Booking held by travel agent & then price increases (what's your view?)

[visitant]

Just wanted to get some members' opinions on my recent experience with a well known travel agent.

I had planned flights to the US on QF premium economy for next year, and before booking, thought I'd visit this well known travel agent to see whether they could beat the price advertised on the QF website. The guy I spoke to said he could get them for $50 less per seat - not much, but better than nothing. This was last Monday, 17th September.

I said go for it, and he said that he had reserved the seats for me until the "end of September", which I assumed would be the 30th.

Anyway, he emailed me today to ask whether I was ready to pay, oh and by the way, the price has gone up $500 per seat.

I checked the Qantas website, and the "sale" fares have all gone. It's probably naive on my part, but when he said the seats were held for me until the end of September, was it reasonable for me to assume that the price would remain the same?

His explanation was quite lame, I thought - "they've sold the seats out from under me!"

Lesson learned - do it yourself if you want it done right, I guess.

 

[TheInsider]

Unless the booking is 'ticketed' then the prices can go up and down. I'm assuming this is fright centre?

 

[visitant]

Unless the booking is 'ticketed' then the prices can go up and down. I'm assuming this is fright centre?

Yes, I'm afraid so. The annoying thing is that I could've booked and paid during the last week, but was waiting for his response.

 

[harvyk]

In FC's very very fine print, they actually state that no price is guaranteed until payment has been received in full. When ever I've gotten them to hold any seats for me (eg when I've called them up over the phone) I have then gone in and made payment as early as possible.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

What has happened is that the agent hasn't looked properly at when the fare expires. So whilst the seats were held, the fare expired and a new fare applied for the booking. The price won't fluctuate much other than for currency fluctuations (adjusted weekly) as long as the fare is ticketed before the fare expires and within the ticketing deadline for the fare.

 

[Simo]

Expensive lesson learn't.

If you like the price just book it.

 

[burmans]

Expensive lesson learn't.

If you like the price just book it.

Tough lesson but yes, unfortunately agree!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I had planned flights to the US on QF premium economy for next year, and before booking, thought I'd visit this well known travel agent to see whether they could beat the price advertised on the QF website. The guy I spoke to said he could get them for $50 less per seat - not much, but better than nothing. This was last Monday, 17th September.

I said go for it, and he said that he had reserved the seats for me until the "end of September", which I assumed would be the 30th.

Anyway, he emailed me today to ask whether I was ready to pay, oh and by the way, the price has gone up $500 per seat.

I checked the Qantas website, and the "sale" fares have all gone. It's probably naive on my part, but when he said the seats were held for me until the end of September, was it reasonable for me to assume that the price would remain the same?

His explanation was quite lame, I thought - "they've sold the seats out from under me!"

Lesson learned - do it yourself if you want it done right, I guess.

His explanation is very lame IMHO, actually I'd call it BS in fact as he's just trying to put the blame on the airline. If they "sold the seats out from under me" what were the seats he held in the booking for?

He neglected to tell you the late date the fare had to be paid/ticketed by or maybe he couldn't even be bothered checking. Normally agents would tell you the fare is X & the last day to pay is Y.

Usually FCI won't even hold seats unless you pay some kind of (non-refundable) deposit - did you have to pay anything to 'hold' the seats? If you did I would ask them to refund your money as the deposit was for a fare they can't honour. If they won't use it to book some USA accommodation but book your airfares elsewhere through a reputable agent.

 

[ftm]

Agree.... Stuff up by the FCI consultant in not checking the fare expiry. Sale fares, regardless of cabin, will rarely give you a long ticketing time limit. It's typically around 3 days, but regularly less.

FTM

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using AustFreqFly

 

[drron]

Or have a good TA.We book flights regularly at least 10 months out.If there is a price increase or a sale our TA contacts us to see if we want to lock in the lower price.

 

[visitant]

Just a follow up on this to give credit where it's due. I spoke with the branch manager of the agency about my concerns, and she went above and beyond to secure the original PE tickets at the price I was originally quoted, saving me over $3000.
So, one happy customer, and I will be dealing with her again in the future, I'm sure.

 

[tuapekastar]

Just a follow up on this to give credit where it's due. I spoke with the branch manager of the agency about my concerns, and she went above and beyond to secure the original PE tickets at the price I was originally quoted, saving me over $3000.
So, one happy customer, and I will be dealing with her again in the future, I'm sure.

A good outcome, thanks for the follow-up!