Another airline trying to screw customers - SAA this time.

[vetrade]

Booked a AUH - JNB return flight (SAA codeshare on EY flights) for Master V. a month ago through Expedia. Confirmed and e-ticketed including the SAA booking reference.
Received an email this morning from Expedia stating SAA had advised them both flights had been cancelled along with a "sorry your trip didn't turn out, your money will be refunded in a few days".

Expecting a minor glitch due to a change of flight times or similar I was surprised to find the SAA website came up with a "we have no record of your booking; please check the details again....."
I was annoyed to then find that both flights were still listed with no changes at all and both SAA and EY had at least 4 seats available both ways. The noticeable difference was that now the cheapest Y fares are over $700 more than what I paid at the start of August.

Now have Expedia working on getting the booking reinstated but it annoys me that this looks like another case where airlines lie and cancel a booking, seemingly because they under quoted and / or underestimated demand.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Booked a AUH - JNB return flight (SAA codeshare on EY flights) for Master V. a month ago through Expedia. Confirmed and e-ticketed including the SAA booking reference.
Received an email this morning from Expedia stating SAA had advised them both flights had been cancelled along with a "sorry your trip didn't turn out, your money will be refunded in a few days".

Expecting a minor glitch due to a change of flight times or similar I was surprised to find the SAA website came up with a "we have no record of your booking; please check the details again....."
I was annoyed to then find that both flights were still listed with no changes at all and both SAA and EY had at least 4 seats available both ways. The noticeable difference was that now the cheapest Y fares are over $700 more than what I paid at the start of August.

Now have Expedia working on getting the booking reinstated but it annoys me that this looks like another case where airlines lie and cancel a booking, seemingly because they under quoted and / or underestimated demand.

Did the booking previously come up on the SAA website? (for example it's not uncommon to see the message you state when using a different PNR to the one used by the operating carrier.)

There seems more to this than SAA cancelling the booking because of under quoting, which is highly unlikely.

 

[straitman]

Did the booking previously come up on the SAA website? (for example it's not uncommon to see the message you state when using a different PNR to the one used by the operating carrier.)

There seems more to this than SAA cancelling the booking because of under quoting, which is highly unlikely.

I agree with MEL_Traveller on this. It's more likely IMHO that Expedia had not processed the booking and now don't want to cop the price increase.

 

[vetrade]

Did the booking previously come up on the SAA website? (for example it's not uncommon to see the message you state when using a different PNR to the one used by the operating carrier.)

There seems more to this than SAA cancelling the booking because of under quoting, which is highly unlikely.

Yes, you and Straightman may be right and either Expedia or SAA could be the culprit. To be honest I didn't check the SAA website previously for the booking - I am more diligent when keeping track of award bookings but in this case I only noted the e-ticket number and SAA PNR which Expedia sent in their confirmation email. Would be pretty cheeky if Expedia confirmed the booking and quoted these if they didn't actually exist! Another reminder that you can't assume anything much these days.

Expedia did ring me back this afternoon to say the SAA office was closed today and they'd be following it up tomorrow.

 

[drron]

Though SAA is having financial troubles and are short of ready cash.
They have just pulled one on us as we have bookings JNB-EBB-JNB next year.Done through our TA as you don't have to pay usually until ~ 6 weeks out.
She got an email saying pay up by 31/8 or the bookings will be cancelled.Paid up as already price has increased.

 

[RooFlyer]

Though SAA is having financial troubles and are short of ready cash.
They have just pulled one on us as we have bookings JNB-EBB-JNB next year.Done through our TA as you don't have to pay usually until ~ 6 weeks out.
She got an email saying pay up by 31/8 or the bookings will be cancelled.Paid up as already price has increased.

Sorry to veer off-topic, but I'm finding that sort of thing more and more common with booking made with my TA drron. 'Booking with payment to be made XX days prior to departure' is slowly becoming a thing of the past. And if you have a number of flights on the one ticket, if one airline demands payment (and its usually the smaller ones), it crystallises the entire ticket!

