Best Flights are they any good

[Dalescott]

What is everybodies thoughts on Best Flights, they seem to have very good deals compared to every body else
All thoughts please.

 

[MelUser]

(1) Any agent can book the fares;

(2) Bestflights are fine if you do not change or cancel your itinerary but beware their cancellation/change costs which may exceed the cost of the airfare you have purchased!

(3) I will not use Bestflights based on the horror stories which have been posted here.

(4) Their staff have very little travel industry product knowledge.

 

[drron]

I use bestflights website sometimes to find fares-addons to my RTW or Circle fares.Then book direct with airline and saving bestflights booking fee.
I did book them once when they came up with an AF J fare hanoi-BKK that was cheaper than TGs Y fare.Couldnt find it anywhere else.Had no problems at all even though it was the last of paper tickets and there was a change of schedule.they handled it well.

 

[Mal]

I have a very negative perception of them - mainly based on experiences from friends, horror stories on forums.

Their fares are a good guide to what is available, and other agents are likely able to also find the fares.

 

[estate]

I use bestflights website sometimes to find fares.
Then book direct with airline and saving bestflights booking fee.

I'm intrigued by this. If I find a great deal on bestflights or via any other TA, how do I go about booking that fare with the airline?
Is there some sort of publicly listed unique identifyer for each fare so we can call up, say, QF and say "I want to book at RTW under fare xx_XYYYYZZZ." The fare would be massively cheaper than if you book on their website where you're subject to all the vagaries of their yeild management.

Is it possible to book this fare for instance
Swiss, Qantas, Air Canada Business Round WorldWith United & Cathay to Over 50 Cities Oct 09-Aug 10 <em>One Season Year Round!</em>
directly with LX or AC or whoever's running it. And if so, how?

 

[brissyflyer]

I have used them without any issues in the past, whether I would use them again I am not sure.

Regardless of their service I think they have one of the best websites around as it contains a huge amount of information and it is well laid out and very functional.

 

[drron]

I'm intrigued by this. If I find a great deal on bestflights or via any other TA, how do I go about booking that fare with the airline?
Is there some sort of publicly listed unique identifyer for each fare so we can call up, say, QF and say "I want to book at RTW under fare xx_XYYYYZZZ." The fare would be massively cheaper than if you book on their website where you're subject to all the vagaries of their yeild management.

Is it possible to book this fare for instance
Swiss, Qantas, Air Canada Business Round WorldWith United & Cathay to Over 50 Cities Oct 09-Aug 10 <em>One Season Year Round!</em>
directly with LX or AC or whoever's running it. And if so, how?

As I said I use them for add on fares not the basic RTW fares-though they do list most of the specials for RTW etc.
The last use was for my circle asia next year.Wanted to fly KUL-BNE but the only OW option KUL-SIN doesnt connect with QF to BNE.Found that MH was just a couple of dollars dearer than Air asia so went direct to the MH website to do the booking-same fare but no booking fee.

 

[russianrob]

I used to use them a lot until one day I needed to make some changes!
Their charges are VERY large, and the staff often seem to be that weeks backpackers. Usually, you can get the fares elsewhere (even the airlines direct) for the same prices without inflated penalties being part of the contract.

 

[chrizzz14]

I use bestflights quite a bit as a reference.

They seem to always find the cheapest fare (more so than expedia or other likes)
They also usually show some quite good travel deals!

But i dont like paying the service fee so when i find a cheap fare i usually try and book directly through the airline that has the cheaper fare.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Like other posters I find Bestflights invaluable for their fare comparison tables - extremely useful.

I have used bestflights - once when I was overseas I needed a connecting flight which, while widely available, I could book through them with an Australian credit card and I didn't have to scan copies of my card and send in an authorisation form (very helpful).

Another time I booked and cancelled a fare, and despite their (at the time) '$165 cancellation fee' (plus 'other fees and charges levied by the airline' as their blurb says) I got stung for almost $500. As this was a full F fare I queried why I had been charged so much additional cancellation fee. The additional was refunded within 1 day (kudos to them!).

The consultants' product knowledge may not be that great (but it's ok) I have always found them to be polite, friendly and very helpful - and never pushy to 'make a booking right now so we can find the fare' kind of thing.

There are sometimes gaps in the bestflights search engine - especially if trying to book specific sectors. It always helps to see what other airlines might be flying a particular route. I have also found specials which have been available through an airline site direct that are not offered by BF (but this applies to lots of agencies not just them).

 

[dragonman]

They are not the only ones to charge exorbitant cancellation fees. STA travel stung me in March this year - never again will I use them.

Just a little footnote - this is the disclaimer on a BestFlights Tokyo stopover. Bold font is mine...

Please note that no prices are guaranteed until they are paid in full. With the recent reduction in the value of the Australian dollar against the USD wholesalers are increasing prices by up to 30% with NO notice is being given. Best Flights have no control over these increases.

