Ahoy, Just wondering if travel bookers such as: BravoFly, Bestjet and eDream etc.

8 replies

Bulldog1

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

Member since 17 Sep 2015

Total posts 7

Ahoy, Just wondering if travel bookers such as: BravoFly, Bestjet and eDream etc.? I was looking around on these websites for cheap deals. Just wondering if some are scams?

aviation

Member since 18 Mar 2014

Total posts 39

I don't think they are 'scams', but the reviews of those sites for customer support are pretty terrible.

Personally I wouldn't go near them!

riley

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards

Member since 19 Mar 2014

Total posts 358

I got stitched on one recently.

I purchased a fight from TXL - LHR. It processed and immediately said "seats unavailable." So I booked an alternative flight SXF - LGW through the airline directly. Then a few hours later I recieved an email confirmation for the original flight. I couldn't contact anyone via phone and sent a number of emails. I ended up lodging a claim with Visa and was refunded this week after they investigated. 

While I gave my details and consented to the purchase, I think it was a dubious process. Perhaps designed to catch people out booking last minute flights. I have always been dubious about 

mhotchin

Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards - Platinum

Member since 18 Jun 2015

Total posts 33

If you are cautious about the website you can always go to Flight Centre and get them to price match the flights.

http://www.flightcentre.com.au/lowest-airfare-guarantee 

Doubleplatinum Banned

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum

Member since 07 Feb 2013

Total posts 431

Pity the guarantee doesnt apply to sites like this and never has

Doubleplatinum Banned

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer Platinum

Member since 07 Feb 2013

Total posts 431

Not scams but don't touch them with a ten foot pole if you ain't  willing to get burnt. Riley's experience above is typical of these sites. Well worth the extra $20-$30 to book direct with the airline.

airADL

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 25 Mar 2014

Total posts 208

Will 

I have used Edreams I got return flights ADL to SIN on Qantas for $1289 for 4 ppl  in 2012.

QF advertised on their website  for $799 return per person

No issues at all. I was expecting to rock up to the desk and get turned away. So once I got the email from EDreams I added our QF FF numbers in and triple checked everything with Qantas and all was fine.

I know from a friend that yes there is no customer help over the phone.

SO if you want cheap and no changes allowed at all it is ok.

 

 

sdtravel

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

Member since 18 Jun 2015

Total posts 81

I used bestjets price to get flight centre to match it for a return ticket. 

But i asked them for a multi city trip quote and it came up more expensive than booking it via the airline 

wanderlust

Virgin Australia Platinum

Member since 09 Sep 2014

Total posts 60

I highly recommend these sites but be warned! Sometimes, the lower prices can be more troublesome in the end than paying more by going directly through the airline itself. My reasoning is based on multiple experiences.

My experiences have been that these websites offer cheaper flights than what you can find directly on the airline website, in my cases, Virgin Australia. Skyscanner.com tends to list these sites when searching for quotes. I always go with these companies. I avoid the booking fee that Virgin charges and my flights are cheaper. HOWEVER, I do stress it is very difficult to amend bookings as customer service on most of these sites is lackluster and frustrating to say the least. ALSO, I strongly recommend confirming the fare basis for a particular flight so that you know how many SCs and points you will be accruing, if any! The quotes tend to only display the total cost and cabins for the flights but fail to include the fare basis. I always contact the company to find out and I have found that the companies are quick to help make bookings, but 'disappear' when trying to make changes or cancellations. One flight I was looking at was on Virgin Australia from LAX to BNE in Economy and the price was over 400 dollars cheaper the lowest price offered on the Virgin website. I called to find out the fare and it was such a discounted fare that it was excluded from receiving any points or status credits. I think that's why you'll notice on the booking pages on eDreams for example, it states that frequent flyer points accrual may not be eligible.

At the end of the day though if the price is right and you won't be making changes AND you confirm the fare basis, then you should take advantage of the lower prices offered on these sites found via Skyscanner.

Hi Guest, join in the discussion on Ahoy, Just wondering if travel bookers such as: BravoFly, Bestjet and eDream etc.

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