But your experience vetrade, is one reason why I've always been too afraid to book flights via Expedia or similar.

 

[Tortuga]

Something fishy is going on with Expedia - I watch a vlog on youtube and the guy had the exact same issues with Expedia cancelling his tickets twice after a 'successful' booking.. He ended up booking direct with the airline instead, would be good to find out what the problem is why they are getting away with it?

 

[madrooster]

Sorry to veer off-topic, but I'm finding that sort of thing more and more common with booking made with my TA drron. 'Booking with payment to be made XX days prior to departure' is slowly becoming a thing of the past. And if you have a number of flights on the one ticket, if one airline demands payment (and its usually the smaller ones), it crystallises the entire ticket!

But your experience vetrade, is one reason why I've always been too afraid to book flights via Expedia or similar.

In cheaper sale buckets/cheaper regular buckets, yes this is true.

The more expensive ones still allow you to hold until X days before departure.

 

[drron]

In cheaper sale buckets/cheaper regular buckets, yes this is true.

The more expensive ones still allow you to hold until X days before departure.

I would have thought a Global Explorer in J was one of the more expensive fares but both BA and LAN were insisting on payment and would cancel their segments.The TA would book them again and despite both airlines saying it shouldn't happen again it did.Finally our TA said the availailability on LAN was getting tight so we have paid today nearly 6 months prior to departure.
This however was different to the SAA flights as these flights were being continually turned over but the SAA demand came 5 months after booking.

 

[RooFlyer]

In cheaper sale buckets/cheaper regular buckets, yes this is true.

The more expensive ones still allow you to hold until X days before departure.

Yeah, I guess you are correct; its that single discount Y sector in an otherwise non discount trip that always does it!

 

[vetrade]

Update for anyone interested. Have spoken to both SAA and Expedia and, not surprisingly, they are both saying the other is at fault. From what I have learned so far the smell is definitely leading to SAA, though.
The SAA person was able to trace the eTicket number and booking reference Expedia gave me (even though I got a "we have no record of this booking" when I tried to access MMB on SAA's website).
SAA also confirmed (correctly) which flights were attached to the ticket but still told me that the problem was Expedia's to sort out - which I find strange given that the CC statement shows the fare was paid directly to SAA, so there can't be any suggestion that Expedia hasn't passed on their money. When pressed neither side could, or would, tell me exactly what the problem was.
Expedia are continuing to pursue SAA to get the seats reinstated.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Update for anyone interested. Have spoken to both SAA and Expedia and, not surprisingly, they are both saying the other is at fault. From what I have learned so far the smell is definitely leading to SAA, though.
The SAA person was able to trace the eTicket number and booking reference Expedia gave me (even though I got a "we have no record of this booking" when I tried to access MMB on SAA's website).
SAA also confirmed (correctly) which flights were attached to the ticket but still told me that the problem was Expedia's to sort out - which I find strange given that the CC statement shows the fare was paid directly to SAA, so there can't be any suggestion that Expedia hasn't passed on their money. When pressed neither side could, or would, tell me exactly what the problem was.
Expedia are continuing to pursue SAA to get the seats reinstated.

Not uncommon if a booking has been changed that it might return a 'we can't find it'. But it was able to be retrieved by the ticket number.

Also not uncommon that an airline won't touch a travel agent issued booking - at least until after the journey has started. That of itself isn't an indicator that SAA has done anything wrong.

I suspect this will turn out ok if it's an airline error. Might take a little longer if it's an expedia issue by the time they get around to authorising the additional fare if they haven't coughed up.

 

[henleybeach]

Im worried now , I have booked a SAA flight from Jnb - Vfa next February through Expedia . I've checked online with SAA and my booking is there . I'll be checking every week now to make sure it doesn't disappear !

 

[vetrade]

Flights finally re-instated today and itinerary available in MMB.
SAA "computer problem" blamed but who knows if that's really accurate? Hopefully that's the end of it