Wasn't Very Smart of Me to Use Smart Fares

Lgs1368 on 08/03/2023 - 02:00
Last edited 08/03/2023 - 10:06 by 1 other user

Very stressed right now about my airticket purchase using iwantthatflight engine.

Had been looking at tickets for last few days and prices seemed to be going up and I really want to see my mum 80 overseas who isn't keeping very well. I thought I was smart and didn't go with Cheapflyte. Smartfare gave me a fare of $AUD 1444 and I paid with my credit card. Alarm bells started ringing when I saw their email which says ticket will be issued within 24 hours but can take up to 72 and then I checked my credit card. I have been charged $1528.44 and $58.95. Been reading all the negative reviews and have lost my sleep.

Can OzBargain community guide me what's my best course of action.

edit: I haven't got the ticket yet just itinerary from them.

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Comments

  • Hybroid on 08/03/2023 - 02:07
    +7

    There's quite a few of these dodgy travel agents unfortunately.

    They have a live chat on their website https://www.smartfares.com (top-right), I just got connected to someone straight away, so have a chat with them first and see why you were charged extra (probably hidden fees) and make sure they can confirm ticket booking.

    Once it's confirmed, go to the airline directly and punch the 6-digit code in to verify it's booked properly.

    Worst case scenario if you get nothing at all, you've paid by credit card, so speak to bank about doing a chargeback.

    Don't overly stress yet. You still have a few avenues to go through.

    • gs1368 on 08/03/2023 - 02:36

      thanks ….talked on live chat and got the ticket …thanks..cost like 150 more…can put it lesson learnt well!

  • nxllson on 08/03/2023 - 02:24
    +13

    Hi OP,

    Never booked with Smartfares as they're usually never the cheapest on my search for flights, but I went ahead and had a look at what their booking process was like.

    It's an American website, so while they quote you in AUD, your credit card is charged in USD. You will see this as a fine print right at the bottom in 'Terms and Conditions'. Furthermore, their AUD quote is significantly lower than the current exchange rate. For example, a quoted $268 flight was actually $288 - a whole 7.5% difference.

    As your card was charged in USD, the $58.95 seems about right as part of the international transaction fee charged by your credit card provider.

    As for the hold up on the flight booking number, some booking agents simply do not have direct access to an airline's reservation system, so it is done manually and hence the 24-72 hour notice.

    Overall, I'm not defending Smartfares by any means - as their exchange rate first of all is deceptive and their website looks dated back to the early 2000s. Just giving you a precise rundown of what happened.

    • donga100 on 08/03/2023 - 09:25

      some booking agents simply do not have direct access to an airline's reservation system, so it is done manually and hence the 24-72 hour notice.

      They have direct access it's just that they issue the tickets manually so when you hit 'purchase' the request gets sent to a queue for a person to issue and then email you. Even Flight Centre do the same for most of their international fares.

      • nxllson on 09/03/2023 - 03:02

        Yep, couldn't be bothered correcting it as I looked it over again - but thanks!

        What I meant is that some agents do not have an automated way of issuing the flight tickets themselves, but they will have access to the airline's travel agent portal to issue it manually.

    • knobbs on 08/03/2023 - 10:27

      They just be losing lots of $$ if they are only charging an extra 7.5% to convert USD to AUD. I was going to go buy 10k USD at that rate for future holidays, and then I checked the actual exchange rate

  • gs1368 on 08/03/2023 - 02:36

    you are right…very deceptive conduct

    • nxllson on 08/03/2023 - 02:40

      In the future, just keep this in mind! All the best with your Mum and safe travels.

  • Lunarboogie on 08/03/2023 - 06:36
    +5

    For future reference, if one company's quote is significantly lower than all the others than be very suspicious. I only ever book directly with the airlines to avoid unnecessary hassles.

    • Sinnerator on 08/03/2023 - 07:33
      +1

      Very true, I love a good bargain, but actually making it onto a plane without excess pain suffering and misery is important to me.

