eDreams lying about airfares

SaxonMaiden

What kind of laws are there to stop travel sites misleading the public about the eventual cost of a flight? Yesterday, I booked an open jaw flight on eDreams, advertised as £249 on the flight comparison website. Adding baggage brought it up to £279. Then when I got to payment, I had a nasty surprise: after slowing me down with a gazillion pages trying to sell me extras I didn't want, eDreams claimed that the airline had put the price up to £314.

There being very few flights from the departure airport to the destination, I had to go ahead with the booking. However, this isn't the first time I've been stung like this by eDreams. It's not even the first time this summer. Getting sudden extra charges once might be bad luck, but twice in the space of a few months made me suspicious. I therefore opened a flight comparison site in another browser and did a search for exactly the same flight I'd just booked. Sure enough, eDreams was still advertising it as £249. In other words, it's a scam. Either they're lying on the comparison sites about the price the airline is charging to get people to click through, or they're lying on their own website about the price having gone up to con people out of extra money. 

Does anyone please know who can put a stop to this eDreams nightmare?  Already phoned IATA because it said on the eDreams website that that's who regulates them and a rude guy just talked over me to say there was nothing they could do.  

marcia_

 Don't use edreams if they cause you grief? Book directly with the airline 

Voyager2002

Who can stop them? You can. Simply refuse to buy from them. Maybe read a few reviews and shop elsewhere, or stop buying once it is obvious that things are going wrong.

Flight comparison websites give links to many different agents and to the airlines operating the flights. Usually it is sensible to click through to the airline and buy directly from them, although sometimes it can make sense to use a reliable agent. Before you give your money to an agent it is essential to read some reviews: some are OK but many can cause very serious problems for the poor customer. Edreams is just about the worst of them, and if all that happens to you is that you end up paying twice the quoted price for your journey you have got off very lightly indeed and should thank FSM for having more luck than you deserve.

bagand96

The problem with some of the online travel agents is they don’t always show live flight pricing. There probably was a ticket available at £249 at some point but the fare was no longer available and eDreams weren’t showing live pricing/availability. 

It’s arguably misleading but not a scam as such because they do give you the choice to bail out, they’ve told you about the increase before you commit to paying and booking. 

SaxonMaiden said:

However, this isn't the first time I've been stung like this by eDreams. It's not even the first time this summer. Getting sudden extra charges once might be bad luck, but twice in the space of a few months made me suspicious.  

“Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me”

Next time just book direct with the airline. 

Westin

"Does anyone please know who can put a stop to this eDreams nightmare?"

Yes. YOU can.  For goodness sake stop being drawn in by price alone on the internet.  Research who you are giving your money to.

eDreams are well covered for what they are doing. You are making only a booking request.  The price is updated as you go through the booking flow and process.

Either book direct with the airline or use a reputable UK travel agent or flight seller.   

Caz3121

If you want to see current live pricing you should look on the airline website. These online ticket floggers (there are many of them) don't have live pricing (probably helps them attract those that don't bother about reviews, terms and conditions, additional fees etc and are only interested in a headline advert that looks 'cheap')
How much did you save v's booking direct with the airline? have you noted the fees they will charge you if the airline cancels the flight? (common occurrence in these times)

Upsidedownandaround

It’s not a scam. Edreams will have zero liability for what another website says the price is that they will charge you and they will make it quite clear in their terms they don’t have live pricing and you are making a booking request on their own website.

The mind boggles how people who feel they are getting “stung” by these websites still become repeat customers of them.

SaxonMaiden

Upsidedownandaround said:

The mind boggles how people who feel they are getting “stung” by these websites still become repeat customers of them.

It was that or Opodo (later found out same BS company, but had problems with them last time I was booking flights) on the flight comparison sites recommended in MSE's email.  So if this site, which is supposed to save people money, is leading lots of people astray, maybe that needs looking into as well.  

Upsidedownandaround

SaxonMaiden said:

Upsidedownandaround said:

The mind boggles how people who feel they are getting “stung” by these websites still become repeat customers of them.

It was that or Opodo (later found out same BS company, but had problems with them last time I was booking flights) on the flight comparison sites recommended in MSE's email.  So if this site, which is supposed to save people money, is leading lots of people astray, maybe that needs looking into as well.  

Why was your choice between Opodo or Edreams (two companies you have either been stung by before or had problems with)?
I’d suggest you contact MSE then if they are recommending using these third party sites without highlighting how they work and the issues people will likely experience.

photome

SaxonMaiden said:

Upsidedownandaround said:

The mind boggles how people who feel they are getting “stung” by these websites still become repeat customers of them.

It was that or Opodo (later found out same BS company, but had problems with them last time I was booking flights) on the flight comparison sites recommended in MSE's email.  So if this site, which is supposed to save people money, is leading lots of people astray, maybe that needs looking into as well.  

why only those 2, did you check the price on the airlines website ?

marcia_

SaxonMaiden said:

Upsidedownandaround said:

The mind boggles how people who feel they are getting “stung” by these websites still become repeat customers of them.

It was that or Opodo (later found out same BS company, but had problems with them last time I was booking flights) on the flight comparison sites recommended in MSE's email.  So if this site, which is supposed to save people money, is leading lots of people astray, maybe that needs looking into as well.  

 Ive just done a quick search on the main website and only things that came up about both companies were not recommending them.