problem booking with Best flights

[lombard18]

In *your* specific case, there was an issue, I agree. That does not relate to most cases and you were referring to clients in the plural and I haven't come across others that have had the terms chanegd

Dave

no 'issue' Dave.
they have admitted that they changed their terms.
they even explained that they received wrong information from their wholesaler, but they refused to do the decent and honourable thing and stand by what they had given me in writing.
nothing I did affected this. I did the right thing. I paid my fare.
I don't know why you are so keen to defend these people when the internet blogs are full of complaints about Best Flights, and my contacts at Travelscene [which they are a part of], AFTA, and the WA Consumer Affairs all agree.

 

[MelUser]

I think perhaps it is time to move on.

We agree that lombard18 has had difficulties with Best Flights however for everyone's sanity it is time to let go and look forward.

This is a good lesson that whilst Best Flights might be cheap and whatever else they are, if you want to cancel/change anything after you have paid them (which is pretty much instantly) it will cost you money.

Perhaps the moderators could consider closing this post?

 

[lombard18]

I think perhaps it is time to move on.

We agree that lombard18 has had difficulties with Best Flights however for everyone's sanity it is time to let go and look forward.

This is a good lesson that whilst Best Flights might be cheap and whatever else they are, if you want to cancel/change anything after you have paid them (which is pretty much instantly) it will cost you money.

Perhaps the moderators could consider closing this post?

you don't get it!
I have no problem with BF or any other company charging huge cancellation fees, BUT the company has to honour their own policy, and not CHANGE their cancellation policy 6 months down the track - thats the deceptive and cheating part! don't tell me its X, then when something happens change it to Y......do you follow?

 

[Dave Noble]

you don't get it!
I have no problem with BF or any other company charging huge cancellation fees, BUT the company has to honour their own policy, and not CHANGE their cancellation policy 6 months down the track - thats the deceptive and cheating part! don't tell me its X, then when something happens change it to Y......do you follow?

I think that you need to consider that the thread has progressed beyond the single case that you had

Dave

 

[mat1984]

hey all, new user here. didnt read every post here so forgive me if im saying something someone else already has...

Did you know that BF is the public arm of Stella Travel/Concorde? Stella are a large company who own Harvey World, TravelScene Amex, Breakfree resorts, Peppers Resorts, Mantra Resorts, Gullivers Travel [NZ, big wholesale firm], Ski Express [wholesale], Travel2 [wholesaler], Newmans Holidays [wholesale] and Concorde [ticketing consolidator]. They also have buying group called Concorde Agency Network which represents about 800 independant agents around australia [including Me! ] which allows us to get the same fares as the other 'big boys'. Those same fares we get access to are publiclly displayed on BestFlights and you'll notice that they are displayed in the exact same format to you the public as us travel agents, that's why there is so much jargon which is fine for those on this sort of forum for for joe average they can't begin to understand them. thus, Stella employ a few lackies to sit in a call centre in Perth and sell airfares so that they can distribute to as many channels as possible. Also, I can confirm that they are definately the ticketers of your ticket so there is no middle man to keep a cancellation penalty, however, it seems strange to be able to get away with changing your T&Cs and be able to apply that to previous bookings...

Also, can I add one more thing. This might be a good discussion to have seperately if people are interested...If we as a country want internet travel to flourish we really need to support it by booking using internet based companies. if we just use them for research and book at the 'Big Boys' but get them to do the same price then aren't we just playing into their hands? if they dont want to offer a competitive price first up why should you give them your business? all the price guarantees aren't there to say that they DEFINATELY have the cheapest prices, its just a marketing gimic so that your brain implys that out of it but really they are that if you 'HAPPEN' to get a better price then they'll beat it. so many people assume that means the prices there are best....mmm....anyway, i say support good, decent internet based companies in as many fields as you can if we really want australia's e-commerce community to flourish.

 

[AVM]

hey all, new user here. didnt read every post here so forgive me if im saying something someone else already has...

Did you know that BF is the public arm of Stella Travel/Concorde? Stella are a large company who own Harvey World, TravelScene Amex, Breakfree resorts, Peppers Resorts, Mantra Resorts, Gullivers Travel [NZ, big wholesale firm], Ski Express [wholesale], Travel2 [wholesaler], Newmans Holidays [wholesale] and Concorde [ticketing consolidator]. They also have buying group called Concorde Agency Network which represents about 800 independant agents around australia [including Me! ] which allows us to get the same fares as the other 'big boys'. Those same fares we get access to are publiclly displayed on BestFlights and you'll notice that they are displayed in the exact same format to you the public as us travel agents, that's why there is so much jargon which is fine for those on this sort of forum for for joe average they can't begin to understand them. thus, Stella employ a few lackies to sit in a call centre in Perth and sell airfares so that they can distribute to as many channels as possible. Also, I can confirm that they are definately the ticketers of your ticket so there is no middle man to keep a cancellation penalty, however, it seems strange to be able to get away with changing your T&Cs and be able to apply that to previous bookings...

