Flight Centre - lowest price guarantee - is it a scam?

pinkscarf on 09/04/2012 - 13:33

Hi All,

I am travelling to USA in May & I have been doing some research about flights.
I went through a flight centre branch as my sister had booked with them & she said they were good.
So this "agent" was good initially but everytime I called she kept changing the price and depending on my dates was telling me it was up to $1400 + Which i found ridiculous as its offpeak season.
So anyways over the long weekend I booked with V aus directly as its open jaw. fly into LA .. fly out of NY and they gave me such good service & an awesome price over the phone. Even waived CC fee.
They are keeping it on hold but I thought I'll give this agent another try as I heard Flight centre match prices & beat them..
After 20mins she couldn't find anything & even called up V aus apparently who gave her the higher price.
I said well ofcourse I will go back tomy original booking with them & get it
She abrubtly hung up & said she would cancel all bookings on hold.
ALL fine really as dont expect much from agents in this day & age! bUt am shocked they couldnt price match & even reckons V aus couldn't when I have the proof from V aus?
Is there anything i can do or should i bother to do?
Apparently they fly you free if they can't price match! But i am sure this would be a drawn out process & its not worth it with the agent in question as she was b!tchy cos I didnt book with her!!
SO is FC prices match a scam really??

Travel

Related Stores

Flight Centre
Flight Centre
Marketplace

Comments

  • mrhorseham on 09/04/2012 - 13:54
    +1

    I don't know about the fly for free part, but going through flight centre is a waste of time to begin with. They are sales people, they'll attempt to get a 'bundle' for you incl. accom, insurance, car hire etc. It will work out much cheaper just doing it by yourself. Also, when the do actually 'price beat' in the fine print it says, "we'll beat any quoted price by $1.00 and give you a $20 gift voucher for use with flight centre"..so not worth it imo.

  • sparkles on 09/04/2012 - 14:07
    +2

    Basically you were just wasting the consultants time, she knew it, and that's that.

    Agents are excellent for complicated itineraries, round the worlds etc, but start stuffing them around with basic flights you could easily book yourself (and did) and they will rightly cut you off, especially when it is pretty clear you booked direct with V already and were just trying to cut a few more bucks off (which ultimately would have to come from their commission). As a client you were effectively more work for less money, a bit like a pay cut!

    They also can't sell you a ticket at a price level if it's not available on their system in the class you are wanting (which would be the cheapest and thus most in demand). You may have booked and locked down the last ticket of that cheap class through V, and therefore Flight Centre could now only offer the next class up.

    They make most money from people booking hotels, travel insurance, tours, car hire. They have to make sales to survive and probably their time was better spent on clients that result in purchase, not someone who's gone off and booked direct with the airline and yet still wants more.

  • rinbond on 09/04/2012 - 15:54
    +1

    I would not trust them as they are incompetent and dont believe what they say.
    My brother last year booked with them 2adult and 2childs fare to uk qouted $7850,paid a deposit,i suggested they go to the airline website to do a comparison,it came back $735.00 cheaper,they did a print out and went back to F/C and they dropped it to price match website

    • aussierobert on 21/10/2013 - 18:34

      Couldn't agree more. My wife booked a hotel in Hong Kong with them. She did it for conveneience and to try to keep the business local. When she showed me the details it seemed a bit steep so I checked online. The rack rate (before discount) on the hotel website was a staggering $1500 cheaper (for 10 days) than the price they obtained and included breakfast and free wi-fi. A few bucks, I can accept but not $150 a night! If anything with their "massive buying power" surely they should beat the standard rack rate on a hotel they recommended to us!

      After much complaining (and I mean lots of correspondance in email) they honoured the price match but the voucher they have offered does not include breakfast or wifi and they are refusing to provide this. I have shown them in writing that the hotel offers this as standard and they won't issue it saying their wholesaler can't get that deal and they don't accept it as legitimate since the hotel also lets you book breakfast separately on their booking form. It seems a room rate "of family including breakfast" and a description fo the deal as "including free buffet breakfast for four" on the hotel's main website doesn't count.

      Shysters.

  • pinkscarf on 09/04/2012 - 18:10

    sparkles - I completely agree

    However I'm not one of those people.. I nearly always in the last 5+years book online either through the airline or another website.
    In this case I didn't even look online I went to the agent first and thought I would get the best price as she had just helped out my family members ..
    So I kept in touch & everytime I spoke to her she kept changing the prices & was so busy hardly got back to me. But she was the one to suggest V Aus and I told her i wanted open jaw which is something you CANNOT do on the V aus website otherwise I wouldn't bother going through her!!! It was only when I tried to lock in my flights over the long weekend while she took time off & never got back to me. I decided to call V aus directly.. They said they do open jaw bookings over the phone. they were honest & gave me the right price. FC kept mucking me about and even when i called over the weekend the manager was telling me all diff things even though I had V aus website open in front of me reading the flights I wanted to her!!

