Problems with Flight Tickets and Travel Agencies

cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 10:07

My wife used an online travel agency to book flights for our family to Europe. Out son is an adult now ( over 12 ). She booked 3 adults and 1 child.
Filling out the Form, she put out daughter ( who is a child ) in the adult passenger section, and our son in the child section, and she did input the wrong DOB for him.
I did notice the error and wrote an email to a 24/7 monitored email, 3 Hours after detecting the mistake.

This was 3 MONTH ago. Since them I am in contact with the agency via email and when they pick up, via phone, every week.

Then there was a flight change and our flight that went via Abu Dhabi, has been cancelled and replaced with a flight via Seoul ( South Korea ) with Asiana Airlines.
This was 1 month ago

I said I will NOT fly via Seoul and Asiana or any other code share operated by China Eastern, Garuda, Malaysian Airline.

Current situation is, that I have a booking reference for me and my wife, and one for my son. No booking reference for my daughter.

The flight via Abu Dhabi has been reintroduced, but but despite the promise that they will rebook us on that flight, our booking still shows flights via Seoul.

If we do a Credit Card transaction reverse, we don't have the money to re-book while waiting for refund. And the refund might take a while.

I am at the end of my patience, don't sleep well at night, and I am really worried this is not going to end well.

Travel

Comments

  • svmick on 23/06/2017 - 10:28
    +1

    Just cancel it and book through online by your own.

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 10:44

      No cancellation policy on ticket.

      • svmick on 23/06/2017 - 10:58
        +1

        If you find things is going away from your hand.. try contacting Fair trading.http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/Consumers/Buying_services/Travel/Buying_travel.page#If_things_go_wrong

  • ramb9 on 23/06/2017 - 11:08
    +2

    Flight changes are generally out of the travel agencies hand.

    Seems a bit stretched to be filing a charge-back.

    It seems here they are trying to accommodate you for the airlines change in flight schedule.

    What's wrong with Asiana Airlines?

    Actually, what are you trying to ask here?

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 12:23

      I booked a flight on KLM flights, operated by Etihad on A380's, via Abu Dhabi
      The flight has been cancelled first. and now is back on.
      Why should I fly via Seoul with Air Asiana instead? ( I dont trust Air Asiana )
      And I have no booking number for our little girl.
      If I want to cancel-refund and rebook, I want to do it earlier then later, as ticket prices increase closer you get to your departure
      I also want to have all the bookings so I can start to reserve seats.

  • Ryanek on 23/06/2017 - 11:28
    +2

    What's wrong flying via Seoul? That's what my wife and I did on the way to Europe and it was great. It was an overnight stay in a 5 star hotel, so it was good to break up the long flight.

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 12:23
      -1

      Air Asiana and about 3 Hours more flight time. I don't do stopovers.

      • the69thhokage on 23/06/2017 - 12:31
        +3

        I booked a flight on KLM flights, operated by Etihad on A380's, via Abu Dhabi

        I don't do stopovers.

        So which one is it?

        • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:06

          For me a stopover is exiting the airport as in "It was an overnight stay in a 5 star hotel"
          'via Abu Dhabi" equals Transit.
          I transit via Abu Dhabi
          "A layover typically refers to a connection point between cities, sometimes as short as 30 minutes or as long as 23 hours, whereas a stopover refers to staying longer than 24 hours in any given city when travelling internationally"

        • altomic on 23/06/2017 - 14:11
          +1

          @cameldownunder: so…….what does each schedule (Abu Dhabi Vs Seoul) say the stopover/transit time waiting time is at each city?

        • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:29

          @altomic: Waiting time is about the same. Total flight is about 3 Hours more.
          I booked those flights knowing they are operated by Etihad, and using 380. Not Asiana
          Asiana does not give much confidence
          "An Asiana Airways plane smashed into a communications antenna as it came in to land at a Japanese airport"
          "Asiana Airlines flight 214 crash caused by Boeing planes being 'overly complicated"

        • the69thhokage on 23/06/2017 - 14:29

          @altomic:

          Asiana arrives Incheon at 6:20pm
          KLM leaves Incheon at 12:55am

          which means its a 6hr and 35 min wait.

          As OP's description, this is a layover and not a stopover

        • altomic on 23/06/2017 - 15:04

          @the69thhokage: As OP's description, this is a layover and not a stopover

          that's good as the OP doesn't do stopovers.

        • the69thhokage on 23/06/2017 - 15:16
          +2

          @altomic: phew, really dodged a bullet there. wouldn't want OP to have to do a rant or anything

  • pantsparty on 23/06/2017 - 11:46
    +6

    My understanding is that once a booking is made it is often hard to make changes without incurring change fees. It is hard to blame the travel agency given your wife made numerous mistakes. In the future I think you should book the airfares yourself online - don't leave it up to the wife.

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 12:26

      I reported it within 3 hours. They said they would fix it. We are past the pointing finger stage/
      Currently we are missing booking for our daughter, and flying via another airport then initially booked.
      I consider this an Itinerary change, which I should have asked if I agree. Normally if passenger do not agree, a refund is issued.
      I have not been asked, and not been given refund.

      • k-rokfm on 23/06/2017 - 13:30
        +1

        Who is the travel agency? Do they have a bricks and mortar store? Are they based in Australia?

        • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:07

          I do not want to name the agency ( yet ) as it is not relevant. No and Yes

        • holdenmg on 23/06/2017 - 14:13
          +1

          Well, it is relevant.

          If we knew the name of the Travel Agent we could pretty quickly see if the Travel Agent were a member of ATAS and if so you could contact them to pursue "Resolving a complaint" under their Code of Conduct. https://www.atas.com.au/uploads/code-of-conduct.pdf (p.13)

          We could also look at the Terms and Conditions of booking if we knew who…

        • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:19
          -2

          @holdenmg: Why didnt' you ask the relevant question then: " Is the Travel Agent Menber of ATAS"
          So this is the information I was looking for in this forum.
          Looked up: It's not.

        • holdenmg on 23/06/2017 - 14:22
          +3

          Because I was trying to show how dismissive your assertion of "not relevant" was.

        • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:29

          @holdenmg: I must be watching Star Trek Voyager too much ( 7/9 )

  • the69thhokage on 23/06/2017 - 12:35
    +1

    Which site/travel agency is this?

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:07
      -7

      -Irrelevant-
      I believe the agency is still working on it, so I don't want bad publicity here, but Options.

  • altomic on 23/06/2017 - 13:08
    +9

    Thanks for posting on OzVent

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:08

      I think I am doing the best I can to manage it. Posted here to see if I missed anything, or if someone had a similar experience and knows something I don't.

    • the69thhokage on 23/06/2017 - 15:16

      If OzBargain ever needs to spin off its forums, at elast we have a name for it

  • ChrisLevo on 23/06/2017 - 13:27

    On-line travel sites don't seem to care.

    Booking face-to-face with a local travel agent means that you have someone who cares when you sit in front of them.

    A local travel agent would have insisted on seeing passports, so the dates of birth would not have been screwed up.

    You would not have needed to OzVent (thanks, Altomic!), and you would be sleeping well.

    What will you do next time?

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:09
      -2

      Buy my tickets on the lowest advertised unknown web-site, disregarding all negative e reviews.

      "Booking face-to-face with a local travel agent means that you have someone who cares when you sit in front of them."
      That's a good one, I'll try to remember it for my next round of good jokes.

      • ChrisLevo on 23/06/2017 - 14:23

        I travel a LOT, and have found more than one excellent travel agents (not Web sites) over the last 40 years.

        Ask around, and you are bound to find some.

        Joke and rant about it, and you won't.

        Your choice.

        • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:34

          Last travel agencies I went, booked ( and apparently confirmed ) me that we would have 2 and 2 seats ( window - aisle ) on each flight.
          When we arrived at airport, we were booked on middle raw all 4 of us.
          They showed me the reservation ticket, where seats have been 'Requested" but never confirmed.
          That's where I come from.
          I did read around about this travel agency and there were plenty of good reports.
          So, again, I am looking for options, not ranting about the agency

  • ausdday on 23/06/2017 - 13:55
    +3

    To be honest, unless anyone of us here is the employee from the company you didn't name, none of us can do anything here besides hearing your rant.

    From your description, it seems like the company does respond to your query and not shutting the door.
    1. "And the refund might take a while." - have you asked them how long?

    1. "I reported it within 3 hours. They said they would fix it. We are past the pointing finger stage" - Have you ever seen confirmation from the company, with the corrected information (your son and daughter) in the booking? In theory, if they have updated their system with the corrected information in 1 booking, there is no reason for them to missed out your daughter information in the change of booking, well unless their "system" is pen and paper on sticky notes.

    2. "I consider this an Itinerary change, which I should have asked if I agree. Normally if passenger do not agree, a refund is issued.
      I have not been asked, and not been given refund." - why didn't you tell them this? Did they respond to you? You didn't mention what options they gave you. Have you checked their fine prints, saying they have the right to re-book your flights with other airline, should your routed being cancelled ?

    • cameldownunder on 23/06/2017 - 14:15
      -4

      I am really surprised that people see my post as a rant.
      I admitted my wife did a mistake booking, and I have reported ( in my opinion ) in a objective matter.
      So
      1) No and Yes. As stated: No reference AT ALL for our daughter. And the three of us via Seoul instead of AUH ( This is what worries me )
      2) That's where, and you can read this in many places, you need to keep an eye open yourself.
      The travel agent, noted in an email, that by the way there was a change in itinerary
      And only when requesting the Reservation codes I could see that it was via Seoul
      Can you imagine how "upset" I would have been if I didnt see this

      On a Virgin flight to Tasmania, I was informed that the departure was moved, and I was given the choice to Accept or get a refund.

      • ausdday on 23/06/2017 - 14:48
        +1

        Yeah.TL;DR;

        Best of luck!!

        ausdday out

  • bigeater on 23/06/2017 - 15:45
    +5

    Hi OP, I don't get your attitude. Try to be nice to ppl who's giving you advice or offering a help hand. They don't owe you anything and you don't pay them a cent.

  • holdenmg on 23/06/2017 - 21:13
    +1

    Can't see how you can burn through three months on sorting this, but then read one of your previous threads Health issue: Pain in chest https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/253735 and you have somehow lived another year…

    Colour me surprised.

  • bion83 on 24/06/2017 - 15:20
    +1

    Next time don't let your wife to book flight tickets online, instead do your research and go to Flight Centre.
    You'll get the same flight you saw online for $1 cheaper + peace of mind (priceless)

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