[Anonymous]

[Jackyizzy]

Today I experience something that I thought a “serious travel agency” wouldn’t do . Normal I book with Expedia or Wideroe.no or Cheaptickets.com but I did a new try this time and what a mistake I did. I had a confirm booking with PR from Bangkok to Manila at 23.30 tonight and the booking was made 2h 30min prior dep time. I got email confirm and booking PNR but when I was at check in counter I wasn’t on the flight . The staff call and checking but no ticket was issue. So I was sending to the ticket office and they also couldn’t find me, so I had to call to England and ask them where is my ticket and they told me is already issue so I gave the phone to the PR staff and they had a long argue blaming each other because now the check in counter are close. The agent told me later that the Airline cancelled my ticket and now they trying to getting away. But the staff print out a record and show me last minute.com never issue the ticket like the agent say. So I confront this and the agent put me on hold and talk with the ticketing office . And surprise surprise another tone now they blaming me for booking to short time . And that in the term and condition they need 24h to issue a ticket . After a long discussion I don’t get anywhere with lastminute.com and the guy say they will be generous to refund the ticket amount to me but except the 2.55£ credit card fee ! Never again with this travel agent, taking money first and then say we have a 24h right before we issue your ticket . Agent that have no clue what he talking about and a company can’t deliver a product . Why call lastminute when you can’t follow your company motto . I would some feedback from fellow traveller if I have some rights over this company by law . Thanks for any feedback !

[capetonianm]

Simple really. ‘lastminute’ means >24 hours. Book now for Christmas 2014.

[craigwatson]

Seriously though who would book a ticket 2.5 hrs before departure from the internet? Just chuck up at the airport and buy the ticket from the ticket counter there, on the day of travel prices will be the same no matter where you get the ticket from?

As an aside, quite cheeky to keep the card fee!

[Str8Talking]

I find that lastminute.com tend to send an initial confirmation (admittedly having charged your card from the beginning) saying the ticket has not yet been issued and that the seat is not confirmed until you receive a second email which always includes a ticket number as confirmation that the tickets are now issued and good to go.

[capetonianm]

Usually the e-ticket is issued within seconds of the credit card being charged. The sequencing is that the record locator is generated when the booking is ended, it is re-retrieved to make sure that there are no simultaneous changes to the PNR as a result of segment status changes, and then the e-ticket is issued.

Booking a ticket on the internet a couple of hours before travel is no different to booking it a week or a month before travel.

Buying the ticket direct from the airline will not necessary give the same fare as from an OLTA as the OLTAs may have negotiated fares or allocations in lower fare yield groups (the latter not normally applicable to late bookings as they are usually released.)

[Jackyizzy]

I have talk to Philippines Airlines office in Manila and according to their system they already notify Lastminute.com about issuing the ticket, but they didnt respond. So they cancelled the booking and they say that Lastminute.com can issue the ticket within 1min if they want to . My biggest irritating about this matter that they accept my money and confirm the booking. Sending out 2 Emails confirming and that I can just go to the check in with a valid ID !!! And I cant see in their terms and condition that we need to book at least 24h before flight when you make the booking. Instead of admit they where making a mistake and fix the problem they just playing arrogant. I have the 2 emails and the PNR record statement print out by Phillipines Airlines so I quite confidence to go out in Public and say Lastminute.com is not a serious company tour . AVOID !!!

[HBHLondon]

I do not use them at all as I find their prices higher than other web agencies like the ones you mentioned.

[SimonS1]

“craigwatson – 22/11/2013 13:22 GMT
Seriously though who would book a ticket 2.5 hrs before departure from the internet? Just chuck up at the airport and buy the ticket from the ticket counter there, on the day of travel prices will be the same no matter where you get the ticket from?”

Not sure what you are going on about but you can buy online and get the ticket confirmed and PNR issued within about 30 seconds if you use the right people. Many people do it that way during irrops to avoid queueing at the desks.

It’s also quite possible that you could get a ticket cheaper from an online agent (aka consolidator/bucket shop) if that is what they have negotiated with the airlines.

[skywards]

I’m sure when I tried to book a last minute flight (18 hours give or take) to JFK with ebookers it came up I had to contact the airline directly.

[MartinJ]

Wat this debate highlights is that many on-line travel agents mislead customers by portraying as a booking confirmation what in fact is only a confirmation that they received your booking request (which they may well turn down or offer you the same flights at a higher price due to “technical errors”, “miscommunication with the airline” or other excuses).
Be careful with whom you book. If it’s last minute it’s often better to book directly with the airline even if it’s slightly more expensive.

[rakehell]

This reply has been reported for inappropriate content.

Lastminute.com is a scam. They are fraudulent. There may be some people who have an ok time but I believe that is to maintain the money-making scam. I am out 1,000 Euro, no record of the booking. Have to go to the police, file a report, etc. Such a waste of time.

[MartynSinclair]

Is the a chance you could explain the issue rakehell?

[LuganoPirate]

Agree Martyn, it would be interesting to know what happened.

As for last minute bookings, I was once booked to fly out of JNB on a Thursday driving up from Bloemfontein, with the intention to stay the Wednesday night at the Intercontinental next to the airport. In the event the journey took a lot less time than expected and with 50 minutes to spare and hand baggage only, Swiss got me on the Wednesday flight. So really last minute bookings can happen.

[MarcusGB]

These days the Airlines often have their own flights on sale for a far cheaper price, including Business class fares Ex the EU saving more than 40% than from LHR.

With The Airlines always saying “You have to contact your agent” if anything goes wrong, I only book with The Airlines directly. You also get your FFP in and recognised at the time, and you earn without problems.
Any problems are sorted directly, and you have in a legal sense, no legal contract with an in-between 3rd party.
I find that agents offer very little if any savings and often charge more.

These days also, you can book via a UK Cashback site then directly with the Airline, and get 1-4% back, which can be a good £100 on a business return, so better value.

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