Travel Agent Booked Biz Class - turns out he used his points and took cash for himself

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all, wanted to ask... is this stuff legit or should I take the agent for a shakedown? We paid good price (cheap, not insanely cheap) for 2 biz class tickets AU to EU and back and when we went to SingAir to find out where the points are were told that the flights were booked using points... WTF... has anyone had this happen to them>?

A chat with your agent would be a good idea to find out what happened.

If you paid substantially less than the going rate it is possible the agent did some sort of miles brokerage for you. In that case they may have obtained points from someone willing to sell them and purchased tickets for you. The agent will have paid for those points and taken a profit for themselves. you however would also have had a benefit.

But there are other explanations. For example it's possible you were booked as a code share in a class which wasn't recognised by Singapore Airlines. It's possible this was some sort of consolidator fare which doesn't earn miles. IIRC there was something with Qantas flights booking in a fare class ('E'?) which call centre staff thought was a staff discount fare.

If it is a mileage brokerage fare, you'll need to have a think about your options. You did get the flights. The level of discount may be a consideration for your options on how to proceed if you want to chase the miles (which I can't see how you're going to get).

 

[Quickstatus]

Something fishy here . this sounds like a fishing expedition for information.

Luxury travel agent with no website gives it away. Haha!!!

 

[madrooster]

IIRC there was something with Qantas flights booking in a fare class ('E'?) which call centre staff thought was a staff discount fare.

QF uses E class for:

1. Domestic sale fares
2. Domestic and international confirmed travel industry fares
3. Occasionally international sale fares

This has been the case for 3-4 years now, so it's a case of staff not being fully informed.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

QF uses E class for:

1. Domestic sale fares
2. Domestic and international confirmed travel industry fares
3. Occasionally international sale fares

This has been the case for 3-4 years now, so it's a case of staff not being fully informed.

I thought there was some confusion in that sometimes E class wasn’t crediting points to accounts and it had to be manually done (with agents incorrectly saying the fares weren’t eligible because they were industry)

While i doubt something similar is happening with the OP, it is an example that call centre agents don’t always get things right (claiming fares are awards, or otherwise ineligible etc)

 

[Deleted member]

Despite what the OP said, I suspect there is a "need to name names". Or at least there is for any useful discussion of the OP's problem..

It would be good to know where NOT to go for travel advice / tickets

 

[Deleted member]

While I mostly agree with you, there are legitimate ways for businesses to buy points from airlines to distribute as they wish.

I wasn't aware of this ?
Surely they (the TA) would need to disclose this before collecting the cash from the client.

 

[drron]

While I mostly agree with you, there are legitimate ways for businesses to buy points from airlines to distribute as they wish.

Yes but that is usually so the customer gets points for the purchase not to supply tickets.They can buy cheap tickets to give as a "prize"and they will be non points earning.
If buying for a FF account there are limits as to the number of points that can be bought.definitely not enough for a "travel agent"to be selling award tickets which is illegal with most loyalty schemes if the purchaser is unrelated.SQ do allow you to buy tickets in anyone's name but a limit of 5 names and they cant be changed for 6 months-wouldn't be viable for a true travel agent.

When you have been on AFF for a while you will realise that what you describe screams scam.
Read this thread and especially posts 3 and 4. Ripped off by Alpha Flight Guru

A chat with your agent would be a good idea to find out what happened.

If you paid substantially less than the going rate it is possible the agent did some sort of miles brokerage for you. In that case they may have obtained points from someone willing to sell them and purchased tickets for you. The agent will have paid for those points and taken a profit for themselves. you however would also have had a benefit.

But there are other explanations. For example it's possible you were booked as a code share in a class which wasn't recognised by Singapore Airlines. It's possible this was some sort of consolidator fare which doesn't earn miles. IIRC there was something with Qantas flights booking in a fare class ('E'?) which call centre staff thought was a staff discount fare.

If it is a mileage brokerage fare, you'll need to have a think about your options. You did get the flights. The level of discount may be a consideration for your options on how to proceed if you want to chase the miles (which I can't see how you're going to get).

Buying miles from someone else is illegal in most/all FF schemes.if the airlines find out ticket voided and you are likely also to have your own FF account reviewed.
I have used many"consolidator"fares over the years and they have earnt points.

So the best case scenario is that your "luxury travel agent"is a fellow who earns lots of points that can be transferred to Krisflyer and has named you as a beneficiary so as to redeem a ticket in your name so giving him a tidy profit selling points.This means no FF points for your flight.
Anything else is probably illegal.

 

[serfty]

Buying miles from someone else is illegal in most/all FF schemes.

In such a case, use of the word illegal (meaning contrary to government regulation) is incorrect.

