Flight Centre experience :(

[MelUser]

I appreciate the honesty.

I feel comforted by a travel agent who bills my credit card directly to the airline (rather than taking the money themselves).

This way I feel there is no mark up.

 

[shellthom]

like most people on this forum I would likely prefer to research and book online with the airline directly. Sometimes this is however not entirely possible when it is a perhaps more complicated route, rather than simple point to point. I used Flight Centre to do this a couple of years ago when I was doing a trip to Europe ex SYD via Helsinki and then connecting from Helsinki to Prague and then back out of Berlin to Helsinki. At that time the Finnair flight from HKG/BKK was apparently not available on the Qantas site as a codeshare so likely needed a TA to do this. The first girl was hopeless (despite e-mail instructions still stuffed up connections etc) but the guy I ended up with actually knew something so this was useful - when you are sitting with someone they can tell you things like the fact that QF fights all the way, even as code share, will cost you $300 more than using Finnair - given that you still get points, but not as much, you can then make a call.

The other interesting thing is I just had a conversation with a friend who is booking a trip to West Africa via Jo'burg with SAA. The online price with SAA was $400 dearer than the price he ended up with with Flight Centre. Is this because of bulk discounts to FC or what? Any explanations?

This could be a number of reasons. A good travel agent knows which of the airlines to plate the ticket too to reduce the taxes incurred. But what likely has happened (because most FC agents are newer than you would care to think) is they "fare quote best buy" the fare in which case the fare rules will be different ... if it was just the cheapest fare an non refundable/non point earning/non upgradeable fare they were after than they have nothing to worry about. But not all airlines give points or upgrades on the heavily discounted fares - so, one needs to be careful if points are a priority.

Unfortunately if they wanted to upgrade with points on this flight, and have signed that bit of paper, I would suggest it is unlikely that anything can be done. At the airport it may be a different story based on airline status but a little pleb like me would be bound to the fare rules.

BUT yes FCL does negotiate some rates and fares based on numbers sold and DOES definitely have access to exclusive rates that no other agents can get.
STA Travel gets better in house rates on RTW fares than what FCL can.
FCL can negotiate great corporate rates with QF for companies that do a lot of international (and domestic to a lesser extent) business class and above travel. The agent will politely pass on say 30% of this saving and pocket the rest as a bonus to themselves for dealing with the effort of the corporate client. It is unlikely a corporation can attain these on their own, as usually their numbers alone are not enough to warrant it. But a corporate FCL agent might have an extra 10-30 people a month they can use this rate for to help with rate negotiations - these are also agent by agent rates, so one store may have it and another won't...

 

[ozbeachbabe]

20 odd years ago I booked a simple domestic flight QF to BNE and a few nights at a a hotel. Gave my mobile number for any changes. (They were a bit rarer back then)
Get to airport and told flight cancelled, you are on Int flight, made the Int flight just.
The next week happenned to meet the Flight Centre owner, (Graham Turner, the one who owned the WHOLE company), who asked how I travel etc. Told him the story, he wasnt happy. Said he would investigate.

The next day got a call from local FC guy and manager and big apology and promised discount on next travel. Graham rang back to check up as well.
I didnt go back.

Thats customer service...albeit a bit late.

I know of one guy who turned up at the airport for his flight to PER. His brother who worked at FCI had booked it for him to depart on a Monday night. Trouble was the flight had always been booked for the Tuesday so he had to go home & come back to the airport the next day.

One thing to remember when doing web bookings through Flight Centre/Webjet/Zuji etc is that just because you advise your mobile number or email to the TA doesn't mean they will pass this info on to the airline which means if the airline is trying to contact you they won't be able to.

A bigger problem is when there is a schedule change or flight cancellation the airline will queue the pnr back to the agents GDS system so they are aware of the changes so they can be passed on to the passenger.

This rarely happens so the pax turns up at the airport with the wrong info then blames the airline for not telling them.

 

[Travel Guru]

Someone who doesn't have the brain capacity to complete a simple domestic online booking is an idiot in my book regardless of how well he might, let's say, be painting walls or exploiting natural resources in a mine. Maybe I have a broader (and less political correctness blurred) definition of "idiot" than some others but I can't find anything even remotely ridiculous at all in my statement.

Always bear in mind that anytime you point a finger at someone there's always 3 fingers pointing back at you, and given some of the ignorant, ill-informed comments you've made on this post alone I'd suggest in your case it's more than true.

TG

 

[dougieboy]

Finally received a call from flight center. I am getting a refund in a few days time, but have incurred more than $932 in charges for cancellation of my premium economy ticket (T ticket bucket). Wasn't given a break down of costs either and a bit annoyed by the whole friggen thing to be quite honest. I called Qantas and they had confirmed my refundable ticket was a $300 deduction as per t&Cs of their contract cancellation policy, and $32 credit card fee (fair and reasonable). Flight center pocketed the other $600 thank you very much kaching, and told me I was very lucky I got anything as it was a non refundable ticket. It is quite outrageous their behaviour don't you think, however I must be thankful for had I not cancelled my holiday guess who would have been stuck 30 miles north west of Hurricane Isaac at Key West? So that's how flight center got a hefty profit this year. Dodgy dealings, lying to their customers and blaming airlines for their charges- must have missed the class lecture about applying business ethics to their business model. No twitter for me, I just had to rant and get it out of my system. Thanks for reading.