  • Baysew on 08/03/2023 - 10:09
    +1

    The main thing is you have got your ticket and can see your mum.

  • activ8newbs on 08/03/2023 - 10:38

    Quick question. What's the difference between a ticket and an itinerary.

    I also have a overseas trip booked next week with one of these small travel agents but not sure if I've received my ticket yet

    Can anyone advise?

    • donga100 on 08/03/2023 - 13:50

      Ticket will be a 13 digit number for each person on the itinerary. The itinerary will likely have a booking reference which is a 6 letter combination. You can have an itinerary without a ticket being issued so double check there is a ticket number or you won't be able to fly.

      • activ8newbs on 08/03/2023 - 15:01

        Hmm..getting nervous as for a few of my flights I can only see the 6 letter combination, and not the 13 digit number….not sure what to do!

        • MELso on 08/03/2023 - 15:16
          +1

          What airline(s) are you flying on?

          If you go to checkmytrip.com and enter your PNR (6 character code), it'll show the ticket number**

          ** Assuming your carrier uses Amadeus.

          You can also check your ticket number for Qantas flights on rj.com (Royal Jordanian)

          • activ8newbs on 08/03/2023 - 15:40

            @MELso: Flying
            Scoot
            Aegan
            RyanAir
            Pegasus
            Sun Express
            Cebu Pacific

            • activ8newbs on 08/03/2023 - 15:58

              @activ8newbs: Tried the app you mentioned. Didn't pick up any of my flights :(

              • MELso on 08/03/2023 - 16:33
                +2

                @activ8newbs: Not surprising - Scoot, Ryanair, Cebu and Pegasus are all low-cost carriers, who tend to use their own booking systems.

                That's quite a mix of airlines though. Good luck!

            • Stewardo on 08/03/2023 - 21:40

              @activ8newbs: Wow that’s an interesting cocktail.

  • star-ggg on 08/03/2023 - 10:41

    i would never book with a foreign agent no matter how "cheap" they claim to be. Also, I recently booked a flight direct with Cathay who have a24hr price guarantee. So I screenshotted the cheaper agent price and sent it through. Got the cheapest price without the hassle of dealing with agents.

  • Darayus on 08/03/2023 - 10:56

    I just bought my ticket for Europe from Kiwi.com they were 50% better than direct with airlines or AU-based online agents. Worth the try considering more than $ 5K saving for 2 tickets and that too booking on SQ flights, so you cannot go wrong with doggy airlines.

    I can say they were smart than others and they know how codeshare works and so they book me on SQ on a European airline codeshare flight and so they managed to secure me 50%.

    I booked a flight via Paypal just in case things don't work out. As mentioned I got my booking number and I can see my details on the SQ portal but with a note pending ticket to be issued.

    I managed to call their helpdesk direct and I can say they are professional as they managed to attend to my call any time of the day. I had to wait for 5 days and daily 2 calls to get my ticket issued.

    What I noticed was that they managed to issue my ticket from the Ukraine SQ office and paid my ticket fare in Ukraine's local currency.

    So I can say if you want to take a risk and saving is substantial then please use those agents but if it's just a few $$ then book direct. No need to have loyalty with FC or equivalent and pay arms and legs.

    • MELso on 08/03/2023 - 15:23

      Personally, I would have looked to flysas.com for a cheap SQ codeshare and booked it directly. But it's good that you've kept on top of the ticketing issue because there are plenty of reports online of kiwi.com not ticketing people correctly and/or hitting them up for extra fares when the fare they displayed proved not to be available.

      I was booking a flight back from North America and kiwi.com were offering FJ business class for about a third less than FJ themselves were offering it, which made me suspicious. I booked a different airline (through an OTA, as the OTA offered a routing the airline's own site didn't) and while the OTA was a little cheaper, the fares were similar to the airline's own prices and I was correctly ticketed.

      Anyway, good luck!

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