skyscanner beware

[retirementenquiry]

used this site many times before made a flight booking last week got no confirmation email or booking ref its for a BA flight next week.

Without the booking reference it is not possible to check in so the booked flight is worthless

I called my bank the money is gone skyscanner and Vamaya who i did the deal with are virtually uncontactable have sent several emails to no avail neither list any phone no.

Looks like i will have to book another flight wont be using these third parties sites anymore.

Edited August 20, 2017 by retirementenquiry

[anto]

skyscanner i use just to see whats available.

[bartender100]

Live chat on their FB page, nothing to do with skyscanner i would think

 

https://www.facebook.com/VayamaTravel/

[KittenKong]

16 minutes ago, retirementenquiry said:

used this site many times before made a flight booking last week got no confirmation email or booking ref its for a BA flight next week.

Without the booking reference it is not possible to check in so the booked flight is worthless

I called my bank the money is gone skyscanner and Vamaya who i did the deal with are virtually uncontactable have sent several emails to no avail neither list any phone no.

 

Dont really see how you can blame Skyscanner who are just a flight search engine. Vamaya are the ones who sold you the ticket, and they dont seem to have much of a reputation to defend.

 

And why is this in the Pattaya forum anyway?

[KittenKong]

25 minutes ago, retirementenquiry said:

got no confirmation email or booking ref

 

Did you check your spam box? Are you sure that you wrote your email address in correctly?

[steve187]

how did you pay.

 

just becareful and check the company that skyscanner refers you to, i like traveltrolly and travel bag

Edited August 20, 2017 by steve187

[Daryle]

Report the charge as unauthorized and let the Bank and Merchant sort it out! Ask for a new card to be issued. Book the flight on the new card. I have used Skyscanner many times and no problems. Let the Bank sort it out.

 

 

 

 

[CNXBKKMAN]

You can find the flights on on skyscanner then go to ba.com and book it direct. This way will save you a lot of trouble. You have to be very cautious if you use one these third party online agents. Basically its just a computer program and hardly any human staff. When you have a problem and you try to contact them nothing. Nothing but trouble and wasting hours of your time and money. 

[retirementenquiry]

Yeah spam/junk  always checked, vayama emailed several times and not on FB

I have checked with my bank CC funds approved so I have no comeback

Pattaya comment?  home for expats many on here arrange flights on SS no harm to warn others

[KhunBENQ]

As others wrote: skyscanner is just a search tool and does not take responsibility for the providers/contractors.

There are so many shady/dubious providers out there.

Many people lost money and won experience.

Some of them use unfair methods/tricks to get on top of the cheapest list.

The harmless variants are:

"oops it's fully booked but another offer is available", "oops the price has changed" etc.

Some simply are cheaters.

You could argue that skyscanner should monitor and exclude these?

 

Stick to the big players or book with the airline!

Be wary with overly cheap offers (compared to the average).

Do an internet search for comments on the provider.

Cheap can become very expensive.

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

30 minutes ago, CNXBKKMAN said:

You can find the flights on on skyscanner then go to ba.com and book it direct. This way will save you a lot of trouble. You have to be very cautious if you use one these third party online agents. Basically its just a computer program and hardly any human staff. When you have a problem and you try to contact them nothing. Nothing but trouble and wasting hours of your time and money. 

Always check the airline sites.

Some have more flexible/useful search options than skyscanner.

I experienced this e.g. with LH group/Swiss which gives good prices for airline combinations not shown on ss.

 

[JamJar]

Is this a UK credit card or a Thailand credit card?

[Pacificperson]

I booked a flight with one of the services that Skyscanner referred me to. They sent me a email saying that they were working on confirming the flight. I replied with a request that they cancel the reservation as I needed a different date. They booked it anyway. Since I was in a city where the airline had an office, I went to visit with the airline. The airline was as accommodating as they could be, but they needed the vendor's permission to refund/change the ticket which was not forthcoming.

 

I learned a few things:

 

1. These nonrefundable/ non-changeable tickets are often that way because the vendor puts it into your sales contract. It saves them a lot of costs by just saying no refunds or changes.

