Hey guys,
I have been looking and searching through skyscanner and I've come across a good deal by Aunt Betty. I have heard numerous rumors from people who have told me to stay away from online travel companies.
I wanted to ask, has anyone used Aunt Betty? Are they legit?
Thanks in advance
There's a comma in between. Quit following me around being contrary! :)
Hahaha it was a joke =( (because Flight Centre isn't the first thing to come to mind when thinking of good service).
I wasn't being contrary (this time…)!
Yep clearly a subsidiary to help them go after the cool young millennial crowd.
Other names considered include:
It was originally Uncle Rolf but they went away from that for some reason.
Nothing wrong with Rolf.
I did last year to go to Malaysia over X-mas.
No problems at all.
From my research, issues arise when refunds are sought or when one wishes to change their flight details
Yep, I had a bad experience with Travelgenio a while ago that put me off online agents.
Basically I had made a booking to visit home that included 2 stopovers within China on the return leg. Crap, inconvenient choice on my part, but it was cheaper than a single stopover with the same overall time, and there was no indication that I'd have to collect my luggage between flights or need a visa, though to be safe I checked and found that a 24hr exemption should apply anyway.
Then on the outward flight, from talking with airline and Chinese airport staff, I learned that in their system the return leg was separate bookings, so I'd be going in and out of Chinese customs, and my luggage wouldn't be transferred through. And the airport staff couldn't give me a clear answer on whether I'd be visa-exempt after all, but the airline was pretty confident it was okay.
So after landing, while feeling concerned that in a couple of weeks I'd be going through more hassle than indicated in the booking, with a non-zero chance of getting stranded by a surly Chinese immigration officer, I sent Travelgenio an email asking if there was any chance of changing to the more direct alternative for those reasons.
They didn't reply for over 2 weeks, until a day or two before the return flight to say it couldn't be changed. No acknowledgment that their website wasn't clear about the immigration and luggage implications, or had made a booking that the airline themselves didn't seem to recognize, or the fact that they were replying absurdly late, preventing any alternative arrangements from being made.
Luckily I had kinda stopped caring after the initial panic or I'd have phoned them up (I may have tried this briefly).
But, the thought of actually having to change a flight and having that absolute non-response meant that my most recent booking was direct with an airline.
So what actually happened on your return journey?
It went fine, just a bit more miserable and anxiety filled than expected. Sorry it was a long story, but the point was that they didn't reply for two weeks. Which is unacceptable on it's own, and really bad if the situation had gone differently.
My parents were travel agents, before it was all online. There were a few times some customer would have trouble during their trip, like a flight cancelled or a missing visa or something, and they'd rush to the office at night or over the weekend to sort it out. They'd be calling airlines and embassies and getting everything worked out.
It was a big deal if things didn't go smoothly, because they were responsible for their clients having a smooth trip and not getting stranded in a foreign land or suffering some major delay, and they took that responsibility seriously and provided as much support as they could.
I don't have as high expectations of online agents, of course, but I guess I still see that as the ideal. Someone to help out if things go bad. So it was a bit jarring to have such a delay just for the simple unhelpful answer I got. If things had been worse, I might have depended on a flight change, or visa guidance, or even just a quicker answer so I'd know to make new plans. They basically did almost as bad as ignoring my email entirely, and maximised my chances of being stranded.
So my most recent flight, I paid an extra $10 or whatever to get it direct from the airline, because I figure they have slightly more accountability.
Yeah they are fine. I wouldn't use them (or any travel agent) for hotels etc but for flights I don't see any issue/risk. We used them to Sri Lanka last year as they were the cheapest and had a discount available.
For example https://flighthacks.com.au/aunt-betty-promo-code/
Cheers didn't know about the discount.
Thanks a bunch
but for flights I don't see any issue
The only issue is for some tickets purchased through them, you get the very cheapest fare class. So when you go to Manage my Booking direct on some airlines website, you cannot select seats, make changes, even check-in online (Etihad) etc. Haven't had this issue with others I have used in the past.
However, they are perfectly legit and do usually have some of the best competitive rates. I have booked 3 international flights with them and all fine.
With Etihad we couldn’t even checkin online with Virgin points. It, appears, you need to book directly with Etihad to check in online.
Thanks guys, really appreciate the help!
We used them fine in Europe. The only issue we had was I didn’t seem to be able to setup an account to check the details of my flight and Aunt Betty couldn’t seem to help me with this.They issue an eticket and I didn’t need to do any mods so it was OK but not sure what I would’ve done if I’d needed to.
legit, be careful with their cancellation / change policies as they are a bit harsh.
I've used them twice for international return flights in the last few years. Legit!
Someone told you to stay away from online travel companies? I only ever use online companies now. Can't remember the last time I walked into a travel agent.
travel agents often have better deals than online. eg. fly to USA on Qantas & back on Fiji airlines & in peak season always cheaper than Qantas or Fiji airlines both ways.
You can't book this online or through qantas or fiji airlines, only with a travel agent.
RE specifically OTAs. Many might have an Australian phone number or PO box, but their offices are often in Philippines, India or some other 3rd world country, where labour is super cheap.
Had a problem with 1 OTA. We thought we booked on a Friday. Paid by credit card, but found out they issue tickets manually & as they were busy did not get ticket or anything before monday even though they said in email, we'd have tix within 24 hours. Contacted them Mon & asked where our tickets were. They said fare had gone up (in broken english) & we could have our money back, but we just wanted the tickets. Turns out the tickets were issued by a Sydney travel agent or at least their IATA number(IATA stands for international air transport association I think) which some bigger agents have so they can issue tickets themselves, without going through a 3rd party. Anyway, we insisted on getting the tickets & got them few days later & immediately checked with the airline to see if tix ok & they were, but a lot of stuffing around & chasing them up.
