Travel agent added costs to pre booked tickets

Ashraf1

Hi all,

First time so apologies for any mistakes

I have a dilemma! !!!

I booked 3 tickets to travel from Heathrow to Abu Dubai and onto Pakistan for my family in Oct 15
It was a good deal with Airbridge travel who sent me flight confirmation but no booking reference.

I chased this several times without response Nd at times the agent advised its on its way and tickets are sent 72 hrs before the flight

2 days before the flight with Etihad airways, I had a missed call from ten agent, even though I contacted him two weeks prior and a few days prior to chase the booking again, only to inform me @Ethiad had put ticket costs up and I had to add another £800 to the tickets or cancel the trip which would have cancellation fees and the cancelled trip money, minus the cancellation would be paid in 6-8 weeks.

I have already taken a week off to spend time with the family and booked travel time here and in Pakistan to arrange the pick up from the airport etc.

To my bewilderment I contacted Etihad who advised no booking had been made and the only temp booking was done on the 12th Jan (the day the agent chased me), hence why the ticket I crease was.

Eventually after several phone calls and discussions the agent came cow to £300 which I had no choice because I would have lost more through cancellation, even though I didn't confirm the booking for the 12th or ask for it?
I was in a no win situation but the agent lied about Etihad putting costs up with new terms through 2016 which affected tickets. He also advised the tickets hike affected 70 other people then went onto advise that they didn't reach their quota and therefore the airline cancelled tickets.

I was told to pay or cancel and if I moved the travel date I would still be paying £250 or more.

There were so many holes and the agent would not allow me to speak to a manager and ad is he was the supervisor and he makes the decisions

He also mentioned that he would get a discount of 75% which changed to to 50% in a few minutes without even speaking to his boss, which at one point were there and then not there!

Eventually after a few hours of calls I gave in to pay the amount but feel that if they had put the price up this would be illegal and needs to be reported to Abta for a listen e review etc

I do not know what I can do or where to turn to

Any advice?????

Regards

Ash

agrinnall

They don't appear to be a member of ABTA or any other regulatory body. I wouldn't have touched them with a bargepole, but then I haven't used travel agents for years anyway.

Caz3121

How did their prices compare to booking direct with the airline at the time. It sounds like they did not have a live fare and either
a) they 'forgot' to book the ticket at the time (they may still have come back to you and asked for more money but you would have been able to decline to proceed (not cancel) and go book elsewhere)
b) they took a gamble that they could buy tickets closer to departure for less than you paid and pocket the remainder
The reviews seem mixed https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/airbridgetravel.com what research did you do on the company before you booked?

philatio

Quick google reveals them to be a bit of a scam company.
Their phone redirects calls to Pakistan. Address is a mail drop.
Not ABTA, IATA or ATOL registered.

I think you've been done.

unholyangel

Caz3121 wrote: »

How did their prices compare to booking direct with the airline at the time. It sounds like they did not have a live fare and either
a) they 'forgot' to book the ticket at the time (they may still have come back to you and asked for more money but you would have been able to decline to proceed (not cancel) and go book elsewhere)
b) they took a gamble that they could buy tickets closer to departure for less than you paid and pocket the remainder
The reviews seem mixed https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/airbridgetravel.com what research did you do on the company before you booked?

I doubt they did B. Ehtiad is a scheduled airline and the way scheduled airline pricing works, it gets more expensive the more seats they sell off. Its usually only chartered flights that will be cheaper closer to departure.

Not entirely sure what happened here but OP might be better off speaking to their bank - hopefully they paid by credit card but debit card may be an option if they can show the trader is in breach of contract.