2. The credit card companies also want/need the vendor's permission before voiding a transaction.

3. Don't deal with any of these companies that require you to pay an undefined fee to speak with their service people. You will just wind-up with an extra charge on your card and the same answer - no.

4. Skyscanner is a decent place to start your search, but be very careful about using one of the agencies that they refer you to buy your ticket.

[Chivas]

Every single third party agent I use or have used send an immediate email (not eticket) with details of booking etc etc. If I dont receive that instantly from experience I'd know something amiss. Out of interest I use Travel Trolley Crystal Travel and Westeast for 95% of bookings.....never ever had issue and I'm a long way into 3 figures worth of purchased return flights

Go back to credit card provider. What you suggested above is simply wrong.The bank WILL intervene if you simply have been scammed or receive zero service for monies paid

Take it you have actually been on the trombone to British Airways to check if you are listed....??  You dont need booking reference if you're listed in the manifest already

Edited August 20, 2017 by Chivas

[Chivas]

Just connected to the website concerned by clicking on FB link......live chat answered my "Hi" within about 40 seconds. Bear in mind its Sunday as well

[Pacificperson]

48 minutes ago, Chivas said:

Every single third party agent I use or have used send an immediate email (not eticket) with details of booking etc etc. If I dont receive that instantly from experience I'd know something amiss. Out of interest I use Travel Trolley Crystal Travel and Westeast for 95% of bookings.....never ever had issue and I'm a long way into 3 figures worth of purchased return flights

Go back to credit card provider. What you suggested above is simply wrong.The bank WILL intervene if you simply have been scammed or receive zero service for monies paid

Take it you have actually been on the trombone to British Airways to check if you are listed....??  You dont need booking reference if you're listed in the manifest already

Out of curiosity, which of these third party agents offers the best service for flight changes/ cancellations?

[Chivas]

9 minutes ago, Pacificperson said:

Out of curiosity, which of these third party agents offers the best service for flight changes/ cancellations?

Nothing to do with the agents per se.....Flight changes/cancellations are entirely down to the airlines booking class you're in. (normally 6 classes within economy)

As it happens I did change one outbound flight couple years ago and just went straight to Travel Trolley who charged £100.....as I was expecting no change at all etc etc wasn't going to quibble the charge

Edited August 20, 2017 by Chivas

[Nemises]

I have checked with my bank CC funds approved so I have no comeback

yes you have...

If a merchant does not provide the goods/services that you paid for with a credit card, you simply need to have your bank do a charge back - as already mentioned above.

[Pacificperson]

This was not my experience. I visited with the airline who was perfectly willing to refund/change the ticket, but the third party agent was not willing to grant permission when the airline requested it. The airline basically said that without the agent's permission, they were helpless.

 

Luckily, they were cheap tickets. But what it did was to make me unwilling to use any of the pop-up vendors that Skyscanner offers when it refers you out of their site.

[KhunBENQ]

Unfounded comment on moderation removed.

The thread had been started by the OP in the Pattaya forum.

Another mod has moved it to the correct forum (Travel) yesterday at 10 AM.

 

Mods can not watch all threads/posts in an instant.

If a member feels something is wrong (misplaced) please use the Report function which brings it to attention for a mod.

 

 

[retirementenquiry]

Thanks for the comments I got my warning to not use these sites best suggestion is to use SS for information only is the way to go then book with the airline direct.

I needed to return to Ireland quickly within a week have always got an instant reply email this this time i didn't, I got an email advising i check my spam from them today from a CS Travix Int  it had a contact number not linked directly Vayama but when i called they located my renovation my email address was correct but they couldn't say why  i hadn't received the mail initially, while on the phone thankfully they sent it successfully 4 days after

[SheungWan]

21 hours ago, Pacificperson said:

This was not my experience. I visited with the airline who was perfectly willing to refund/change the ticket, but the third party agent was not willing to grant permission when the airline requested it. The airline basically said that without the agent's permission, they were helpless.

 

Luckily, they were cheap tickets. But what it did was to make me unwilling to use any of the pop-up vendors that Skyscanner offers when it refers you out of their site.

