Business History Books » Business Plans » Avoid 1-800-LOW-AIR-FARE
Avoid 1-800-LOW-AIR-FARE
Question:
>In this day and age, one wonders why e-tickets weren’t offered, except if >"shipping charges" is in effect a profit center…
I was thinking the same thing. Steve
Response:
shaped bits into the following words: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Does seem strange. >FedEx’ing to you isn’t that shocking, the sooner it’s in your hand and >you’ve accepted it, the sooner they can show you accepted delivery and limit >your odds of trying to do a charge-back. >The only reason I can think of for making you overnight it back to them is >they’ll need the ticket in-hand to reissue, and as they can only hold your >’reissue seat’ for one day. If you sent it via standard UPS, and it arrived >three days later, the price they quoted you for the exchange may be >completely different than what it costs in 3 days- then you’d REALLY be >bitter. Not really a bad policy in that case. >The $75 change fee it a flat rip-off. Shuttle by United has no change fees >(at least West Coast) as they compete with Southwest and match their rather >liberal restrictions (one more reason to love WN). The $75 is, in essence, >a surcharge that is grossly excessive. Odd’s aren’t great, but try this: >Get your ticket back first. Then call, ask for a supervisor and ask them for >the fare basis the ticket was issued at (should be something like ‘V14NBR’ >or similar) and tell them you intend to check for reissue fees on that fare. >Call UA and ask the rules for that fare basis (they’ll say no exchange >fees). Inform the consolidator you intend to dispute the charge unless the >reverse it. If they don’t reverse it, call your credit card company and >explain – see what they say. Exception is if they have your signature on a >document that defines their terms and restrictions – then you’re out of >luck. Have no idea if it will work, but they might call your bluff and >reverse it – or the credit card company may agree. Can’t hurt to try, and >they certainly deserve a hassle for ripping you off. >Would advise in the future check with a local TA for a fare, then call a >consolidator. If the consolidator is offering the same fare, it’s probably >just a retail fare and you can avoid all this hassle. (If you want to check >for your ticket, call your credit card company. If the billing for the >ticket was authorized by United, it’s retail. If it’s from the company, it’s >almost certainly a contract fare). If it turn out the price is significantly >lower than a TA can get you, it’s probably a consolidator fare and may or >may not be worth the shipping charges, etc.
Thanks for all the tips. Sorry if I wasn’t clear, but I finally did convince one of them to check, and admit that there was not a $75 charge. They did tell me that they couldn’t guarantee the price until they got the tickets back. My complaint is that if I had used a local agency, I could have picked the tickets up, and brought them back, saving $30. The first trip was for Thanksgiving, the new one is for Christmas, so there’s really no big rush to get the tickets. They could have mailed a confirmation letter, and sent the tickets by ground for all I cared. Electronic tickets would have been preferred, so I wouldn’t have had to sign for them. But my main complaint is that they were very unhelpful with the exchange generally, and were actually fairly rude on the phone (at least 2 out of 3 of them were). Marty Fried : Talk is cheap C/C++ Programmer : because supply Berkeley, California : exceeds demand. Fight Spam * Join CAUCE * http://www.cauce.org/
Response:
caused to appear as if it was written: >Does seem strange. >FedEx’ing to you isn’t that shocking, the sooner it’s in your hand and >you’ve accepted it, the sooner they can show you accepted delivery and limit >your odds of trying to do a charge-back.
In this day and age, one wonders why e-tickets weren’t offered, except if "shipping charges" is in effect a profit center… Malc.
Response:
>Unless you have reason to believe they’re in cahoots with FedEx and >are getting a kickback, I really don’t see what your complaint is. >Btw, many people and businesses use FedEx or something similar just >to make sure the item arrives, not so that it will arrive very >quickly. (And I believe $9.50 is not the overnight price.) But I do >think they should absorb the cost if they’re insisting on FedEx (vs >other couriers) — did you have no choice?
Well, the flight was for Thanksgiving holidays, so I really didn’t need to pay $10 for FedEx. It wasn’t overnight, it was 2nd day. I had no choice at all, btw. I didn’t want FedEx, because nobody is at home during the day to sign for it. Electronic tickets would have been my preference. My real complaint was the problems I had changing my itinerary. The first guy was totally unfriendly and uncooperative. He wouldn’t tell me anything like what days were cheaper, just "You have to tell me exactly what days you want to travel on". The second guy disconnected me. The third person insisted there was a $75/ticket fee, and that the airline was mistaken when they told me there wasn’t. Each time, I have to wait on hold for a fairly long time, so calling back was getting to be a drag. I finally got someone that was OK, although it took a while. I didn’t have to pay the $75, although I had to explain why and he had to go away for a while to check, but at least he didn’t catagorically deny that it was true. >Also, how much lower was the fare than it would have been from the >airline? If not for your change in plans, would you have come out >ahead? >(Personally, I prefer to deal direct with the airlines. But I realize >I could save some money if I dealt with consolidators.)
