Warning against Opodo baggage pricing

Martin_Go

I would strongly advise travellers NEVER to make use of Opodo for booking flights. I was recently sold two return tickets to Athens for a fortnight, for which Opodo did not quote the additional fees for the luggage allowance at the time of the quote, or booking, or afterwards. When I arrived at the airport I was told our tickets only entitled us to hand cabin luggae and we would be required to pay a further £36 each way per person (£144), more than 25% of the original price quoted. This is in breach of UK guidelines issued by the Civilian Aviation Authority and the Office of Fair Trading on consumer rights over pricing of tickets, which state that all extra charges should be shown at the first quote. Opodo has refused my request for compensation stating that because their confirmation page contained the phrase 'Baggage Allowance 0' they are not liable. In my view this is a straight deceit, legitimising uncompetitive practices.

Caz3121

Many third parties do this. Expedia specifically flag where there is no baggage included and tell you that you need to log into the airline's website to add and pay for baggage so I highly suspect this does not fall under "breach of UK guidelines issued by the Civilian Aviation Authority and the Office of Fair Trading on consumer rights over pricing of tickets, which state that all extra charges should be shown at the first quote."
Hold baggage is optional, many people travel with hand baggage only.(even for a fortnight)
Which airline was your booking for? (a number do not include baggage and this needs to be added as an optional extra)
was there an option to state you wanted hold baggage included?
why on earth did you choose to book with a third party and not with the airline direct?

SW17

Caz3121 wrote: »

Many third parties do this. Expedia specifically flag where there is no baggage included and tell you that you need to log into the airline's website to add and pay for baggage so I highly suspect this does not fall under "breach of UK guidelines issued by the Civilian Aviation Authority and the Office of Fair Trading on consumer rights over pricing of tickets, which state that all extra charges should be shown at the first quote."

Also my understanding. The guidelines relate to charges everyone has to pay, such as APD and airport charges to the airline. Baggage is optional, though some sites are a lot clearer than others about it...

Caz3121 wrote: »

why on earth did you choose to book with a third party and not with the airline direct?

Possibly because Opodo displayed price was lower than elsewhere (including airline direct). Certain amount of sympathy with the OP here, Opodo seem to have started using the eDreams display logic, which is incredibly opaque about charges and the final price, and in this case they may well be stepping over the line. BTW, although a big fan of your posts in general, 3rd parties are not by definition bad IMO, plenty of consumers want the convenience and service they offer and many are clear and honest about charges.

callum9999

Caz3121 wrote: »

Many third parties do this. Expedia specifically flag where there is no baggage included and tell you that you need to log into the airline's website to add and pay for baggage so I highly suspect this does not fall under "breach of UK guidelines issued by the Civilian Aviation Authority and the Office of Fair Trading on consumer rights over pricing of tickets, which state that all extra charges should be shown at the first quote."
Hold baggage is optional, many people travel with hand baggage only.(even for a fortnight)
Which airline was your booking for? (a number do not include baggage and this needs to be added as an optional extra)
was there an option to state you wanted hold baggage included?
why on earth did you choose to book with a third party and not with the airline direct?

Presumably because, as I've said a million times to that question on here, it can be cheaper.

Opodo specifically state there is no baggage allowance too. As they told the OP, the website says "Baggage allowance 0" then has a button right next to it saying "Add baggage".

jpsartre

Martin_Go wrote: »

Opodo has refused my request for compensation stating that because their confirmation page contained the phrase 'Baggage Allowance 0' they are not liable. In my view this is a straight deceit, legitimising uncompetitive practices.

And in my view you should have read what was on the screen in front of you in which case you would have had no problem. While Opodo is one of the worst 3rd party sites out there, in this case the blame for the screw-up is entirely on you.