For some airlines, third-party agents may offer a better deal than offered on the airline's own own website, but I would tend to only use those agents whose name I recognise, eg Opodo.

[retirementenquiry]

Just for the record Skyscanner did get involved here and also forwarded my booking reference so they do take responsibility

To recount: my conformation email and flight details where released 4 days after booking on a flight that's in 3 days time.

On all previous bookings conformation was immediate

 

[JamJar]

On 20/08/2017 at 1:50 PM, Chivas said:

Nothing to do with the agents per se.....Flight changes/cancellations are entirely down to the airlines booking class you're in. (normally 6 classes within economy)

As it happens I did change one outbound flight couple years ago and just went straight to Travel Trolley who charged £100.....as I was expecting no change at all etc etc wasn't going to quibble the charge

 

This is quite wrong. OTA will add their own T&C to any transaction. So even if you buy a fully flexible ticket , if the OTA have a stated Admin charge, you will pay that in addition to anything the airline might charge.

So you need to peruse the T&C of the OTA beforehand.

 

In the case of Travel Trolley, the relevant passage is thus;

 

Quote

Alterations by You

If you wish to alter your arrangements after your booking has been made, we will do our best to arrange this and, if possible, make these changes. Any request for changes must be made in writing by the person who made the booking. Scheduled airlines normally treat name changes as a cancellation and rebooking and this may incur a 100% cancellation charge in respect of the airfare. Apart from levying any charges imposed by the suppliers and any additional cost we incur in making the said alterations, we will charge a per person administration fee in order to make the alteration to your arrangements or if you make any other changes to your booking. If after the commencement of a tour the Client requests any amendments to the agreed arrangements, or accommodation, the Company and/or its agents will do their best to implement such amendments, but cannot guarantee that it will be possible. In the event of any amendment the Client will be liable for any cancellation charges and / or additional costs that may be incurred by the Company and/or its agents.

 

[JamJar]

On 21/08/2017 at 0:22 PM, SheungWan said:

For some airlines, third-party agents may offer a better deal than offered on the airline's own own website, but I would tend to only use those agents whose name I recognise, eg Opodo.

 

Opodo are not who they used to be.

They were originally founded by a consortium of European airlines, including British Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Austrian Airlines and Finnair, then moved to Amadeus ownership.

But in 2011 they were acquired by the same group that run eDreams, based in Barcelona. 

eDreams became known for accepting money for tickets and then calling you to let you know that they were no longer available at that price. In addition to that quoting prices that were only available when using a particular card.

Needless to say, they are both at the bottom of the list.

[KhunBENQ]

2 hours ago, JamJar said:

eDreams became known for accepting money for tickets and then calling you to let you know that they were no longer available at that price. In addition to that quoting prices that were only available when using a particular card.

One of the notorious shady methods.

But even worse that they cash in before the "price change" is announced.

[SheungWan]

2 hours ago, JamJar said:

 

Opodo are not who they used to be.

They were originally founded by a consortium of European airlines, including British Airways, Air France, Alitalia, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, Austrian Airlines and Finnair, then moved to Amadeus ownership.

But in 2011 they were acquired by the same group that run eDreams, based in Barcelona. 

eDreams became known for accepting money for tickets and then calling you to let you know that they were no longer available at that price. In addition to that quoting prices that were only available when using a particular card.

Needless to say, they are both at the bottom of the list.

Interesting. I must admit that my comment on Opodo is based on my past experience of them (which was OK) and that may be some time ago. Nowadays I only book on airlines' own web pages and only use Opodo as a reference point.

[ELVIS123456]

5 hours ago, SheungWan said:

Interesting. I must admit that my comment on Opodo is based on my past experience of them (which was OK) and that may be some time ago. Nowadays I only book on airlines' own web pages and only use Opodo as a reference point.

Ditto.  Had one trouble myself years ago, and since then I only use skyscanner  etc to see what is available and what costs.  Then I go direct to whatever airline/s ofer best deal, and try to book direct. Sometimes cannot, but usually can.