Flight Centre Price Beat Experience

KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 09:28

Hey Everyone,

So I went in to Flight Centre yesterday arvo after finding the flights I wanted to book on Skiddoo for $1371 which I have a print out on the final page for payment as per their T&Cs.

The consultant advised that they would have to check them selves on Skiddoo and it appeared to be $1391, she then asked me what payment method I was going to use via Skiddoo so I advised her Mastercard. She calculated their surcharge rate at 1.9% according to Skiddoo which I also agreed upon as it was in their T&Cs.

But when the final payment sheet came out it showed the payment method with them as cash for the rate that had been increased 1.9%

So essentially I had to pay another 1% on top of the 1.9% surcharge from Skiddoo, does this seem right?

The consultant also seemed to be quite sick of people doing price beats and was unable to issue this ticket immediately as there was something on the back end that needed to be done apparently.

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Comments

  • dasher86 on 27/07/2017 - 09:54

    I've never had to pay surcharges in relation to price beats.
    However it is correct for her to add the skiddo surcharges if they weren't already included in the final payment.

    • KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 09:56
      +1

      Yeh I figured fine add the surcharge from Skiddo but then they added another mastercard surcharge which seems odd to me..

      • [Deactivated] on 27/07/2017 - 10:17

        I did this recently, but it was over the phone (not in store). They sent me a link to make the payment online.

        The text on the website says there's a 1% surcharge for mastercard, but it isn't applied when you select master card as the payment option. There's only a surcharge for visa/amex.

        Not sure how it works in store though.

        • KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 10:22

          Yeh I probably should have done it over the phone as I wasted almost an hour in store. Did they get the price from the website directly or did you send them screenshots of the price beat?

        • [Deactivated] on 27/07/2017 - 10:46

          @ArabMoneeey:

          Website - no screenshot needed.

  • bobbified on 27/07/2017 - 10:11
    +5

    Why not book it where you found it cheaper?

    • KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 10:16
      +3

      I was not familiar with Skiddoo and did not want to take the risk. They have some bad reviews as well. Only website I would have booked it from was the airline itself and the price on their website was $1670

    • [Deactivated] on 27/07/2017 - 10:20

      Also most tickets need the travel agent to make changes before departure. It can be impossible to get hold of the smaller online agencies.

      Further, the travel agent can charge what they like for changes before departure. You can normally negotiate these charges with flight center in a price match situation, so it's less than the online agent.

    • tranter on 27/07/2017 - 10:20

      If price is similar it's much better to book with Flight Centre for after sales support. They also have a 24 hour support number you can call while travelling.

  • tranter on 27/07/2017 - 10:29

    Flight Centre price matching can be a bit hit and miss. The outcome can depend on which branch or consultant you talk to.

    I've price matched Skiddoo with Flight Centre 3 times without any surcharges applied. But a friend recently did the same with a different branch and consultant and they added in a surcharge.

    You could have paid by direct deposit to avoid any credit card fees.

    Yeah, and doing it over the phone or by email is the easiest way.

    • KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 10:31

      Yeh but I figured it was worth paying the extra for the travel insurance on my mastercard.

      • purplelady on 27/07/2017 - 10:34

        I was thinking to do this on my next travel too. Can you tell me which branch did you do this at? Was it in NSW?

        So, Flight Centre charge 1% extra for credit card payments or just Mastercard?

        Thanks!

        • KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 10:38

          It was a branch in Perth WA, they charge a surcharge which varies for all cards including debit or credit (mastercard,visa or amex).

        • purplelady on 27/07/2017 - 12:02

          @ArabMoneeey:
          I see. Thanks for the info!

  • geek001 on 27/07/2017 - 10:52

    I gave up on flight centre price beat policy a few years back. The frustration is that by the time I get down to the store and get a consultant's attention, the price might have gone up online already. All that hassle to save $1?

    With online flight booking websites, they usually also issue you with the airline reference number when your booking is confirmed. I always check the reference number on the airline website right after I get it to make sure a booking was actually made with the airline.

    • tranter on 27/07/2017 - 15:13

      Call them instead of going to the store. Tell them the price, they will check it online and should lock in the price pretty quickly even if they haven't had a chance to email you the quote yet.

      In my experience as long as they have locked in the price they can finalise the quote and send you the invoice as late as the next day.

