Shady online flight booking?
May 12, 2010 7:45 PM
I booked a flight and a car rental through CheapOAir.com. I have since read reviews for that site- and it seems they are quite shady. What can I do to make sure things go without a hitch?
Here are a handfull of bad reviews:
http://cheapoair.pissedconsumer.com/
I booked a flight from St. Louis to Portland, ME, and back. It is United flying out, connecting through O'Hare. Then, AirTran on the way back, connecting through Atlanta. The price was cheap, but not just ridiculously so (about $700 total)
I also booked a car rental through them, with Budget. It was about $500 for 8 days)
Does anyone have experience dealing with troublesome sites like this? Obviously the tickets are nonrefundable, but is there anything I can do to confirm that they're valid, and make sure everything goes off without a hitch?
I did receive confirmation with the accurate flight details, a booking number, a reservation ID, and ticket numbers.
Should I call the airlines to confirm this info, or will they be able to help me?
Thanks!
Here are a handfull of bad reviews:
http://cheapoair.pissedconsumer.com/
I booked a flight from St. Louis to Portland, ME, and back. It is United flying out, connecting through O'Hare. Then, AirTran on the way back, connecting through Atlanta. The price was cheap, but not just ridiculously so (about $700 total)
I also booked a car rental through them, with Budget. It was about $500 for 8 days)
Does anyone have experience dealing with troublesome sites like this? Obviously the tickets are nonrefundable, but is there anything I can do to confirm that they're valid, and make sure everything goes off without a hitch?
I did receive confirmation with the accurate flight details, a booking number, a reservation ID, and ticket numbers.
Should I call the airlines to confirm this info, or will they be able to help me?
Thanks!
Whew, thanks for the reassurance! Reading all the horror stories was starting to scare me- but admittedly, most of them have to do with canceling and changing things.
posted by kraigory at 8:02 PM on May 12, 2010
posted by kraigory at 8:02 PM on May 12, 2010
Yes, you should call United / AirTran / Budget and confirm. Most likely you'll just be reassured and confident that everything will be fine. On the off chance that something is amiss, you'll know in time to do something about it.
posted by Perplexity at 8:37 PM on May 12, 2010
posted by Perplexity at 8:37 PM on May 12, 2010
Ha. I'm in the middle of a dispute with CheapOAir this very moment. One of the airlines for an upcoming trip canceled one leg of the trip, and I got a call from Cheapo stating that they wanted us to leave Kathmandu 24 hours earlier (not possible without making major changes to our travel plans) and have a 24-hour layover in Mumbai with no compensation for hotel, transit visa, or anything else.
Not acceptable.
We've spent hours on the phone the past couple of days. Upshot is that I may or may not get a refund for that portion of my flight, but I'm at least booked on something that will get me home without making me give up the last day of my trip.
I wouldn't book through CheapOAir again. Too many customer service reps will say good things, and then never call you back to confirm what they've said. And the inconsistency among all the CSRs we've talked to is astounding. I don't fully trust the company.
My advice: confirm your flights with United and AirTran directly, and confirm with Budget directly. You'll probably be fine, but I did want to share my experience.
posted by bassjump at 10:29 PM on May 12, 2010
Not acceptable.
We've spent hours on the phone the past couple of days. Upshot is that I may or may not get a refund for that portion of my flight, but I'm at least booked on something that will get me home without making me give up the last day of my trip.
I wouldn't book through CheapOAir again. Too many customer service reps will say good things, and then never call you back to confirm what they've said. And the inconsistency among all the CSRs we've talked to is astounding. I don't fully trust the company.
My advice: confirm your flights with United and AirTran directly, and confirm with Budget directly. You'll probably be fine, but I did want to share my experience.
posted by bassjump at 10:29 PM on May 12, 2010
I am right now in the midst of an international journey with CheapoAir. Everything went well on their end, though our United flights out of Chicago were canceled last night and we ended up staying over in Minneapolis and switching to Continental. I think as long as you're not the one responsible for changing flights, and you're generally flexible, all should be well.
The problems we had had nothing to do with CheapoAir, and everything to do with United and the weather. We were not given full hotel vouchers, but we did get a coupon. (Could have spent the night in the airport, but I wasn't feeling that adventurous.) After the booking, the responsibility for your trip lies with the airlines.
I was worried about them as well, but found that if I did research on all the online brokers, you will find people who complain--sometimes legitimately and sometimes not. It seemed to me that many people going discount don't realize that you can't change flight plans without paying for it.
posted by RedEmma at 3:40 AM on May 13, 2010
The problems we had had nothing to do with CheapoAir, and everything to do with United and the weather. We were not given full hotel vouchers, but we did get a coupon. (Could have spent the night in the airport, but I wasn't feeling that adventurous.) After the booking, the responsibility for your trip lies with the airlines.
I was worried about them as well, but found that if I did research on all the online brokers, you will find people who complain--sometimes legitimately and sometimes not. It seemed to me that many people going discount don't realize that you can't change flight plans without paying for it.
posted by RedEmma at 3:40 AM on May 13, 2010
I've booked with them before and never had a problem. I think that if you read reviews of ANY online booking company you will find complaints. Any company at all, really.
posted by Windigo at 4:24 AM on May 13, 2010
posted by Windigo at 4:24 AM on May 13, 2010
you will rest easy if you spend the ten minutes calling the airlines/auto rental companies and confirm the reservation with them.
posted by HuronBob at 5:49 AM on May 13, 2010
posted by HuronBob at 5:49 AM on May 13, 2010
Most major airlines have websites that let you confirm your tickets (and check in, pay for baggage, assign seats, etc). You have the ticket number, so you should be able to do it online without even a phone call.
posted by CathyG at 6:38 AM on May 13, 2010
posted by CathyG at 6:38 AM on May 13, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
We've booked through CheapOAir and the only problems ever happened when we tried to change our plans after they were booked. Just stay happy with the tickets you have and don't worry about it anymore.
posted by samthemander at 7:47 PM on May 12, 2010