TL;DR
Ebookers didn't warn me that this flight fare doesn't include baggage. Now I need to pay luggage for two legs. How to fight the fuckers?
Full versionSo, how can I fight these morons? I think about some social buzz - their Facebook page, Reddit travel boards, all kinds of ripoffs, scambook - what else?
Also, I was thinking about telling this story to my cc company - can it help? Although option 3, full refund, is actually very bad option today because tickets are getting more expensive every day and now this ticket to Alitalia costs already $170 more, so just paying this freaking baggage for two legs would be cheaper - but of course I want justice here.
Please help, bothers. What should I do?
:bowdown:
Peace to all
Ebookers didn't warn me that this flight fare doesn't include baggage. Now I need to pay luggage for two legs. How to fight the fuckers?
Full version
On March 23 I've booked flight for my family, Tel Aviv to Malaga via Roma, with Alitalia, for 21-29 September. $439 each ticket.
I need to stay in Spain for few days more and return from Barcelona. So for myself, I chosen the flight - the same flight to Malaga with my family and return from Barcelona to Tel Aviv on October 4, also with Alitalia via Roma. This ticket cost $480.
However, the Alitalia site returned me an error a few times in a row when I tried to book this open jaw ticket. So I went to check to my favorite aggregators - Kayak, Orbitz, Ebookers. They all showed this same flight for more or less the same price, but Ebookers also showed a flight with return via Paris with Air France, for about the same price. Now they don't show the Alitalia only flight at all, but here is a piece of screenshot how it looked a week ago:
(Image for illustration only, here it doesn't reflect real flight times)
So I thought, why not to take Air France, the more so the departure time of this flight is better as I can spend a few more hours in Barcelona, which is not bad.
So I booked this flight.
Then, after a week, I was routine checking all my flights for this year. I checked the status of this flight at Air France site - and found that this tariff doesn't include baggage!
Now, how could I possibly know this when I was booking the flight? In no way. First, it happens a lot when they (Kayak, Ebookers - doesn't matter) gives you similar flights with different carriers from the same alliance - for example, forward with Lufthansa, backward with Austrian, then another flight forward with Lufthansa, backward with Swiss - for the same price. I don't know how this work in US, but in Europe it's always like this. So I was sure this is the same case (Alitalia and Air France are from the same alliance.)
Second, I always knew Air France is a regular an somehow reputed carrier; I had no idea they now work like freaking low-cost and sell fares with no baggage! How could I know?? They didn't post releases in all media around.
So I insist that I was here bona fide buyer and was sure that I'm buying a flight with baggage included, as always.
Having discovered this, I immediately contacted Ebookers support via chat. I explained the situation; the rep said he can't help me here but I should get a call from a supervisor.
In a couple hours I got a call from a supervisor; I explained him the situation again. He said that this ticket is not changeable nor refundable. I said that I know it well and don't argue with it; my point is since I'm a bona fide buyer and they sold me a ticket with no baggage, without any warning me about this matter, and I was sure I'm buying a ticket with baggage and now I need to pay like $100 more, so I consider this a deception from their side and thus demand for a betterment.
Ah yeah, and also he told that there is a link Additional airline fees may apply. Which was really there but small and quite remote from all the flight info. So I didn't see it before. When I went there to their Air France page, they state this: 1 article max 23 kg (50 lb) each or no luggage included, depending on the rate booked. And how in the hell I can know, even should I read this page before, which rate am I booking?
I told him that I want one of three options:
1. They change this ticket to another one with baggage, for example of Alitalia that I was going to buy initially;
2. They add baggage to this ticket, for they own expenses;
3. They send me full refund so that I can book a new ticket.
Then he told me that he needs to discuss this issue with his supervisor and will call me again in 48 hours.
This was on March 31, and no one ever called me since.
I need to stay in Spain for few days more and return from Barcelona. So for myself, I chosen the flight - the same flight to Malaga with my family and return from Barcelona to Tel Aviv on October 4, also with Alitalia via Roma. This ticket cost $480.
However, the Alitalia site returned me an error a few times in a row when I tried to book this open jaw ticket. So I went to check to my favorite aggregators - Kayak, Orbitz, Ebookers. They all showed this same flight for more or less the same price, but Ebookers also showed a flight with return via Paris with Air France, for about the same price. Now they don't show the Alitalia only flight at all, but here is a piece of screenshot how it looked a week ago:
(Image for illustration only, here it doesn't reflect real flight times)
So I thought, why not to take Air France, the more so the departure time of this flight is better as I can spend a few more hours in Barcelona, which is not bad.
So I booked this flight.
Then, after a week, I was routine checking all my flights for this year. I checked the status of this flight at Air France site - and found that this tariff doesn't include baggage!
Now, how could I possibly know this when I was booking the flight? In no way. First, it happens a lot when they (Kayak, Ebookers - doesn't matter) gives you similar flights with different carriers from the same alliance - for example, forward with Lufthansa, backward with Austrian, then another flight forward with Lufthansa, backward with Swiss - for the same price. I don't know how this work in US, but in Europe it's always like this. So I was sure this is the same case (Alitalia and Air France are from the same alliance.)
Second, I always knew Air France is a regular an somehow reputed carrier; I had no idea they now work like freaking low-cost and sell fares with no baggage! How could I know?? They didn't post releases in all media around.
So I insist that I was here bona fide buyer and was sure that I'm buying a flight with baggage included, as always.
Having discovered this, I immediately contacted Ebookers support via chat. I explained the situation; the rep said he can't help me here but I should get a call from a supervisor.
In a couple hours I got a call from a supervisor; I explained him the situation again. He said that this ticket is not changeable nor refundable. I said that I know it well and don't argue with it; my point is since I'm a bona fide buyer and they sold me a ticket with no baggage, without any warning me about this matter, and I was sure I'm buying a ticket with baggage and now I need to pay like $100 more, so I consider this a deception from their side and thus demand for a betterment.
Ah yeah, and also he told that there is a link Additional airline fees may apply. Which was really there but small and quite remote from all the flight info. So I didn't see it before. When I went there to their Air France page, they state this: 1 article max 23 kg (50 lb) each or no luggage included, depending on the rate booked. And how in the hell I can know, even should I read this page before, which rate am I booking?
I told him that I want one of three options:
1. They change this ticket to another one with baggage, for example of Alitalia that I was going to buy initially;
2. They add baggage to this ticket, for they own expenses;
3. They send me full refund so that I can book a new ticket.
Then he told me that he needs to discuss this issue with his supervisor and will call me again in 48 hours.
This was on March 31, and no one ever called me since.
Also, I was thinking about telling this story to my cc company - can it help? Although option 3, full refund, is actually very bad option today because tickets are getting more expensive every day and now this ticket to Alitalia costs already $170 more, so just paying this freaking baggage for two legs would be cheaper - but of course I want justice here.
Please help, bothers. What should I do?
:bowdown:
Peace to all