I’ve always used Expedia, cheapest prices and no problems. Can recommend it.
Expedia is one of the most hiked priced sites I have ever come across.
I used Aunt Betty in Feb this year to buy a SYD-AKL ticket. I had no problems but i did think at the time that if i had to change anything the ticket would be no longer cheap. ($510 business class).
In the end I was right as something went wrong with meeting my connecting flight (booked through ANZ - I can't remember why i did that…) and it cost me an extra $100 to get the next available flight. That was an airline punctuality issue rather than an Aunt Betty issue
I've used Aunt Betty many times, left with great satisfaction every time
Auntie guaranteed a happy ending. Yeah, I know, so wrong on so many levels.
Thanks, good to know Aunt Betty has such great customer service!
There is a lot on tripadvisor about Aunt Betty.
Get the cheapest quote online and take it to Flight Centre, they will beat it by $1. That's what I did when I traveled overseas during last Christmas break. Have fun!
I think they have now stopped price matching with OTAs.
Yep just spoke with a Flight Centre agent and they stopped doing price beats :(
Bummer!
They make their money from the change / cancellation fees. Some of their tickets are even sold at a loss.
Yep as per above booked tickets for a great price and all went smoothly until a few days before the flight when I discovered one of the kids passports expired (obviously my mistake). When I called the price for changing the outbound flights a day or two was more than what new tickets were.
Flight centre will now only match the airline price, Best jet repercussion
Here is my recent experience with them.
Note: I am an international student in Australia on student visa.
I purchased a ticket and paid $2145.42 for it. After few days, I received an email telling me that due to a system error, the name on my itinerary got printed wrong and needs to be corrected, and Juna (one of their support agent) asked me to charge my visa card again for $278 and told me since it was due to a system error, I will be given $278 back in a few days. After she charged my card, new tickets were issued. When I reached the airport, I was denied boarding due to some transit visa problem. I promptly called AuntBetty cancellation agent and requested for ticket cancellation and refund. The agent told me that I would be getting around $1348 refund.
Next day, I got back my $278 as Juna promised (Which she borrowed for name correction), but to date, I didn't receive a refund on original ticket.
I have phoned several times telling them again and again, but it seems nobody knows what to do? On email, their agents, Raffy, Louve, Dike and Juna keep sending me a receipt of $278 and telling me that they have refunded me. Yes, they have given me my money back which they borrowed for name correction but have NOT refunded my ticket. Is this a joke or an intentional scam?
Poor customer support. No way to talk to finance team. These phone numbers are not helpful. 0281032107 | 0281032106 | 0291192586. Every time i call, i have to repeat my whole story. What a Joke. Whenever I send an email, I get an automatic response that I will be contacted in 3 days, which in fact they don't.
Whenever someone reply me, all they do is keep telling me that they have refunded $278. They are making me fool by playing dumb? Don't they understand what I am talking about? In fact they are ripping me off $2145 and keep telling me that I have got my $278 back which in fact was my own money they borrowed for name correction? Where are my 1348 dollars? Nobody know and nobody is answering me.
Please stay away from AuntBetty. They suck.
(Sorry for my poor English)
If you can't speak english then how can you be sure you didn't get your own name wrong on the ticket?
Because the very first pdf that I received after booking from AuntBetty had my name printed correctly on it (the same name that I supplied during booking). The e-ticket that I received two days later had my name printed wrongly and abbreviated.
When I told them that I had supplied correct name during booking and infact I had a proof of it, they came up with a lame excuse that this mistake was done by airline computer.
Since after posting this review on trustpilot and productreview websites, some good soul from their company stepped into and helped to get it resolved. I got refund.
Because the very first pdf that I received after booking from AuntBetty had my name printed correctly on it (the same name that I supplied during booking). The e-ticket that I received two days later had my name printed wrongly and abbreviated.
When I told them that I had supplied correct name during booking and infact I had a proof of it, they came up with a lame excuse that this mistake was done by airline computer.
definitely do not use aunt betty, if anything goes slightly wrong, you'll be sorry you chose them.
terrible service and lies.
agreed to a refund amount and they refunded only part of that amount.
then said we'd have "aunt betty credit" for 400 per passenger as part of the refund to use before end 2023, and now i'm here trying to use it and they have "no record of that sir".
honestly, buyer beware. this business should not exist.
No, do not book with them unless you are 100% sure your flight won't get cancelled, because they will not process a refund.
Never ever book through Aunt Betty. We bought a return ticket and had to change the return dates. You couldn’t do anything online, they never return online or email enquiries so you need to spend hours and hours calling them for, so far, zero evidence of action. The date change fees are ridiculous so it was a third of the cost of making a date change with Aunt Betty to book an another flight home from Asia so we tried to cancel the Aunt Betty flight and get the partial refund ( less the ridiculous Aunt Betty cancellation fee). At least you know about the fees- but they don’t tell you that they don’t respond to online requests and refunds may take several months- but still no proof of any refund. Despite what they say you could not manage the booking online and never ever use their online form - I was told they don’t even receive them. So after many hours trying to call their number and finally getting through to initiate the cancellation they can’t tell you what the refund will be. After many more hours and attempts, each time they couldn’t tell you what the refund would be or even confirm it was in process. On one call, 5 weeks after requesting the refund, they said we can now initiate the refund process but couldn’t confirm how much it would be. They said we should expect it to take a further 12 weeks to hear what the refund amount will be! The company is a disgrace and the management should be ashamed to place their poor staff in such diabolical situations with misled customers.
Remember you can price match to these websites from a lot of airlines, much better to book direct!
Legit, part of Flight Centre