I didn’t save any money. It was the regular price. They’re simply a travel agency; I could have gotten the same deal at any other agency, maybe better, since this 1-800 place only handles certain airlines. Marty Fried Left Coast, USA Make me one with everything. -Zen monk to the hotdog vendor Fight Spam! http://www.cauce.org/
Response:
Unless you have reason to believe they’re in cahoots with FedEx and are getting a kickback, I really don’t see what your complaint is. Btw, many people and businesses use FedEx or something similar just to make sure the item arrives, not so that it will arrive very quickly. (And I believe $9.50 is not the overnight price.) But I do think they should absorb the cost if they’re insisting on FedEx (vs other couriers) — did you have no choice? Also, how much lower was the fare than it would have been from the airline? If not for your change in plans, would you have come out ahead? (Personally, I prefer to deal direct with the airlines. But I realize I could save some money if I dealt with consolidators.) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >At the recommendation of a friend, I recently made the mistake of using a >telephone-based travel agency called 1-800-LOW-AIR-FARE. At first, I thought >they were OK, although I had to pay $9.50 to have the tickets shipped Federal >Express (even though there was no rush). I think most travel agents would send >the tickets at their own expense. >But then, I needed to change my itinerary. I wasted many calls, either getting >disconnected, getting a nasty unhelpful agent, getting misinformation, … >I was told flat out by one agent that there was a $75 fee per ticket charged by >the airline. I told her I had talked to the airline, and was positively >assured there was no fee. She said they were wrong. Well, I called the >airline back, and was again told there was no fee for this particular flight >(United Shuttle). So I had to call back again, and finally got someone >reasonable enough to check and find out that indeed there was no fee. >But now I have to send the tickets back (FedEx) before they will issue the new >ticket, no return authorization number or anything. Then I have to pay again >for them to FedEx the new tickets to me. Doesn’t matter that I don’t need the >tickets until Christmas, still have to pay almost $10. >So, that’s an extra $30 I need to pay over a local agent, plus all the time >waiting on hold every time I had to call them back. What a ripoff. Of course, >they make out great. If you don’t tell them exactly when you want to travel, >they don’t take time to help you find a good price, they say they need to know >your exact days, so it’s easy money for them. Never again. >Marty Fried : Talk is cheap >C/C++ Programmer : because supply >Berkeley, California : exceeds demand. >Fight Spam * Join CAUCE * http://www.cauce.org/
Response:
At the recommendation of a friend, I recently made the mistake of using a telephone-based travel agency called 1-800-LOW-AIR-FARE. At first, I thought they were OK, although I had to pay $9.50 to have the tickets shipped Federal Express (even though there was no rush). I think most travel agents would send the tickets at their own expense. But then, I needed to change my itinerary. I wasted many calls, either getting disconnected, getting a nasty unhelpful agent, getting misinformation, … I was told flat out by one agent that there was a $75 fee per ticket charged by the airline. I told her I had talked to the airline, and was positively assured there was no fee. She said they were wrong. Well, I called the airline back, and was again told there was no fee for this particular flight (United Shuttle). So I had to call back again, and finally got someone reasonable enough to check and find out that indeed there was no fee. But now I have to send the tickets back (FedEx) before they will issue the new ticket, no return authorization number or anything. Then I have to pay again for them to FedEx the new tickets to me. Doesn’t matter that I don’t need the tickets until Christmas, still have to pay almost $10. So, that’s an extra $30 I need to pay over a local agent, plus all the time waiting on hold every time I had to call them back. What a ripoff. Of course, they make out great. If you don’t tell them exactly when you want to travel, they don’t take time to help you find a good price, they say they need to know your exact days, so it’s easy money for them. Never again. Marty Fried : Talk is cheap C/C++ Programmer : because supply Berkeley, California : exceeds demand. Fight Spam * Join CAUCE * http://www.cauce.org/
Response:
Does seem strange. FedEx’ing to you isn’t that shocking, the sooner it’s in your hand and you’ve accepted it, the sooner they can show you accepted delivery and limit your odds of trying to do a charge-back. The only reason I can think of for making you overnight it back to them is they’ll need the ticket in-hand to reissue, and as they can only hold your ‘reissue seat’ for one day. If you sent it via standard UPS, and it arrived three days later, the price they quoted you for the exchange may be completely different than what it costs in 3 days- then you’d REALLY be bitter. Not really a bad policy in that case. The $75 change fee it a flat rip-off. Shuttle by United has no change fees (at least West Coast) as they compete with Southwest and match their rather liberal restrictions (one more reason to love WN). The $75 is, in essence, a surcharge that is grossly excessive. Odd’s aren’t great, but try this: Get your ticket back first. Then call, ask for a supervisor and ask them for the fare basis the ticket was issued at (should be something like ‘V14NBR’ or similar) and tell them you intend to check for reissue fees on that fare. Call UA and ask the rules for that fare basis (they’ll say no exchange fees). Inform the consolidator you intend to dispute the charge unless the reverse it. If they don’t reverse it, call your credit card company and explain – see what they say. Exception is if they have your signature on a document that defines their terms and restrictions – then you’re out of luck. Have no idea if it will work, but they might call your bluff and reverse it – or the credit card company may agree. Can’t hurt to try, and they certainly deserve a hassle for ripping you off. Would advise in the future check with a local TA for a fare, then call a consolidator. If the consolidator is offering the same fare, it’s probably just a retail fare and you can avoid all this hassle. (If you want to check for your ticket, call your credit card company. If the billing for the ticket was authorized by United, it’s retail. If it’s from the company, it’s almost certainly a contract fare). If it turn out the price is significantly lower than a TA can get you, it’s probably a consolidator fare and may or may not be worth the shipping charges, etc. Steve