    The point is yeah my flights were not "complicated" and i didnt go for upgrades like "accom" but I could have if given the right price and decent service. I wouldnt need to "shop" around if they had treated me better in the first plc. I only did research cos 1 min the price was $1200 then the next it was $1400+ thats crap!! Esp when on the website it has not changed.
    I can understand why they were grumpy in the end but i dont agree about fare class.. How can V aus have flights avail on hold for me & these guys can't get them

    PS: I know about the $1 beating price thing But this is from the website directly:

    Q. What if my Flight Centre consultant is unable to beat the airfare I have been quoted?

    A. If we are required to beat your airfare quote and we don’t then you Fly Free. Your consultant will do everything they can to beat the airfare you have been quoted. If the qualifying criteria are met we will beat that price by $1 and we will issue you with a $20 voucher once your booking is paid in full. If the qualifying criteria are met and your consultant does not beat your quoted price you will receive your flight free of charge. If this applies to you, or if you are dissatisfied with our service, please contact the relevant State Manager as follows:

    Carole Cooper 07 3170 7153 - QLD / NSW

    John Veitch 02 8121 2130 - NSW / ACT

    Paul Ryan 03 9026 3333 - VIC/TAS

    Sean Berenson 0401 679 266 - WA/SA/NT

    Dan Gallagher 0439 850 578 - SA/NT

    Q. How do I get my free flight if Flight Centre is required to beat my airfare quote and doesn’t?

    A. If the qualifying criteria are met and your consultant does not beat your quoted price you will receive your flight free of charge. If this applies to you, or if you are dissatisfied with our service, please contact the relevant State Manager as follows:

    Carole Cooper 07 3170 7153 - QLD / NSW

    John Veitch 02 8121 2130 - NSW / ACT

    Paul Ryan 03 9026 3333 - VIC/TAS

    Sean Berenson 0401 679 266 - WA/SA/NT

    Dan Gallagher 0439 850 578 - SA/NT

  • pinkscarf on 09/04/2012 - 18:12

    I have started this thread to see if anyone has bothered to follow up & actually got a price beat by a decent amount or ever got a free flight?

    I am not expecting this to happen to me.. but just wondering as I can't understand how FC can make such bold statements & no1 is catching them out on it

    I am more than happy to go through V Aus direct for my hols & I am glad I took the extra step to bother calling them directly & get such good service but I am just surprised people still use FC and bother with their incompetent, rude & overpriced service!!

  • retiredfeline on 09/04/2012 - 18:30

    At best you get $21 off ($1 price beat + $20 voucher, and that $20 savings is only realised if you book again), so it comes down to whether it's worth your time talking to the consultant after doing your own research.

    These days, with airline websites being able to handle itineraries like open jaw, it's becoming less and less necessary to deal with a travel agent for uncomplicated trips. And they know it, so they are less accommodating of simple requests. If you are after extras, like hotel, car hire, or insurance and you want them to take the job off your hands, maybe you're their kind of customer.

    There was a long word coined for this phenomenon at the beginning of Internet commerce: disintermediation. In plain English: cutting out the middleman.

  • pinkscarf on 09/04/2012 - 18:37

    Lol well said.. Nope not worth $21! Esp the 20 voucher! no use..
    much rather do it myself on the net as I have happily been doing!

    Just soo annoyed she wasted my time like that.. full of promises & cheap prices..

    Sales people at the end of the day :)

    Cheers for hearing me out

  • John on 10/04/2012 - 10:48

    This is what I read in a news the other day

    Flight Centre basically have access to discount prices from other airlines ONLY WHEN the airlines release the price to Flight Centre

    Unfortunately, with today's era of online booking.. the airlines are not always releasing the cheapest price to Flight Centre.. Resulting in often times it being cheaper direct with the airline than it is on Flight Centre system (especially the budget airlines) and Flight Centre could not price match as they do not have access to that price

    http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/flight-centre-press…

    Flight Centre main customers are those who could not care less booking online or doing some research with individual airlines.

    But for us who can comfortably manage our itinerary ourselves, most of the times we will always be able to secure a cheaper price.

    If I were you I'd try complaining to the State Manager and see the kind of response they give. They might give some compensation.. But I would not spend too much time on this..