  • iseenya on 27/07/2017 - 10:55

    At best, Flight Centre's "price beat" offer is a $1 saving only! It isn't worth the hassle of getting, as they have to be able to access the same online offer at the time that you go into their shop, before they consider it valid. I had an Air NZ price on Sunday which wasn't available on Monday when Flight Centre tried to verify it, so even the $1 'saving' wasn't available!

    • [Deactivated] on 27/07/2017 - 11:46
      +1

      The reasons for price matching aren't the $1 saving:

      • Stack with discounted gift cards from woolworth (they go on sale frequently enough) or buy with wishcards from cashrewards.
      • Negotiate better cancellation/change terms than online travel agents
      • Some websites have pretty bad reviews (so does flight centre for that matter, but it's a bigger company that wont disappear like a website).

      You're better off phoning up for a price match, than going into a store. If you're outside of business hours and you think the price is going to go up in a few hours, then yes, book immediately online.

      • Peck on 30/07/2017 - 11:19

        "buy with wishcards from cashrewards" So does that mean "buying Flight Centre gift cards with wishcards"? And isnt there an activation fee for Flight Centre gift cards that almost entirely cancels out the benefit?

        • [Deactivated] on 30/07/2017 - 16:07

          So does that mean "buying Flight Centre gift cards with wishcards"? And isnt there an activation fee for Flight Centre gift cards that almost entirely cancels out the benefit?

          Yes - that's what I mean, yes there's a fee. Use the search function to see what I mean by 'flight center gift cards on sale'

          I wouldn't waste my time on flight centre gift cards, to save a measly 5%, because you loose the credit card travel insurance.

  • myusername on 27/07/2017 - 12:30
    +1

    why not book it yourself instead of going through a travel agent?

    a few years ago when i went to hong kong the first time and wanted to travel up to guangzhou (china) for a few days i asked flight centre how to get from Hong Kong to China.
    Flight Centre advised the ONLY way to get there was by plane. The lady seemed hesitant at first but then went on to confirm yea plane was the only method of travel available between the 2 destinations.
    I did a quick google search whilst at the desk and asked about the train from HK to China, the lady said 'no you don't want that you need to take a plane"

    FLight Centre wanted a few hundred dollars to book my flight, i laughed when i figured out the train trip was around $20-30AU.

    Pretty sure staff at flight centres get paid sweet f all and get most of their earnings via commissions.

    lesson learnt: learn to book your own flights and do thorough research.

  • Love a bargain on 27/07/2017 - 12:39

    Have done FC price beat twice.

    Best to just call them when you've found your ideal flights @ the price that you want. This way, minimise the time lag & the chance that the price will increase before you get to speak to one of their consultants in person.

    The price beat is on an all inclusive basis (ie inclusive of any credit card surcharge & booking fees), so that, all in all, you should be paying less, not more, when booking with them.

    • KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 12:56

      Yeh lesson learnt will definitely call next time, I dont think its worse the hassle chasing them around now but my point I tried to make to them was how does a price beat end up costing more and being charged two credit card surcharges.. does not make sense.

      • Love a bargain on 27/07/2017 - 13:33
        +1

        No harm in getting a copy of the T&Cs of the price beat from their website and writing a polite email to the store (& maybe also cc the head office) asking them to refund the difference. The worst that could happen is they say no.

        Alternatively, you can also ask that they refund the whole amount since they couldn't beat the competitor's price so you should be able to "fly free".

        • KingJuf on 27/07/2017 - 13:36

          Thanks, will consider doing that.

          I think they have it in their T&Cs now that they no longer have the "Fly Free" policy.

  • hhbb555 on 27/07/2017 - 18:00

    I tried to do a price match via escape travel (which is the same group as FC), and they're happy to do it, however:
    -you'll need to pay for CC charge
    -their price match won't include cashback that you could get from cashrewards and the likes

    The group has 24/7 contact centre in case you have an issue.

  • GaryG on 27/07/2017 - 19:43

    My experience was great. Didn't need to go in just emailed screen shots of the cheaper price, no credit card surcharges. I did make the mistake of pointing out the cashrewards with Skidoo which not surprisingly they didn't include in any price match.

  • pgcs on 28/07/2017 - 08:41

    The reps are never happy at having to match/better prices - it comes out of their commission. This comes directly from FC staff.

    • kiitos on 28/07/2017 - 10:03

      Well, it's a booking and commission they may not have got at all, if not for the PB policy. So they shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

      • Love a bargain on 28/07/2017 - 11:41

        Also that when you walk/ call in for a price match, you've already done all your research, know which flights you want. There is hardly anything for them to do except for putting the booking through their system, & it's a guaranteed sales for 10, 15 minutes of effort.