 

[Travel Guru]

Finally received a call from flight center. I am getting a refund in a few days time, but have incurred more than $932 in charges for cancellation of my premium economy ticket (T ticket bucket). Wasn't given a break down of costs either and a bit annoyed by the whole friggen thing to be quite honest. I called Qantas and they had confirmed my refundable ticket was a $300 deduction as per t&Cs of their contract cancellation policy, and $32 credit card fee (fair and reasonable). Flight center pocketed the other $600 thank you very much kaching, and told me I was very lucky I got anything as it was a non refundable ticket. It is quite outrageous their behaviour don't you think, however I must be thankful for had I not cancelled my holiday guess who would have been stuck 30 miles north west of Hurricane Isaac at Key West? So that's how flight center got a hefty profit this year. Dodgy dealings, lying to their customers and blaming airlines for their charges- must have missed the class lecture about applying business ethics to their business model. No twitter for me, I just had to rant and get it out of my system. Thanks for reading.

Hey Dougie,

I did a historical fare search and they are in fact correct in that the T class special was fully non-refundable so I'm a little perplexed as to on what grounds they've got you a refund, I can only assume they've lied to their QF rep to get a waiver to cancel it.

With regard to their $600 cancellation, that does seem rather excessive to me, the point of a cancellation fee on the part of an agent shouldn't be to gouge you, it's merely to cover the commission originally received on the booking (which in this case would have been approx $145) plus approx $50 to cover the time involved with processing a refund. I don't agree that an agent should have to wear the commission recall as they've done the work in good faith, but Flight Centre (as I well know after spending 5 years in consulting and managing with them) are famous for gouging clients wherever possible, this being no exception.

One point of recourse would be to check the invoice originally provided, if there's nothing stating the fares non-refundable OR stating an approx cancellation fee around that figure then I think you've got cause to complain about the size of their fee....don't do so at the store level as store managers main objective isn't to satisfy you and minimise your loss, it's the increase the store profitability at all costs; instead go to their national complaints line (1300 number listed in white pages) and complain with them as company policy dictates that every complaint must be resolved and logged.

Hopefully you'll be able to reduce it down, in my mind $200 on top of Qantas' penalty would be pretty fair, $600 however is extortion.

TG

 

[Oneworldplus2]

...in my mind $200 on top of Qantas' penalty would be pretty fair, $600 however is extortion.

I agree.

Is there an ombudsman or Gov department that you can file a complaint with???

 

[MelUser]

This is precisely why I have a dedicated (human) travel agent. When I have to cancel she refunds me everything and doesn't keep anything for herself. She knows that next time I will go back to her and I do.

I think it is far better to have a relationship with an indepenent travel agent that you have an understanding with.

I always got the impression that flight centre is for people doing a once in a life time trip to Europe. I don't think they are geared up for long term relationships.

 

[Travel Guru]

I agree.

Is there an ombudsman or Gov department that you can file a complaint with???

Not really, it really comes down to what was documented on the invoice at the time of booking, if it's on there as non-refundable OR $900 cancellation then there's not much that can be done, if there's nothing on there (which in alot of cases there's not because the agents are too lazy or too busy to go into detail) then he has a case but who to I don't know, fair trading I suspect.

TG

 

[Travel Guru]

This is precisely why I have a dedicated (human) travel agent. When I have to cancel she refunds me everything and doesn't keep anything for herself. She knows that next time I will go back to her and I do.

I think it is far better to have a relationship with an indepenent travel agent that you have an understanding with.

I always got the impression that flight centre is for people doing a once in a life time trip to Europe. I don't think they are geared up for long term relationships.

I couldn't agree more.

TG

 

[MelUser]

I laugh when I read the terms and conditions of Perth Company BESTFLIGHTS.

along the lines of "If you cancel an airfare booked with us your cancellation penalty could be equivalent to the entire airfare you have paid for"

 

[Travel Guru]

I laugh when I read the terms and conditions of Perth Company BESTFLIGHTS.

along the lines of "If you cancel an airfare booked with us your cancellation penalty could be equivalent to the entire airfare you have paid for"

They and the likes of Flight Centre epitomize why I call myself a Travel Advisor and not an Agent, an agent is an order taker merely there to make as much as they can off their client, but an Advisor (at least in my case) has their clients best interests at heart and is professional enough and smart enough to know the lifetime value of a client.

Flight Centre has such a big turnover of staff that unfortunately their staff often can't see the forest for the trees and focus only on profiting today not on cultivating a long term working relationship with clients.

