel your issued ticket anytime if they have a reason. Read the conditions.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It was only about $20 cheaper

Flight was $640

What i found strange was i got a booking reference number, it charged my card, and i got an booking summary,

Just find it odd that these sort of things can occur.
Thankfully we booked via another 'travel' agency travel365 (i thinj it was) for only a bit more

Lets see if this works

out of the frying pan into the fire??

 

[SOPOOR]

out of the frying pan into the fire??

yeah! exactly what I thought

 

[MEL_Traveller]

yeah! exactly what I thought

so that begs the question... why did you do it? The reviews aren’t positive.

I’m willing to trust Aunt Betty as an OTA... allegedly backed by flight centre The big ones like expedia are mostly ok... but some of these lesser known ones can lead to all sorts of problems if plans go astray.

 

[SOPOOR]

so that begs the question... why did you do it? The reviews aren’t positive.

I’m willing to trust Aunt Betty as an OTA... allegedly backed by flight centre The big ones like expedia are mostly ok... but some of these lesser known ones can lead to all sorts of problems if plans go astray.

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!

 

[muppet]

A booking reference / PNR can be created in the airlines reservation system without actually issuing a ticket. If the reservation hasn’t been ticketed (by the airline call centre agent or travel agent or online travel agent or whoever created it) then it isn’t valid for travel.

Usually the reservation will have a “TTL” (ticketing time limit) associated with it, and this could range from instant to days or weeks depending on the fare type and how far away the flight departure is. Whilst the reservation is within the TTL, the seats and any pricing associated will be held. This would allow the initiator to validate and finalise payments from the customer and allow for any changes to be made etc.

This differs from bookings made directly on the airline website are usually ticketed immediately unless there is some issue with the reservation (i.e. missing APIS data on a US bound flight).

Once the TTL has expired then the reservation is auto cancelled by the airline system and the seat will be released back into inventory. The same fare and pricing may no longer be available.

This is what has probably happened in this instance. Why the OTA didn’t ticket the reservation in time is another question.

While this informative and no doubt true, it shouldn’t matter.

What never ceases to amaze me with the travel business compared to other better industries, is that they think we give a damn about the technicalities (when it suits them of course).

Fare was offered, confirmed and accepted with payment being made and “presented as finalised”. If the OTA stuffs up it should be its cost to correct its breach of contract not the customers.

 

[muppet]

They

They can cancel your issued ticket anytime if they have a reason. Read the conditions.

More likely at anytime with or without a reason and apparently in Australia without consequence.

 

[AviationNZ]

I personally wouldn't book anything (hotels, flights, activities) by any lesser known OTA, the risks and potential inconvenience is far too great. My mind boggles at the number of OTA's out there, and with so many horror stories, customers keep going back for more of the same medicine....reminds me of the old "fool me once..." saying!

 

[SOPOOR]

While this informative and no doubt true, it shouldn’t matter.

What never ceases to amaze me with the travel business compared to other better industries, is that they think we give a damn about the technicalities (when it suits them of course).

Fare was offered, confirmed and accepted with payment being made and “presented as finalised”. If the OTA stuffs up it should be its cost to correct its breach of contract not the customers.

Agree, as this was virtually the first time to using one of these companies,
i cant think of any other industry, eg hotel, restaurant, where you can book, get confirmation, adn then they can tell you to go away,
its absolutely ludicrous

lesson learnt , I probably will never use them again, except for price matching!

 

[dylarr]

Fare was offered, confirmed and accepted with payment being made and “presented as finalised”. If the OTA stuffs up it should be its cost to correct its breach of contract not the customers.

Not doubting that at all! Completely the OTA's fault. Creating the reservation but not ticketing it whilst having charged the customer is sloppy and pathetic. If I was the customer I would be demanding they fix their error and issue me a new ticketed reservation at the original cost.

 

[SOPOOR]

Not doubting that at all! Completely the OTA's fault. Creating the reservation but not ticketing it whilst having charged the customer is sloppy and pathetic. If I was the customer I would be demanding they fix their error and issue me a new ticketed reservation at the original cost.

well, im a stubborn guy, and was going to go down that way, but I think it would be banging your head against the wall, I thought about going through the ombudamnd and demanding compensation, but im not sure how big this company is , and how easy/hard it would be for implementation

I use the ombudsman for other much larger companies and usually get the result I deserve/entitled to,

 

[MEL_Traveller]

well, im a stubborn guy, and was going to go down that way, but I think it would be banging your head against the wall, I thought about going through the ombudamnd and demanding compensation, but im not sure how big this company is , and how easy/hard it would be for implementation

I use the ombudsman for other much larger companies and usually get the result I deserve/entitled to,

There are probably terms and conditions that state your fare is not guaranteed until the flight is ticketed. This is the same just about anywhere... even with the airlines. In practice, if you book through Qantas (for example) and the same thing happened, they can manually make the fare adjustment. But a third party can’t.

It’s exactly the same with booking award travel... QF books a QR flight but doesn’t ticket in time and QR cancels the sector. QF have created the reservation, sent you an email, but have not ‘paid’ for it.

 

[SOPOOR]

There are probably terms and conditions that state your fare is not guaranteed until the flight is ticketed. This is the same just about anywhere... even with the airlines. In practice, if you book through Qantas (for example) and the same thing happened, they can manually make the fare adjustment. But a third party can’t.

It’s exactly the same with booking award travel... QF books a QR flight but doesn’t ticket in time and QR cancels the sector. QF have created the reservation, sent you an email, but have not ‘paid’ for it.

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!

 

[odysseus]

More likely at anytime with or without a reason and apparently in Australia without consequence.

Many of these unheard of OTAs are outside Australia, hence making the "without consequence" easier. They're not subject to our laws.

In this first example, it appears to be local, but also of questionable background, and not a licenced travel agent member. After all, do you know many established businesses who would give their address as "93, Wigram Street , Next to Taj Indian Restaurant,"...?

 

[clifford]

It’s exactly the same with booking award travel... QF books a QR flight but doesn’t ticket in time and QR cancels the sector. QF have created the reservation, sent you an email, but have not ‘paid’ for it.

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.