"Webjet"

[cmon0005]

So I've finally reached enough Flybuys points to redeem with Webjet (Coles is my nearest shop so I get points from my regular shopping), I've never used Webjet before as I've always deemed it a ripoff in the past, but today just confirmed why.

Went to book a Super Saver QF flight one way for my Mrs (she is doing her first status run) MEL-SYD-OOL, Qantas site quotes $280, Webjet quotes $280 (then with my flybuys points it should bring it down $50 or so I thought) ..great I thought... went to checkout and was shocked by the price of the booking fee charged by webjet for a DOM flight! ($19.95) to make it even worse they charge a "Booking price guarantee" fee of $12.95~ plus the usual qf CC charge of $7.70 (what a load of rubbish, I can't even deselect this option, there was plenty of seat stock in the fare class so I don't need this damn booking price guarantee!!) so in total the price comes up to $41 more expensive than the original flight for a One-way domestic... having a net benefit to me of $10 and the loss of 12,000 Flybuys points, what a con, needless to say I didn't go ahead with it and just booked on QF.com $280+7.70 CC fee.

Who seriously uses webjet seems like a load of rubbish and how on earth are they still in business, their website is seriously cough too??

//rant over.. :mrgreen:

 

[yo yo ma]

I've found this too... I just use my FlyBuys points for vouchers and keep the QFF for flights.

 

[BoyZeus]

I only ever use my FlyBuys points to book accommodation with them for the reasons you stated.

 

[oz_mark]

Yep, Webjet are bad like that. And they've made Zuji bad as well...

 

[aikman]

I got on their mailing list for some reason and they advertise regular sales claiming all airfares have been slashed for the next 48 hours (or so). Yet not once have they given examples of what airfares they have discounted or by how much.

They've done well in building up their brand name to a point they can charge whatever they want. Kinda like Qantas in a way.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

At least you've realised how much extra it costs to book through Webjet whereas a lot of the general public are oblivious to the extra charges incurred as they are only visible if the click on the link in tiny writing that says "show details" to display the full charges.

People could be forgiven for thinking there is nothing extra to pay as during the Webjet booking process the words "all Webjet prices include GST, airline surchages and taxes" appear which I think is misleading to the consumer as the inference is that there's nothing more to pay.

It's more a case of lying by omission as the pax is going to be up for more that the fares advertised fare on the Webjet site. Why don't Webjet have to display all inclusive pricing that would include their 'processing fee' 'booking price guarantee'?

It's a distinct disadvantage using Webject as there is no option to use Bpay/bank deposit/Poli like you can with booking direct on airline websites as you must pay by credit card. Even if you were booking a Jetstar flight and using the JQ Mastercard (which would not incur cc fees on the JQ website) you are still charged the cc fee as Webjet act as the merchant not the airline.

Another thing I've noticed is that there is no option to book a plus bundle if you want to earn QF ff points/SC & have basic seat selection included.

When you do select a fare with checked baggage it only gives you 15 kilos of checked baggage with no option to increase that if you wanted to pay for 30 kilos. Eg if looking at a fare BNE/ADL on JQ you have the option of a Starter fare of $109.00 with no checked baggage or $128.00 with 15kg checked baggage. The next option up is a Starter Max for $309.00 HLO or $328.00 with 15kg of checked baggage. Payment of the Starter Plus bundle of $25.00 is not an option through Webjet.

JQ flight booked direct through JQ website
$109.00 airfare (paid by bank direct depsoit/POLi/JQ Mastercard
$109.00 total amount charged by Jetstar


JQ flight booked through Webjet
$109.00 airfare
$ 8.50 payment & service fee (despite not even using JQ as merchant)
$ 12.95 Webjet booking price guarantee
$ 19.95 Webject processing fee
$150.40 total amount charged by Webjet


Disadvantages of using Webjet vs booking direct through airline websites

* It will cost you more money
* Webjet will pass on the airline service fee charged by the airline even when Webjet are the merchant
* There is no option to avoid credit card fees as direct deposit/POLi/Bpay are not offered
* Limited options with some airlines so cannot select a plus bundle for ff points/SC/seat selection
* If selecting checked baggage on JQ your only option is 15 kilos
* Any schedule changes to your flights will be advised to Webjet not direct to the pax
* If for any reason eg last minute bookings you arrive at the airport & your eticket hasn't been issued the airine cannot issue it so you must contact the Webjet call centre which is offshore.
* If you pay by a credit card that gives you bonus points for spending money on airfares you won't get bonus points as the airlines are not the merchants - Webjet are.

 

[Mal]

Very interesting points... I wonder if anyone has complained to the appropriate bodies? Qantas wouldn't get away with it. Virgin wouldn't and jetstar would be murdered on the stake. While I hate the way Qantas et.al exempt various strange ways of paying from fees to keep in the spirit of the legislation , webjet seem to be laughing at the rules.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Webjet oncharging the JQ credit card fee when they use their own merchant number takes the cake! :evil:

What exactly does the $19.95 Webjet processing fee cover? Surely the meagre amount it would cost them to use their own merchant number would be covered by this charge?

 

[whatmeworry]

Very interesting points... I wonder if anyone has complained to the appropriate bodies? Qantas wouldn't get away with it. Virgin wouldn't and jetstar would be murdered on the stake. While I hate the way Qantas et.al exempt various strange ways of paying from fees to keep in the spirit of the legislation , webjet seem to be laughing at the rules.

Webjet oncharging the JQ credit card fee when they use their own merchant number takes the cake! :evil:

What exactly does the $19.95 Webjet processing fee cover? Surely the meagre amount it would cost them to use their own merchant number would be covered by this charge?