  • [Deactivated] on 10/04/2012 - 12:49

    It doesn't surprise me the price kept changing. I looked up Jetstar one night a few months ago and found the price for a flight. Came back the next morning to book it and it had jumped by $30. A couple of days later and it went up again. I think they increase the price as seats run out, knowing people don't have a choice - if they want to fly then, they'll pay extra because there's no other choice.

    BTW - I originally looked up webjet I believe it was… and they were something like $40 more. It stated the flight was with Jetstar, so only THEN did I go to the Jetstar site - and found the same flight $40 cheaper. Why on earth anyone would therefore go through sites like webjet, who knows!?

  • voteoften on 26/04/2012 - 02:25

    I think you should call the state manager.

  • After Dark on 04/05/2012 - 22:02
    +1

    I'll add my experience - and it's another brickbat for flight centre - although I could see the flights available on my PC they claimed they couldn't - how convenient. I know that availability comes and goes and that this could have been legit but I'd have to say it didn't seem that way. I'd keep looking….

  • ozf1 on 12/08/2012 - 15:57
    +1

    I would pursue it, see what happens, Im ion a similar position, one 'agent' didn't get back to me after a couple of times trying their price beat policy, the next agent promised flights that -when we were ready to book, had gone up by about $1000.00 for a family of four. Other TA had not found them, so i anguessing they were never at that price to start with. i will file a complaint with their state manager and the ACCC for false advertising. The moreof us that do this, the more 'like;y' they are to change their ways, by the way currently having a similar experience with Escape travel, after all they are the same company I guess.

  • twitch1979 on 21/08/2012 - 09:31
    +1

    I thought I would add my 2 cents to this if anyone is still reading the thread.

    I use flight centre for almost all my flight bookings.

    I rarely however ask them to provide me a quote for flights.

    I used the same person each time I book and always contact them by email.

    My process is simple. I locate the flight and fare I want to book then send them an email.

    For domestic I simply go to Jetstar, Qantas or Virgin and Screen Shot the flight I want to book. I email that to my contact and they take $21 off the price and charge my credit card on file. As part of their price bear policy Flight Centre don't charge credit card fees. When I book for my wife and I , as we both have a $20 voucher on file from the previous price beat it typically saves $50 per booking including the credit card fees.

    For international I do the same but use Zuji etc…

    So my advicee is contact Flight Centre when you are ready to book and not before.

    Do you own research on line using any flight booking website you can find.

    You can save your credit card fees at a minimum.

    • muzzamo on 10/10/2012 - 13:28

      I'm with twitch on this one.

      I am an avid ozbargainer and I use flight center all the time.

      I get $21 off the cheapest price I can find elsewhere for each flight. In addition, the flight centre I use (Adelaide, Waymouth Street) has a policy of not charging credit card fees for price beats, which works out to be about 1.6% worth in points, ie $16 on a $1000 international fare.

      I'm quite happy with Price Centre and their price beat policy. Its simple, just take your skyscanner/zuji price in and they beat it.

      • Giraffe on 25/10/2013 - 14:47

        Can I check do you guys get $21 off because you had an $20 voucher from a previous price beat? Or do they actually just take $21 off the cheapest online fare?

        I have recently done this (first time) and only received $1 off the cheapest fare - and wasn't told anything about a $20 voucher. I was still happy going through them to get AMEX points + travel insurance though.

        • eutama on 16/11/2013 - 09:01

          I believe the $20 voucher no longer available….

    • eutama on 16/11/2013 - 09:02

      Please be advised that Zuji is now run by Webjet and Zuji now charge booking fees (like webjet)…

  • Frozenboy on 12/09/2012 - 00:32

    I got friends currently ripping off flight centre, they are sending direct cheap fares from budget airline quotes to many branches and hope a staff would make a mistake so they can fly for free. With no intention of buying tickets they are just hoping for mistakes so they get free tickets and they have succeeded in getting free tickets for serval trips they wanted. So to people, would you consider that illegal or just a loophole they are taking advantage of?

    • Trance N Dance on 13/09/2012 - 02:04
      +1

      Loophole they're taking advantage of. It's a marketing policy that a company put out, if you have found a way to get the most out of it and not committing fraud then there's nothing illegal about it.

  • kobrien456 on 25/10/2013 - 06:49

    "I got friends currently ripping off flight centre, they are sending direct cheap fares from budget airline quotes to many branches and hope a staff would make a mistake so they can fly for free."

    I'm not getting how this is done. Is the mistake they make under quoting? Sorry to be dumb.

  • Nutrino on 09/11/2013 - 01:09

    Out curiosity, if flight centre had a choice of beating a compeditors price or free, they would always price beat. So the free ticket offer is void and would never be achived.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join