I booked flights with a fraudulent company. Would travel insurance help?

leylandsunaddict

couriervanman wrote: »

OP next time try Kayak/Skyscanner/Travelsupermarket etc etc etc.......why on earth do people use anything else

They're only price comparison sites. They're ok for finding flights but you should never book from any advertisers links on there, unless the link is to the airline. There's worse than Travel Jockey around and they often appear on the likes of those price comparison sites.

leylandsunaddict

k3lvc wrote: »

OK I'm going to ask a really stupid (or maybe genius) question here - assuming the tickets are in the OP's name, he/she has e-tickets for them and they're refundable then why not just contact airline and ask for refund ?? Does the booking agent somehow have a hold over what actions can be carried out on the ticket ?

The booking agent owns the tickets and everything has to be done via them. That is just another huge drawback of booking through a third party. The airline can't refund the passenger because they're not their customer, Travel Jockey is. These tickets are non refundable anyway, as is the norm when you book through shonky OTAs. They usually sell the cheapest inflexible tickets.

The OP said the airline was more expensive but the tickets may not have been the same type. It's impossible to tell just by looking at the headline price.

swindon87

eDicky wrote: »

What's the explanation for these two apparently conflicting statements?

The travel agents can get a full refund as they are the ones who booked the flights directly.

We have asked for a refund from the airline and they said only the travel agent can do that. The travel has said that no refund can be made on their end. I guess they would say that as that is their tactic to scamming customers.

Voyager2002

eDicky wrote: »

What's the explanation for these two apparently conflicting statements?

As I understand the situation, the passengers cannot cancel (or at least if they do will not receive any refund) but the agency is able to do so.

swindon87

eDicky wrote: »

What's the explanation for these two apparently conflicting statements?

Those website are no different, they're just comparison sites. I didn't actually book on the Travel Jockey site. I booked phone and a friend of mine found the flights for us. I know I still should have researched a lot better than I did.

Voyager2002

swindon87 wrote: »

Hello,

I recently booked flights with a company called Travel Jockey,

...

This is where the scam comes in. We started digging through the bad reviews on Trust Pilot (although rated "Excellent"), many people have been left stranded at the airport as their tickets were cancelled just before or on the day of the flight! We want to try prevent this from happening as much as we can or just get out money back as soon as possible, in order for us to book a new flight. We will be travelling this December.

Is there a travel insurance that would cover us if the inevitable was to happen?

As others have said, travel insurance would not help. And just because you have a reasonable belief that you might be swindled, that does not make it inevitable.

My suggestion: contact the airline and confirm that they have received payment for your tickets. If so, ask them to add your contact details to the ticket notes and request that the airline contact you if any cancellation request is made.

As others have said, if your tickets were to be cancelled you would be protected by Section 75 since part of the payment was made by credit card.

Murphy_The_Cat

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

I have just had a look at Travel Jockey, 10 seconds on that website would have put me off,

I didn't even get as far as their website - searching Travel Jockey on google I got "Travel Jockey is a travel agency in united kingdom, providing expert travel advice, guidance, and booking flight at.." if a Company can't get basic English and grammar correct, you're not off to a good start.

lisyloo

swindon87 wrote: »

The travel agents can get a full refund as they are the ones who booked the flights directly.

We have asked for a refund from the airline and they said only the travel agent can do that. The travel has said that no refund can be made on their end. I guess they would say that as that is their tactic to scamming customers.

It extremely common even with bona vide travel agents that bookings are not refundable.
I asked about this before (due to elderly relative in hospital) and they said they use a broker so must be a different arrangement to booking direct.

One holiday I booked direct for this reason but then you lose the package protection you have and all arrangements are independent.

Do you have travel insurance?
You need to book it when you book your holiday not after.

Heliflyguy

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

The booking agent owns the tickets and everything has to be done via them. That is just another huge drawback of booking through a third party. The airline can't refund the passenger because they're not their customer, Travel Jockey is

The agent doesn't "own" the ticket it's just a number allocated to their psuedo booking city (PCC) that identifies them in the GDS assuming this agency even has these. The airline could if needed take the booking over and deal with it if required, how do you think bookings/tickets are changed at airports when there has been disruption and the agency that booked in the first place is closed for the night/weekend.
As far as refunds are concerned (if the ticket is refundable) if the airline is the merchant I.E. the airline received payment direct from the CC/DD then they could refund if necessary.
And from before the E-ticket is also held in the agency booking system under their booking reference as well as the airline under a different ref or the same ref depending on each GDS.