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Is there any legislation other than OTA terms and conditions for it to issue e-tickets?
I am waiting for 60 hours into their 72 hour window now to receive e-tickets.The airline customer service advised that booking is not final as OTA has to process and issue ticket and OTA customer service is not very helpful referring to std terms.
If I don’t receive tickets within 72 hours as per their terms (which are also loose as it is should receive as opposed to must receive tickets by) can I file chargeback and let credit card company deal with OTA?
Q 1. Why are you booking with an OTA.
Because direct booking with airline was about 10% more expensive than OTA.
I don’t think there’s anything in law as to a specific timeframe so it’s down to the T&Cs of the company but there is an expectation that a business will behave reasonably when providing services.
If they fail to meet that 72 hrs then I suppose you could ask them for a refund but getting your CC involved over not getting a ticket and wanting a refund isn’t going to get you very far as they will have expected you to approach the OTA first.
Remember when booking via an OTA you will need to deal with them re any schedule changes etc and not the airline who will just refer you back to them anyway.
That’s one of the perils of dealing with them when things don’t go to plan.
Because direct booking with airline was about 10% more expensive than OTA.
But the airline actually exists 🙂
If you want an idea of what happens with OTAs when things go wrong have a read of this
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/ba-op-qr-codeshare-cancellation-refund-decline/
And Expedia is one of the good ones.
Flights are still 6months away so not too bothered just yet.
Just about frustrated that a simple online process is being delayed as some OTA still seem to have “back office ticket processing”.Which OTA is this? Resolved now?
Because direct booking with airline was about 10% more expensive than OTA.
Usually when people say this, it ultimately turns out that it wasn’t really cheaper – ie there is some difference that accounts for the lower fare, like split tickets so you don’t get connection protection or no luggage etc. and if you want to change, cancel or anything goes wrong the ticket will end up being much more expensive. 10% isn’t nearly enough for the OTA risk factor.
Not yet resolved, hopefully by lunchtime today.
Direct booking with airline involved calling them up, so I preferred to book online to make sure no name errors when tickets are issued.At cases airline booking system have also failed and your only option is to rely on OTAs.
Not an advocate for OTA but if you can shoulder some risk by not?Some fares can be held for a long time so they don’t rush to ticket, especially if it’s done by some queue in India or the Philippines. BA and Lufthansa have similar policies for reissuing tickets.
Direct booking with airline involved calling them up, so I preferred to book online to make sure no name errors when tickets are issued.
I know this isn’t relevant in this case, but just a reminder BA’s price guarantee means it’s never cheaper to book via anyone else.
Success.
All now resolved.Very good. Probably it was just on the queue, with travel in 6 months this is common and nothing to worry about.
As an independent travel agent (i.e. you can actually ring up and speak to me directly if there’s a problem) I can confidently say that in 95% of cases, it’s no cheaper to book with a third party provider than with the airline. There are some exceptions to this, for example a one-way fare, particularly to the UK – which can be useful if you’ve booked a one way redemption flight – I’ve done this myself for a safari in October so I could travel with two different airlines, and will upgrade with points if it becomes available.
Hotels are a different matter though, particularly at the top end, there can be some enormous savings to be made on the direct price.
Certainly there is a credence to OTA using some “tricks”.
I looked back at my invoice and it is IT fare which according to Google is Inclusive Tour fare class restricted to certain travel agents with an aim to sell it as a package.
Certainly there is a credence to OTA using some “tricks”.
I looked back at my invoice and it is IT fare which according to Google is Inclusive Tour fare class restricted to certain travel agents with an aim to sell it as a package.
It appears they’ve sold something against the airlines’ fare rules.
Certainly there is a credence to OTA using some “tricks”.
I looked back at my invoice and it is IT fare which according to Google is Inclusive Tour fare class restricted to certain travel agents with an aim to sell it as a package.
It appears they’ve sold something against the airlines’ fare rules.
Yes, I wasn’t sure why the OP was so pleased the trip got ticketed and now we know it’s an invalid ticket, the trouble has only just begun.
Interesting.
The gap between an IT fare and a non-IT fare is a lot more than 10% and they are extremely restrictive.
Did you say you saved 10% ?
Interesting.
The gap between an IT fare and a non-IT fare is a lot more than 10% and they are extremely restrictive.
Did you say you saved 10% ?
Yes, to have a dodgy ticket and paid a huge premium for it seems, at best, suboptimal.
It seems this was an error fare as ticket prices (after my e-tickets were issued by the airline and proper invoice / ticket receipt which does not mention IT fare from airline themselves), have now more than doubled to the exotic destination at the peak time of the year.
You live and learn.
No change in my booking yet but won’t be booking any non refundable accommodation or other trip elements just yet.Yes, to have a dodgy ticket and paid a huge premium for it seems, at best, suboptimal.
Not dodgy at all – OTAs do this all the time and it is widely accepted by the airlines, who are fully aware of what is going on.
Yes, to have a dodgy ticket and paid a huge premium for it seems, at best, suboptimal.
Not dodgy at all – OTAs do this all the time and it is widely accepted by the airlines, who are fully aware of what is going on.
Exactly if airlines didn’t like it they would stop doing business with OTA/3rd party sellers
Yes, you’ll be fine.
Glad it worked out!
I use OTAs all the time and have never had any problems (apart from tickets taking a few days to be issued). Sometimes they can be slow with refunds, but that’s the case for many airlines too, and it’s always possible to sort with a chargeback anyways.
Any costs arising from a 0.01% chance of a ticket not being issued in time would be completey negligible compared to how much I’ve saved by using them.
Just don’t use an OTA if you need to prepay for bags and seat reservations etc.
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