Also, can I add one more thing. This might be a good discussion to have seperately if people are interested...If we as a country want internet travel to flourish we really need to support it by booking using internet based companies. if we just use them for research and book at the 'Big Boys' but get them to do the same price then aren't we just playing into their hands? if they dont want to offer a competitive price first up why should you give them your business? all the price guarantees aren't there to say that they DEFINATELY have the cheapest prices, its just a marketing gimic so that your brain implys that out of it but really they are that if you 'HAPPEN' to get a better price then they'll beat it. so many people assume that means the prices there are best....mmm....anyway, i say support good, decent internet based companies in as many fields as you can if we really want australia's e-commerce community to flourish.

Your posting is very interesting, when I had to cancel with Best Flights I asked for a breakdown of fees as website indicated optional from $165 plus airline charges, the units of breakdown were airline/BF

Best flights and ticketing office cancellation fee combined $475.00 ​

Royal Brunei Fee $150.00

​

When I asked if ticketing was a separate entity to BF the response was

The ticketing office and Best Flights are seperate offices.​

Best Flights fees are $353.00 and the ticketing office $122.00

We also reserve the right to charge a minimum cancellation fee of AUD $165 per person for International departures which will be in addition to any charges made by the travel provider, which in some cases can be the loss of the full amount you have paid. (website terms and conditions)

Food for thought - an interpretation of the above is that cancellation fees can range from $0 if the option is not exercised to whatever "the skies the limit"!







​

 

[MelUser]

What Best Flights are saying is that if you cancel, the cancellation fee is whatever we (Best Flights) deem the fee to be at the time you cancel.

Their terms are clear. This is why I will not book with them. But some people are attracted to the cheapness of their pricing.

 

[mat1984]

it would appear they still work on commission like the other big boys. so when they say their 'best flights fee' that screams to me that its the commission of the agent and the ticketing fee is the actual airline cancellation fee. alternatively it could be the other way around but id say that is the difference between the two fees. the other thing is that the BF fee could be some commission [lets say $200] and then another fee for processing and their time which they [unfortunately] have a right to charge. saying that, it definitely should be set out at the get go and not change half way through. when i do my invoices id always get the airlines cancellation fee, add the commission we would make on the booking [generally 8-10% on air but its getting more like 5-7 nowadays we add this to cover our margins for the time we spent on the original booking] and then I'd add $50 for my time for cancellation if it did happen. and then id put it clear as day on the invoice [generally just in 1 fee - e.g. cancelllation fee = $760 ]

 

[og]

I have given up chasing BF. After purchasing a (A)RTW fare, I was charged exactly $950 in "extras" whereas the e-ticket receipt only showed about $780 in extras. Ongoing requests for an explanation of this difference have been ignored.

BF also made a totally unauthorised charge of about $2500 to my cc (used for a previous OK purchase). It took a month for them to re-credit that money - after the "due date" with the bank. This blew my credit limit and the bank charged me $35 over-limit fee. The friendly girls said "of curse we will re-credit that $35 to your card". Never seen after several letters and phone calls over several months.

Short of personally visiting their call centre - where ever that is - its just not worth the stress. I'm keen to support this sort of enterprise but not with shonky business practices. In fact, I've gone back to ticketting through airlines. Sorry BF, you've stuffed it.

 

[lombard18]

I have given up chasing BF. After purchasing a (A)RTW fare, I was charged exactly $950 in "extras" whereas the e-ticket receipt only showed about $780 in extras. Ongoing requests for an explanation of this difference have been ignored.

BF also made a totally unauthorised charge of about $2500 to my cc (used for a previous OK purchase). It took a month for them to re-credit that money - after the "due date" with the bank. This blew my credit limit and the bank charged me $35 over-limit fee. The friendly girls said "of curse we will re-credit that $35 to your card". Never seen after several letters and phone calls over several months.

Short of personally visiting their call centre - where ever that is - its just not worth the stress. I'm keen to support this sort of enterprise but not with shonky business practices. In fact, I've gone back to ticketting through airlines. Sorry BF, you've stuffed it.

Actually, I told them that I wanted to visit them personally, and I got all sorts of excuses from - oh, we don't see people, its just a call centre, to, oh, um, I think I'll be out of town when you arrive....but if there's anything else we can do for you, just ask.........
I maintain my opinion that they are liars and cheats and have no integrity whatsoever!

 

[lombard18]

BF are raelly nice people
as of today, they are now even refusing to refund the international taxes that were paid to them a year ago