I have nearly 90,000 flybuy points... Before Flybuys done a deal with the devil (webjet), I got close to booking some proper flights with QF via Flybuys but because of the previous expiry issue with flybuys (3yrs) I had to my exchange my points for giftcards. Ok now, I could use my points with webjet but IMO it is only worth it for more expensive booking (ie so the fees and fees are negated to a certain extent). However, why should I give hard earned points to webjet when I can book cheap flights with expedia.br or ie and cash out my points for coles giftcards?

P.s. since Flybuys took out direct redemption's with the airlines, I have moved all the CC spend onto QFF point earning CC's.

P.p.s Flybuys are losing out everyday by not being aligned with Virgin.

 

[UP4014]

And don't forget if you do a flight search not all flights/airlines come up unless there is a $$ advantage to Webjet.

 

[bazoukka]

What exactly does the $19.95 Webjet processing fee cover? Surely the meagre amount it would cost them to use their own merchant number would be covered by this charge?[/QUOTE]

not much cause they don't do anything. also be careful with their price guarantee it covers a maximum of $1,000AUD of additional costs. so if you book three tickets on the one PNR and the price increases. They will only cover a total of $1,000AUD. That strongly suggest people have one ticket per booking.

 

[Mal]

Gotta keep the shareholders happy in some way shape or form.

PS. Who gets the rewards points when Webjet puts all those flight bookings on their credit cards?
Answer... Probably no one as it is likely they settle using cash.

 

[cove]

Thanks for confirming Flybuys and Webjet are both pretty useless. I have 2 little travel bags from Flybuy redemptions and that is it.
Dropping Coles/Flybuys and running with Woolies EDRCC and Everyday Rewards was one of my best moves. It is JASA city from Woolies and Qantas.

 

[Melburnian1]

I am not a Cheap Flight Deals and Discount Airline Tickets. Search Flights and Book Airfare at Webjet - Webjet.com ticket purchaser and will not be because of its extra charges and fees, but the general public must not agree with us as Webjet's revenue and profits keep rising (albeit now not as fast as a year ago if I recall).

Mind you, airlines such as Jetstar charge extortionate credit card fees when companies like it are paying less than 0.8 per cent for a Visa or mastercard transaction. This does not excuse Webjet's behaviour: I merely make the point that JQ is far from angelic itself.

 

[drron]

Thanks for confirming Flybuys and Webjet are both pretty useless. I have 2 little travel bags from Flybuy redemptions and that is it.
Dropping Coles/Flybuys and running with Woolies EDRCC and Everyday Rewards was one of my best moves. It is JASA city from Woolies and Qantas.

Not necessarily the same for everyone.$50 supermarket spend on Sunday.If I went to Woollies 20 QFF points +4 cents off on 50 litres fuel.I value my QFF points at 2 cents.So that is $2.40 value for my $50 spend.
But I went to Coles.Had a triple points offer for the weekend + a triple points coupon + 10 cents off a litre.So $5.21 value.

 

[Timba-Jet]

With Expedia charging no booking fee. Though they do seem to pass on the airlines credit card fee in their total price. Why oh why do people book with Webjet!

 

[cove]

Can you use a 5% off Coles Gift Card on fuel now?? At Woolies their Wish gift cards work everywhere and the Coles ones only work on grocery store purchases.

 

[cmon0005]

With Expedia charging no booking fee. Though they do seem to pass on the airlines credit card fee in their total price. Why oh why do people book with Webjet!

Agreed, expedia is so much better, their website is easy to use and the deals/fees(if any) are reasonable..

Who else hates the webjet ads? ME

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I am not a Cheap Flight Deals and Discount Airline Tickets. Search Flights and Book Airfare at Webjet - Webjet.com ticket purchaser and will not be because of its extra charges and fees, but the general public must not agree with us as Webjet's revenue and profits keep rising (albeit now not as fast as a year ago if I recall).

Mind you, airlines such as Jetstar charge extortionate credit card fees when companies like it are paying less than 0.8 per cent for a Visa or mastercard transaction. This does not excuse Webjet's behaviour: I merely make the point that JQ is far from angelic itself.

At least when you book direct with the airlines you have a choice as to whether to pay the credit card fees or to avoid them & pay by other alternatives such as Bpay, bank deposit or POLi. There is no option with Webjet to avoid credit card fees as that is the only payment accepted.

With Expedia charging no booking fee. Though they do seem to pass on the airlines credit card fee in their total price. Why oh why do people book with Webjet!

People book with Webjet because they are mislead into thinking that by booking through Webjet there are no extra fees & charges because the all inclusive price is not displayed in the initial availability display like it is on airline websites.

Agreed, expedia is so much better, their website is easy to use and the deals/fees(if any) are reasonable..

Who else hates the webjet ads? ME

With Expedia people were able to book the recent JQ $10.00 sale fares when the JQ site kept on crashing.

Yes I hate the Webjet ads with that holier that thou "at Webjet we don't play favourites" BS. They don't play favourites as they equally rip off consumers regardless of the airline they fly with.

Then when people want to change their flights because stuffed up the dates they bombard the airline Facebook pages bleating to the airlines about the (Webjet) change fees!

 

[whatmeworry]

I wonder if it's time all AFF's complain to the ACCC about webjet?

Also did Flybuys enter into some kind of coughpy contract with flybuys? One must suspect so considering they dropped the travel gift cards and direct booking options with airlines to do business with one of the worst online travel agents on the planet.