Beware of Aunt Betty Travel Website - Rant

Just a rant and probably beware of using Aunt Betty.

I had booked my domestic flight with Aunt Betty and requested them to change my flight to another date.This request was completely inline with their policies. the representative agreed to collect a cancellation fee of 55 AUD for existing booking, airline change fee of 89 AUD and the fare difference. My booking was for 4 Passengers and 1 infant.
However when rebooking , the agents elevate the prices for the new booking. Although the flight ticket fare is shown as $344 on Aunt Betty's website, but the agents see on their end fare as 520 AUD which is quite high that what I can see on their own website or even the airline website directly. So the fare difference is extra $176 per person which is considerable for 4 persons.
Then the agents pressurise and tell you that the fare is increasing and add 30 AUD after every one hour while as the website still shows same fare.
Further they try to push infant charges where as infant is considered free by Virgin Australia,

This way they collect a lot more fare difference than the money. Even upon sending the screenshot of the fare for them to check with their team, there was no assistance provided whatsoever.
I just think this is a fake fare rise scam.
I am sure all other subsidiaries like flight center, BYO JET would also be using same techniques to extract $$$.

TLDR: The fare difference charged while rebooking is very high than normal fares.

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Aunt Betty
Aunt Betty

Comments

  • ChatGPT Summary:

    Fee Type Amount (AUD)
    Cancellation Fee 55
    Airline Change Fee 89
    Fare Difference 176 (per person)
    Total Fare Difference (4 passengers) 704
    Fare Increase Pressure (per hour) 30 (every hour)
    Infant Charges Not specified
  • Not necessarily Aunt Betty's fault. Some tickets require you to change into the same or higher fare class which can disqualify you from the cheapest fare classes.

  • -1

    Where are you off to?

  • +9

    Why didn't you book direct with the airline?

  • +1

    Who the hell is Aunt Betty? You'd trust a travel booking gig called Aunt anything?

    • They've been around for ages. I booked once with them at least 7 or 8 years ago.

    • +2

      Aunt Betty & BYOjet are owned by Flight Centre. It's their online presence.

      • +4

        I guess Aunty Jack was already taken?

        • +3

          And Aunty Histamine

  • +3

    Where possible, always book direct with the airline - even if it's slightly more expensive.

    These third party sites might be okay if you know exactly what you want when booking, but if you might need a booking, stay away - far, far away! A lot of them are impossible to contact in the first place. And if you do manage to contact them, there's usually a hefty fee for changes (if they even allow it!).

    • Good. One less fraudster out there

    • Karma

  • They are all like that. Absolutely useless in resolving anything. Had a problem at the airport. Online agent said speak to airline, airline says speak to online agent and online agent when you can get through had no idea.

  • +1

    Beware of ALL 3rd party travel sites, it's an extra layer of complexity to make your travel miserable.

    • It may cost a few more bux, but worth just booking with airline for peace of mind and you dont have to go through the bullshit OP has been through….

      YMMV

  • +1

    Why use these scammy websites with all these extra fees instead of booking direct? Your loss

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