TG

 

[Berlin]

Always bear in mind that anytime you point a finger at someone there's always 3 fingers pointing back at you, and given some of the ignorant, ill-informed comments you've made on this post alone I'd suggest in your case it's more than true.

TG

Says a travel agent. I rest my case!

 

[Travel Guru]

Says a travel agent. I rest my case!

I'm an Advisor not an Agent and a very well paid one at that...not going out of business anytime soon either.

The bucket shop generalists might be headed towards extinction in the coming years, but those of us who specialize in providing access to travel experiences you wouldn't find online if you tried, to high end clients won't be going anywhere.

TG

 

[ftm]

You dont know what you don't know...

Sent from my HTC Velocity 4G using AustFreqFly

 

[jetlagger]

I always got the impression that flight centre is for people doing a once in a life time trip to Europe.
I don't think they are geared up for long term relationships.

... And certainly there appears to be little shortage of these clients of late.. & when/if ever you may return, more than often the agent has moved on..

 

[dougieboy]

Hey Dougie,

I did a historical fare search and they are in fact correct in that the T class special was fully non-refundable so I'm a little perplexed as to on what grounds they've got you a refund, I can only assume they've lied to their QF rep to get a waiver to cancel it.

Thanks TG, I am extra grateful now that I received anything at all from FC, it changes one's perspective about the situation. I was not able to speak directly with the original travel agent when I paid for my booking and I quote "he is no longer working for FC". I had considered Depart. Of Fair Trading but in this instance I'll take what I can and run! Nothing like a bit of self imposed austerity for a little while to make up the difference.

 

[anat0l]

I did a historical fare search and they are in fact correct in that the T class special was fully non-refundable so I'm a little perplexed as to on what grounds they've got you a refund, I can only assume they've lied to their QF rep to get a waiver to cancel it.

That's really interesting - lying to the QF rep? I suppose when you pull enough strings, yell hard enough or threaten to start a war of any size - any person (not just a TA), any airline - you can make them (the airline) do anything.

That all aside, I'm fascinated by how travel agencies handle some fares that normally, if we booked it through the airline, are "non-refundable" but give us a credit we can use later (minus a change fee). For example, QF Red e-Deals are an example of this - non-refundable but can be changed for a fee + fare difference, or "cancelled" into a voucher, which then can be used up to 12 months later for a fee.

How would a TA handle these kinds of fares - if you decided to cancel, would you be told, "nope, sorry can't do"; would you get a voucher (minus some admin fee); or would you lose the whole lot?


That all aside (a bit of a sidetrack there), I usually stick to online only myself. The only times I have used a bricks-and-mortar travel agency (so to speak) is (a) one time I had to use Campus Travel to book flights for a case study - this was a university imposed condition for me to be covered by the university's insurance and procedures; and (b) one time I had a fare online which I neglected to book quickly enough (and the price went up), but when I tried the agency they still had flights at the level I had previously found.

I haven't been overly impressed with travel agents (e.g. at FC) since I started travelling for myself and e-ticketing became commonplace, as they don't tend to offer anything on top of what I can achieve alone (even lazily). Oh, except travel insurance (yes, everyone needs it, it's true). I'm also afraid of booking with anyone else except the airline because there are many stories on AFF where people have found themselves in sticky situations, and often having booked not directly with the airline may compromise the ability to get a resolution quicker, for whatever reason. Also, if something happens to my booking, at least an airline will more likely get to me faster (viz. contact me) compared against relying on a travel agent to pass on the airline's notice (again, anecdotes on AFF have shown that TAs have dropped the ball in the chain of communication, with undesirable consequences).

My mum almost solely sticks by her FC agent, but that's only because she keeps cycling through $20 price beat vouchers (plus promo vouchers and birthday vouchers) every time she books a flight (usually 1-2 times per year only, but still). She will often look up the fare online then email / call the agent to beat it (including credit card fee), scoring a new price beat voucher along the way and applying a previously earned voucher on the beaten price.


Online travel agencies are becoming more popular either (a) to "lazy-check" across many airlines at once, (b) to circumvent credit card surcharges, or (c) to circumvent country-specific pricing or protection.


And of course, there's a new kind of travel agent which is only in a niche capacity at the moment (and looks set to remain that way for a while), which are the ones which help you book award travel

 

[ozbeachbabe]

How to confuse the living daylights out of a customer.

Book them on QF786 to CNS on 03 Sep then give them an itinerary that says DJ786 to CNS on 26 Sep!!!

The flight details on FCI itineraries are not downloaded directly from a GDS or the internet as the consultant may do a booking via the airlines website or GDS then type in the details manually to the pax's itinerary. In short their itineraries are only as accurate as the person doing the typing.

This means people could well be given itineraries showing flights that they may not even be booked on.

You'd just hope that if you did have issues with a booking through a FCI that it happened during business hours as the 24 hour assist line can do bugger all. They might be able to access your booking but if they client has paid for a ticket but FCI haven't issued it the FCI assist people can't access the company credit card for the particular FCI branch so they pax would have to pay again they try and get their money back from FCI.