Booked with lastminute and worried now?

glenandemm

Hi guys I did a search for flights on skyscanner and lastminute.com came up best price, I naturally thought they was a reputable company and booked my dream holiday to Florida, thrm I got an email from a company called bravofly, naturally I researched them as I thought I booked with lastminute and turns out they own them but the reviews are shocking, I've not had any booking confirmation but I did just book last night, I'm wondering whether to try and cancel as I've just booked or go with it, I believe customer service is a nightmare!
Has anyone else had any run ins with them etc?

richardw

Which airline are the flights with?

Caz3121

Many airlines allow free cancellation within 24 hours IF you book direct with them. Booking through a third party usually will not apply as you have no direct contract with the airline (you have engaged a third party to be your agent for the booking)
You may well find Bravofly/Lastminute will come back to you and confirm that the "best price" was not a live fare and is no longer available so they want more money off you to proceed. At this point you would say that you do not want to proceed at the revised price (do not mention 'cancel') and then you will be able to book direct with the airline
If the price is the real price then the booking conditions will apply which may not allow cancellation without loss of everything you have paid

duchy

As it is less than 24 hours and a weekend to boot I think you are jumping the gun a bit.

Did you pay by credit or debit card ?

For what it's worth I booked flights with lastminute in August and had no issues whatsoever.

If they do come back and say the flight is no longer available at the price you wanted - get a refund and start over. ebookers are usually well priced and have a good reputation.

glenandemm

Cheers guys yes I only booked last night so like you say I may be jumping the gun but the reviews don't make good reading at all and contacting them is a nightmare apparantly, hopefully things will be ok but I paid with visa debit as I don't have credit cards.
The flights are going with delta who are run by Virgin, I've not had ticket confirmation yet other than they're own booking confirmation so I can't log into the airlines own website!
This has taken us so long to save for and I'm really nervous we've just made a massive mistake but hopefully not��

paddyrg

Just a tip for anyone who does use eBookers - download their app, the rate of money back is accelerated (for hotels at least), so 5% instead of 3%.

SW17

glenandemm wrote: »

Cheers guys yes I only booked last night so like you say I may be jumping the gun but the reviews don't make good reading at all and contacting them is a nightmare apparantly, hopefully things will be ok but I paid with visa debit as I don't have credit cards.
The flights are going with delta who are run by Virgin, I've not had ticket confirmation yet other than they're own booking confirmation so I can't log into the airlines own website!
This has taken us so long to save for and I'm really nervous we've just made a massive mistake but hopefully not��

Your main risk with them is coming back for more money because the price you saw and booked was not live pricing, as mentioned above. If it happens, just follow the advice from Caz3121 above. Otherwise they may just confirm as you have booked.

BTW, Delta are not run by Virgin, they own 49% of Virgin Atlantic and they codeshare on many routes. Some might say that Delta now runs Virgin, but officially not

glenandemm

Hi guys they've come back with two emails basically saying the flight has been cancelled and my money hasn't been taken out of my account which clearly has been but to wait upto 7 days for it to return?
Here's the emails they sent-
We regret to inform you, that due to a communication problem with the airline's system, it has not been possible to confirm your booking.





Your payment order has been successfully cancelled. Depending on method of payment used, the amount may be temporarily blocked, possibly lasting up to several days. Shortly you will receive further notification with the relevant details.

glenandemm

Further to our previous communication regarding your booking request, we would like to provide you with more information about why there may still be a transaction pending on your card.

When taking payment, we use a secure standard procedure called “temporary credit limit” where the amount the customer should pay upon booking is simply 'frozen' and not withdrawn from the customer's available funds.

This system is aimed at protecting the customer's funds and whilst it affects the availability of your card, it means that technically no charge is made to your card until your booking is confirmed, it therefore doesn’t have any effect on your interest or clearing period.

Please rest assured that no money has been withdrawn from your account and the frozen credit will be returned according to your bank's timings. Unfortunately this process could take several days and we recommend you contact your card provider for further details.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us on +39 0423 402040* (24/7) or 0044 (0)203 734 2130** (from Monday to Sunday, between 8.00am and midnight, GMT). To see if a local number exists in your area, please check the end of this email.

Best regards

Voyager2002

glenandemm wrote: »

Further to our previous communication regarding your booking request, we would like to provide you with more information about why there may still be a transaction pending on your card.

When taking payment, we use a secure standard procedure called “temporary credit limit” where the amount the customer should pay upon booking is simply 'frozen' and not withdrawn from the customer's available funds.

This system is aimed at protecting the customer's funds and whilst it affects the availability of your card, it means that technically no charge is made to your card until your booking is confirmed, it therefore doesn’t have any effect on your interest or clearing period.

Please rest assured that no money has been withdrawn from your account and the frozen credit will be returned according to your bank's timings. Unfortunately this process could take several days and we recommend you contact your card provider for further details.

Should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us on +39 0423 402040* (24/7) or 0044 (0)203 734 2130** (from Monday to Sunday, between 8.00am and midnight, GMT). To see if a local number exists in your area, please check the end of this email.

Best regards

I suggest that you discuss this with your card issuer: in case of any unreasonable delay in the money again being made available to you, ask them to do a 'charge-back' to get the funds back instantly.

Anyway, you have now discovered one of the main reasons for not booking through Last Minute. Check whether the flights that you chose are still available for purchase direct from the airline, or perhaps through a reputable agent.

duchy

Whilst you are waiting for the authorisation to drop off why not share your dates and route with us . Maybe we can find you an even better fare with another provider.