Poor service from Frequent Flyer Concierge

[MOA]

I recently requested FF concierge find award flights to Europe. I was told there was a 60 to 80% chance of a successful booking so went ahead and paid a fee of $676 being 10% if the cost of the cost of the proposed routing. Within two hours of receiving the flight plan I had checked and many of the flights unavailable. I phoned Qantas directly, still within two hours of receiving the flight plan from FF concierge. I immediately contacted Wilson of FF concierge. Three weeks have passed by with still no communication and no award booking. I am very dissatisfied with the service from FFC. I have paid $676 for no service whatsoever so have gone ahead andbought a ticket with cash.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome to posting on AFF @MOA

One of the problems with such a service is that the seats might be available at the time of report writing, but have gone by the time you look - even if its hours (and may be a bit more given when the report was compiled).

How many flights were advised in all - and were they sequential, or alternatives?

Not hearing back sounds pretty poor.

 

[MOA]

The flights were all sequential with reasonable connections. In and out of Europe in June is busy but it was the return flights that were difficult. The greatest criticism is there total lack of communication. This reflects very badly on their business. One email for the $676 is easy money for them. I tried to put together my return flights myself and suddenly discovered it is not that difficult. They have a good idea but provide very poor customer service. Spend a few hours sitting with a map of the world’s major airport hubs, have some flexibility with cabin classes, and it’s not very difficult to put together a flight plan. If another start up provided better customer communication and a guarantee of fee for service actually provided it could be successful. ie. if proof the product is no longer available a reasonable refund could be guaranteed.

 

[admin]

Dear MOA,

Great to hear that you are learning to redeem flights yourself, that's the fun part! As you might know, on AFF we offer Courses and Webinars that can help your to learn quickly how to find and redeem reward seats. Attending AFF gatherings is also a great way to connect with likeminded Frequent Flyers with a ton of knowledge.

We have checked in with Frequent Flyer Concierge for you and passed on your valuable feedback. They have advised us that they reached out to you and are working on their communication timing.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

The flights were all sequential with reasonable connections. In and out of Europe in June is busy but it was the return flights that were difficult. The greatest criticism is there total lack of communication. This reflects very badly on their business. One email for the $676 is easy money for them. I tried to put together my return flights myself and suddenly discovered it is not that difficult. They have a good idea but provide very poor customer service. Spend a few hours sitting with a map of the world’s major airport hubs, have some flexibility with cabin classes, and it’s not very difficult to put together a flight plan. If another start up provided better customer communication and a guarantee of fee for service actually provided it could be successful. ie. if proof the product is no longer available a reasonable refund could be guaranteed.

There are other options called iflyflat among others

 

[kpc]

Not a great look for this so called service! I personally do my own research and book my own award flights....won't be paying someone to do it for me.

 

[Scr77]

I find the OP experience a little disturbing. I‘ve always told my wife, if I get hit by a bus, use frequent flyer solutions.

Another sign of “under new management”? Along with the much missed podcast.

 

[goldenhorn]

I’m surprised to hear this. I’ve used Frequent Flyer Solutions (I assume the same service before a name change) in the years prior to Covid and was I so impressed by their service both times. They were worth every cent and found me flights that I had spent dozens of hours searching for to no avail.

As I haven’t used them recently I can’t comment on the current service but I too hope it’s not a drop in service.

The fee is definitely a lot more now. It wasn’t 10% of the full fare. I think I paid less than $400 for 2 pax.

 

[MelbFlyer]

I also had a look at the Concierge service after seeing the below message multiple times - I stopped reading as soon as I saw how much the initial fee is. The first thought in my mind was "you have to be kidding". I've now read on and seen the example final fee - wow.

Struggling to use your Frequent Flyer Points?
Frequent Flyer Concierge takes the hard work out of finding award availability and redeeming your frequent flyer or credit card points for flights.
Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, the Frequent Flyer Concierge team at Frequent Flyer Concierge will help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

 

[MOA]

My concerns about FFC were addressed immediately and within 24 hours the full fee was credited to my account. I have used their services successfully in the past and would again. The main learning from this experience as any frequent traveler would know is to book flights as early as possible.

 

[goldenhorn]

My concerns about FFC were addressed immediately and within 24 hours the full fee was credited to my account. I have used their services successfully in the past and would again. The main learning from this experience as any frequent traveler would know is to book flights as early as possible.

That’s good news.

Yes, I think I booked my flights within 20 minutes of getting the recommendations because I was so worried that the flights would be snapped up.

 

[Danger]

Who or what owns or runs this Frequent Flyer Concierge thing?

 

[serfty]

Who or what owns or runs this Frequent Flyer Concierge thing?

The same entity that owns www.australianfrequentflyer.com and www.pointhacks.com.au

 

[RooFlyer]

My concerns about FFC were addressed immediately and within 24 hours the full fee was credited to my account. I have used their services successfully in the past and would again. The main learning from this experience as any frequent traveler would know is to book flights as early as possible.

I'm so glad to hear that. In its previous incarnation, I believe a search could be re-done if the recommended flight(s) had gone by the time of booking. Just sounds like a communication failure in this case - but not a good look, for any reason.

One email for the $676 is easy money for them.

I don't think that's totally fair. We should appreciate the time required in finding multiple points flights that line up, within a certain time frame. Even with all the award-flight-finding-tools available now, you only have to find no-availability at the third of fourth flight in a particular routing to have to start from scratch again. And mid-year involving Europe too in this case. Notwithstanding you found a routing later on, putting together an entire itinerary would definitely take commercial time - therefore cost.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

It’s not like they use the same airline search engine we do. They would have 3rd party software that looks at awards much faster and spits out a result.

 

[RooFlyer]

It’s not like they use the same airline search engine we do. They would have 3rd party software that looks at awards much faster and spits out a result.

I think they use the same search tools as are available to everyone ( some with subscription) and which MattG talks about on his webcasts. None of the search tools I know cover all Airlines and can simply be used to spit out a result.

I imagine the art comes into it trying to piece together an entire itinerary within the travel time parameters set by the client, especially if the client specifies certain Airlines to be used or not to be used and flexibility or non-flexibility in certain sectors.

Anyone with the requisite knowledge can do it, it’s just a matter of how you value your time. I used the service a couple of times in its previous incarnation and was pleased with the results, and booked them, but I’m not sure if the current pricing would be attractive if I wanted to do it again.

 

[mattew225]

Anyone with the requisite knowledge can do it, it’s just a matter of how you value your time.

I always thought that was the main selling point and concept - it's someone with experience doing the leg work for you.