      • pgcs on 29/07/2017 - 08:32

        It comes from the individual rep's commission, not company profit.

        • Love a bargain on 29/07/2017 - 08:45

          they get less commission for a sale that they wouldn't otherwise have gotten. still a net gain for them

        • TravelBoy1 on 06/01/2018 - 18:51

          @Love a bargain:

          No they don’t always get commission from pricebeats at times they even go backwards in commission from booking a price beat. If you want an internet price. Then book on the internet. Don’t make your consultant work for free.. or worse have to pay for your booking.

        • Love a bargain on 06/01/2018 - 19:17
          +1

          @TravelBoy1:

          It's OzB here. If price beat is offered by the company, why should a consumer not take advantage of it when looking for the best deal?

          Does that mean people should not negotiate when buying a car because they'd reduce the sales commission?

          At the end of the day, if someone is not happy with the way their remuneration is structured/ calculated, they're free to find another job (eg move to another travel agent that doesn't offer price beat).

          In any event, as more airlines now offer their own price match guarantee, FC price beat is becoming increasingly useless so they're gonna lose whatever commission they do get from these sales.

  • golfer dad on 28/07/2017 - 08:49

    I used their Price beat twice - both times was for hotel bookings, not flights. When they Price Match, the credit card surcharge is waived.

  • farknos on 28/07/2017 - 09:06

    flight centre are sketchy at best, very hit and miss

  • rjstev on 28/07/2017 - 19:30
    +2

    I don't know why anybody would use FC, the fact that they to beat other quotes should awaken you to the fact they are overcharging. And yes the staff are on commission for getting more out of you. My experience a few years ago was when taking my first overseas trip, I was recommended to them and was dealing with someone I used work with. They quoted $4600 for airfares and hotel, online I was able to get this down to $3100, so I went back to see what they would. Well theyargued for about half an hour and finally offered to beat it by $1! I simply walked out, why would I give them my business when they simply tried to rip me off.

    • Love a bargain on 28/07/2017 - 19:55

      I only use them when I don't trust the travel agent/ website that offers the cheapest price I can find

    • IJustKnowStuff on 10/01/2018 - 14:36

      Well you are paying for a service. If you don't want their service, don't use them.

      • rjstev on 11/01/2018 - 13:47

        Do you think their "service" is worth a 50% surcharge? They're just dishonest to overcharge naive people by so much.

  • Bruiserh89 on 31/07/2017 - 07:47
    +1

    I just booked with flight centre. They price beat the lowest I could find (family of 4 UK-London return $4230), flight network and didn't seem to bat an eyelid about it being Canadian. I did it over the phone as suggested by a few here. I also didn't cop a credit card surcharge. Flight network don't charge one for Visa and flight centre told me they don't put a credit card surcharge on price beat.

    So now I'm not risking an internet only third party provider, get seat allocation for free (most internet sources charge for this) and have someone I can contact easily. Well worth it!

  • Foxtail on 07/01/2018 - 08:42

    Offered to beat mine by a a dollar if I paid that day for flight 6 months away, really…

    Not use a TA in decades I find all the info I need here.

    https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/community/

    • Love a bargain on 07/01/2018 - 17:49

      That's apparently part of the T&Cs for price beat

  • IJustKnowStuff on 10/01/2018 - 17:30

    I find it funny that people complain about the price beat for Flight Centre or any TA. They're there to provide a service for people who can't/don't want to search and book for stuff themselves.

    If you're able to do all the research and comparisons yourself, you are literally doing the same thing they are and you don't need them. If you do want to go through them, then expect to pay a $$$ amount for using their services(which equals someone's time and money which needs to be recouped)

    I do find it comical that the OP said "I was not familiar with Skiddoo and did not want to take the risk." then complained about Flight Centre's price match with a potentially dodgy company giving them a price to compare with.

    Full disclosure. I'm not a Travel Agent. I do all my own travel bookings because, for me, TA's can't do anything I can't. I do have a friend who is a travel agent though, who does share their stories with me, so I can also see their side of things.

  • KingJuf on 11/01/2018 - 11:14
    +1

    Just an update on this, the agent did admit to overcharging and refunded the portion that was charge, tickets were issued after 3months and all went well on the trip.

    I didn't have an issue with them overall and a good result, however it would have been nice for them to have admitted overcharging rather than run me a round in circles for months.

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