What has Zuji done to their booking engine???

[Mal]

Zuji used to be great for hunting airfares. Their "Flexible Date" search often turned up some nice fares that you try and snare by looking for available dates. There were other good features too including showing fare rules when selecting flights, and being able to easily find the fare class on most tickets. You also was able to filter by up to three airlines to narrow your results. It had it's problems, but overall it worked well for me.

Scroll forward to today. New website, new booking engine.

Flexible date search seems to have gone. You can now only filter by one Airline. Only particular date searching is available. The results don't show conditions until you select flights and get to the end of the booking. The conditions are a mess for most fares.

Obviously there are reasons for the upgrade, but it's always great when a website goes backwards in upgrading their interface and website.

.. off to find a new booking website (and on that note, was *very* suprised to find Webjet quoted me a ~$60 discount off the Qantas website and ~$40 off the Zuji website last week when pricing out an international fare. Same fare, different websites.)

 

[rwatts]

Received an email today from Zuji titled Important changes to ZUJI

Dear Richard,

ZUJI Australia has been working hard behind the scenes to improve our site, and services to our members.
Our newly improved site allows you greater convenience in finding travel deals and more flexibility in creating a great holiday experience. To learn more about our new features log on to www.zuji.com.au ...

Yet another case of "enhancement".



Richard.

 

[clifford]

Yes, I have to say it's a disgrace (and I've sent them an email to say so).

You need to be aware that it's a Singapore subsidiary of Travelocity, and they see the Australian market as ripe for rip-off.

Did you also notice that they have new implemented a 1% surcharge for credit card bookings?

They are off my chistmas card list too! Just book with someone less rapacious..

 

[Mal]

Did you also notice that they have new implemented a 1% surcharge for credit card bookings?

They've had that for a while on *some* international fares. (marked as a booking fee), but on a lot of International fares, they had a booking fee of -$xx which more than covered the fee and gave a discount off the price.

I havn't emailed them yet, but am thinking about it.

 

[dajop]

Yeh the new zuji is a load of the proverbial smelly stuff. It puts it behind travel.com.au and webjet.com.au. The loss of functionality is quite astonishing. Perhaps they want to get rid of the unproductive site visitors who just used the site to find cheap fares and then proceed to book them elsewhere (such as one particular chain who promises to beat online prices).

 

[rwatts]

(such as one particular chain who promises to beat online prices).

In our continued effort to help you save while satisfying all of your travel needs, we're pleased to announce the Expedia Price Promise!

If you find a better price on an available Expedia Special Rate (ESR) Hotel or international flight originating from Australia, we will beat that price by $1 AND give you a $50 coupon for use on your next booking!

perhaps ?

Richard

 

[Mal]

I'm presuming Fright Centre, who I believe tack on a booking fee/credit card surcharge of their own (and offer NO online booking tool for International flights)

The Expedia price promise is a total joke. Yes, I could use it tomorrow if I wanted, but $1 less, and a bonus voucher I can't use isn't any benefit to me at all.

BTW, Expedia came absolute last in my quest for the cheapest fare when I searched. They didn't even offer close to the fare I found (were about $200 off the mark). Don't know what GDS they use, but it didn't help them win a sale...

 

[dajop]

I was actually referring to a particular australian owned/listed chain of travel agents, which a captain features prominently in the advertisting material.
They have a beat any fare price guarantee (used to be $20 on international bookings).

[/climb onto soapbox] I have had some healthy disagreements with my partner on this one, as I am opposed to this, simply because if you don't provide a quote to them they overprice by about 10-20%, and I see no need to support a business that does this.

Also when price matching on that chain, we've had to deal with the following issues:
i) booking you into a different fare category than the original quote (we always double check that, particularly on SQ and carriers where some fares don't have points
ii) charging extra for taxes (always have a tax inclusive quote)
iii) charging CC surcharge where the airline (again eg SQ) does not.
[/climb off soapbox]

 

[StevePER]

The old Zuji interface is still available on zuji.com.sg, but probably not for long though.

 

[JohnK]

It is a shame to see the end result when a business analyst has got the specification totally wrong. Who approved the enhancements?

I noticed the changes the other day and I am not really comfortable using the new interface so I don't think Zuji will be getting any business from me. I didn't like the fact that they did not accept Amex anyway and a credit card surcharge is not good business practice.

Was it the ACCC that allowed credit card surcharges in Australia? Silly ruling....

 

[oz_mark]

Was it the ACCC that allowed credit card surcharges in Australia? Silly ruling....

RBA, with the nebulous claim that cash prices would drop.

 

[serfty]

It is a shame to see the end result when a business analyst has got the specification totally wrong. Who approved the enhancements? ...

I think this is deliberate ... it go towards the Qantas mushroom principle (you know, keep in dark and feed on manure ).

 

[gibspmuh]

Add me to those that are not at all impressed with the changes to the Zuji booking engine. Made a booking with stopover using Expedia.com.au instead today and was pleasantly surprised (it actually worked out the fare rules correctly, with the price dropping a couple of hundred dollars from the initial screen - something I couldn't get other booking engines to do). With no credit card surcharge and acceptance of AMEX, I know where my bookings are likely to be made now.

(I'll still miss the old features of Zuji though, not holding my breath for them to come back).

 

[oz_mark]

At a quick look it seems to me that they may have moved onto the travelocity platform. Quite why they did not implement all of the travelocity features is a bit off, but does give some hope that they will return.

 

[wandering_fred]

I made an enquiry with zuji about ten days ago which they replied to promptly. It will be interesting to read their reply about my going elsewhere because of the lack of flexible booking details.......

I wonder while I wander

Fred

 

[dajop]

My response after submitting a complaint via website (obviously did not reach the right target!)

Thank you for your email.
I am sorry to hear that you have experienced problems trying to place an order online with ZUJI.com.au.

This area of the site is currently functioning correctly, so I would ask you to try placing your order again online.

If the problem persists please feel free to contact our Sales and Customer Care Team. We would be happy to assist you.

I apologise for any inconvenience.
Our operating hours are Monday to Friday 0800 to 2000, Saturday and Sunday 0900 to 1700. We would be happy to serve you.

 

[StevePER]

I also submitted a comment via the website and just got a response back...

We regret that Flexible Date searches are no longer available after our system upgrade. You may still make searches based on your preferred dates and our system will present the options starting from the cheapest fares/rates. Moreover, in our homepage, you will see the latest deals and promotions available. We hope that these offers inspire you in planning your trip!

 

[oz_mark]

I also submitted a comment via the website and just got a response back...

So was it an upgrade or a downgrade that they performed?

 

[StevePER]

So was it an upgrade or a downgrade that they performed?

They added lots of amazing new features so they now do exactly the same as everyone else, meanwhile they have taken away one of the key features that differentiated them from the competition.

We have upgraded our system on 13th March 2008. The upgrade improves on the range of products and services that we offer. For example, you may now book holidays (i.e., combine flights and hotels of your own choice). A combination of mixed carriers for your domestic return itineraries is also possible now.

 

[auriga]

Oh yuck! Don't like the new set up!