Certainly such action is in breach of the T&C's of most frequent flyer/loyalty schemes; the tickets could be cancelled with no recompense to the OP.

If I were buying a discounted business fare, I would be expecting to earn frequent flyer points/miles. This in good faith.

I would NOT be happy!

@Iggy_type_r I would be taking this up with the TA ASAP.

Please report back on how that goes.

 

[Must...Fly!]

Let's say OP paid $5000 for the fare in cash and received an award ticket back. First problem is the miles earned on a revenue flight go begging. It's dishonest and disingenuous. But what about the tax portion? What portion of that $5000 revenue ticket should've gone to the ATO, in one form or another? Where does this revenue go in their balance sheet I wonder...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

With the frequency of airlines selling points these days it would also be possible for the agent to open an account in the name of the passenger and buy the miles directly for use by the passenger. (The secondary issue is whether or not this was explained to the passenger.)

 

[serfty]

IIRC there was something with Qantas flights booking in a fare class ('E'?)

E on QF does not earn with AAdvantage or BAEC. Domestically, QF use it as a sale bucket.

 

[TomVexille]

I wasn't aware of this ?
Surely they (the TA) would need to disclose this before collecting the cash from the client.

I've heard of it in other FF groups.

Yes but that is usually so the customer gets points for the purchase not to supply tickets.They can buy cheap tickets to give as a "prize"and they will be non points earning.
If buying for a FF account there are limits as to the number of points that can be bought.definitely not enough for a "travel agent"to be selling award tickets which is illegal with most loyalty schemes if the purchaser is unrelated.SQ do allow you to buy tickets in anyone's name but a limit of 5 names and they cant be changed for 6 months-wouldn't be viable for a true travel agent.




When you have been on AFF for a while you will realise that what you describe screams scam.
Read this thread and especially posts 3 and 4.
Ripped off by Alpha Flight Guru




Buying miles from someone else is illegal in most/all FF schemes.if the airlines find out ticket voided and you are likely also to have your own FF account reviewed.
I have used many"consolidator"fares over the years and they have earnt points.

So the best case scenario is that your "luxury travel agent"is a fellow who earns lots of points that can be transferred to Krisflyer and has named you as a beneficiary so as to redeem a ticket in your name so giving him a tidy profit selling points.This means no FF points for your flight.
Anything else is probably illegal.

Not talking about QF or VA.

But I agree that AFG and the like dodgy

 

[dajop]

Tickets in business class to/from the EU on SQ (unless IST - which is not the EU) is not going to be using points purchased from Lifemiles or UA. Only can get such seats using Velocity, Miles and More (LH) or Krisflyer itself.

 

[RoMambai]

There is something fishy about this whole scenario which I suspect may be apocryphal. It's also interesting that the OP went mum when the questions got a bit close to home.

My take is the OP got a great deal without questioning the fare (hey it's not unethical if you didn't know , they then took the trip and now they're questioning where the points are? Talk about taking and eating cake.

 

[jbman]

I notice on so many forums now that someone will post something like this with more questions than answers then disappear.

Pages of replies about the theory's of what could have happened.

Close the thread and move on to more fact based discussion

 

[equus]

Which airline was actually flown? I know the OP has mentioned going to SQ looking for the points, but was it actually a SQ flight. If it was another airline but attempting to credit to Krisflyer, then it may be simply the case of an ineligible fare bucket - one that SQ sees as reward redemption, but that the airline actually sometimes sells as deep discount business (like what happens very frequently with cheap MH Business fares trying to credit to QF).

 

[JohnK]

The OP also thinks the travel agent "used his own points". Can someone with mor etime explain to the OP how this works - the whole illegal purchasing of points and subsequent third-party redemptions...........

The OP mentioned tickets were booked on SQ. With KrisFlyer you can add 5 nominees and they do not need to be family.

 

[equus]

The OP mentioned tickets were booked on SQ.

Not quite (although I can see why you would assume that). The OP said they went to SQ to find out where the points were - which implies they were expecting Krisflyer points, but not (necessarily) that they flew SQ.

 

[leadman]

I think we have done a lot of assuming here, but really need to know more fact from OP. Agree with above, it could be a fishing expedition.......

 

[Danger]

Despite what the OP said, I suspect there is a "need to name names". Or at least there is for any useful discussion of the OP's problem..

Careful, juddles. We know what happened last time you read into a post.

Airlines may have it against their terms and conditions that you cannot buy, sell or barter points. But if you do anyway, it's nothing more than a breach of contract. There is nothing illegal in it. There is no law on the statute books preventing you doing whatever you want with points.

Isn't a breach of contract illegal, though?