I think that might have been there for a while.

 

[sampson]

I like their website however an airline changed its timetable and the airline refused to talk to me about a date change.

Bestflights wanted $350 PER PASSENGER .

Zuji handled he 2nd leg and wanted 'only' $150 each - for 1 phonecall or whatever.

I can get 4 plumbers here for that moolah. Even Telstra doesn't charge that much for a phone call.

I book direct these days, especially with some airlines, including Southwest, saying they must change timetables because of the economy.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

They have some very good RTW fares and also mixed class RTW which l haven't seen anywhere else. If anyone has, please let me know.

I think that Bestflights are good to get a " base price" and then you can go hunting on the web and see if you can do better.
When l booked my PER:BKK flight, the girl on the other end seemed very casual and blase, like it was just a part-time job on the weekends for her and couldn't really give s**t.

Touch-wood, l haven't had any problems with them so far...

 

[Danger]

A colleague of mine just priced a round the world fare with Best Flights but they won't provide a written quote. My guess is this is because you can take it off to Flight Centre and get 10% off.

 

[PineappleSkip]

(1) Any agent can book the fares;

(2) Bestflights are fine if you do not change or cancel your itinerary but beware their cancellation/change costs which may exceed the cost of the airfare you have purchased!

(4) Their staff have very little travel industry product knowledge.

I haven't (and wouldn't) use bestflights but points 1, 2 and 4 would in my experience apply to a lot of online booking services. A matter of degree about point 2, some charge more than others, and a good reason to book with airlines direct.

I find them useful as fare idea finders but for bookings i'd go to the airline website for simple itineraries and to a competent full service travel agent for complex ones. Competent being the critical adjective, and not easy to find same.

Cheers skip

 

[Worldtraveller8888]

With the recent reduction in the value of the Australian dollar against the USD wholesalers are increasing prices by up to 30% with NO notice is being given. Best Flights have no control over these increases.

Doesn't seem to match does it. In the last couple of years, the $A never fell 30% relative to the $US, so how can you justify a 30% increase?!

I also find it interesting that a change fee can be greater than the initial 'service' fee for making the booking. Surely there cannot be MORE work in making a change than there was in making the entire booking in the first place?

WT

 

[rechoboam]

I use their website, which is probably the best of its kind for routing, times, and costs. But I always use a full-service travel agent - he is a friend as it happens - for anything expensive/complex, and direct with the airlines for cheap/basic stuff.

With regard to the mechanics, I literally write down the flight numbers, dates, times, and costs, and email my agent. He checks and tells me, sure that the V or N or whatever, and if I need to change or cancel or upgrade, it is done for the lowest price possible, or for free if there is no airline charge. In my case things are a little different as I'd prefer him to get the commission but I find quite a few people get full-service agents to ticket for them these days still, especially for business travel. I can send a text from God knows where asking him to reroute something and it just happens while I'm in a meeting.

I did once book an expensive international flight through another discount online agent, and had to cancel...there was no cost involved, in fact it hadn't been ticketed or processed yet, but their web chat was semifunctional, and it took literally an entire morning to get through to someone on the phone. I swore I would never do that again.

 

[Australian]

I use their website, which is probably the best of its kind for routing, times, and costs. But I always use a full-service travel agent - he is a friend as it happens - for anything expensive/complex, and direct with the airlines for cheap/basic stuff.

With regard to the mechanics, I literally write down the flight numbers, dates, times, and costs, and email my agent. He checks and tells me, sure that the V or N or whatever, and if I need to change or cancel or upgrade, it is done for the lowest price possible, or for free if there is no airline charge. In my case things are a little different as I'd prefer him to get the commission but I find quite a few people get full-service agents to ticket for them these days still, especially for business travel. I can send a text from God knows where asking him to reroute something and it just happens while I'm in a meeting.

I did once book an expensive international flight through another discount online agent, and had to cancel...there was no cost involved, in fact it hadn't been ticketed or processed yet, but their web chat was semifunctional, and it took literally an entire morning to get through to someone on the phone. I swore I would never do that again.

do travel agents charge for air reservations/ticketing?

 

[odysseus]

A colleague of mine just priced a round the world fare with Best Flights but they won't provide a written quote. My guess is this is because you can take it off to Flight Centre and get 10% off.

Such discounts are long gone... it's now get $1 off the price (plus $20 off a future booking).

 

[rechoboam]

do travel agents charge for air reservations/ticketing?

Maybe someone else will answer that. I don't get charged extra but my family used to be in the travel industry and maybe my friend is being kind. I pay the same as the airline fare but if I booked with QF direct they would get the commission rather than my mate. that's my understanding anyway. I think occasionally the airlines undercut the agents, which leaves the latter pretty unhappy.