Flymble legit?

Flymble · 28 September 2018 at 7:50PM

Alan_Bowen wrote: »

It appears bookings are made through Kiwi.com, so I would certainly check out the reviews for them before going any further. Nearly all the Trustpilot reviews appear to have been done on a single day last November which is very suspicious.......

Hi Alan,

Henry here, one of the co-founders of Flymble. I would like to address your point. The sudden spike in reviews from November was mainly caused by the fact that we invited our customers to give us feedback that day. I hope that clears things. Happy to chat further!

Best regards,
Henry

Flymble · 28 September 2018 at 8:02PM

stevie11 wrote: »

I had read about this company or maybe a similar company previously but not taken much notice at the time.

Anyway as this thread came up I thought I would try a dummy booking. I usually check google flights for price comparison so here goes:

Random search and dates 8 to 17 Dec LHR to LAX cheapest fare on Flymble with down payment and service charge etc with Finnair £492.57. Price is Hand luggage only so extra for hold luggage.

So onto Google flights same search and same flights booking direct with Finnair with hand luggage only is currently £339.31. So a saving of over £150.

The same fare booked with Kiwi.com was £350.

I don't know if flymble use live pricing which could make a difference with the pricing.

Apart from normally booking direct with the airline, this type of service is not for me but it may suit some people. Down to individual circumstances I suppose.

Hi Stevie,

Thanks for pointing that out. We do indeed use live pricing, but these prices are given by the Kiwi.com API. These prices are updated less frequently than the prices on their website. Also these prices are (slightly) higher than their website prices. Therefore it can sometimes happen that prices seem (a lot) more expensive on our website. They are aware of this issue and are working on it. The total price we display includes our credit partners' service fee of 17% (based on a 10 month plan). Important to note is that our credit partner (FlyNowPayLater) performs a credit check, meaning not all customers will be accepted credit. They believe one should only take credit if they can manage to pay it back. Furthermore, our aim is not to sell expensive flights to everybody, but rather to help specific users when they really need a flight but simply can't afford one. Think of weddings, family related matters or honeymoons. We clearly show our prices to make sure no surprises can occur. Let me know if you have any further feedback!

Flymble · 28 September 2018 at 8:05PM

photome wrote: »

Don’t believe anything you read on trustpilot, the site allows company’s to remove any review they don’t like

Hi there,

If I may respond to your point, no, Trustpilot does not allow companies to remove reviews. However, anyone - businesses and consumers - can flag a review if they think it violates their guidelines. Their Compliance Team will then investigate the review. Only if they agree, the review will be deleted. Please refer to their FAQ page if you are uncertain.

Flymble · 28 September 2018 at 8:13PM

Caz3121 wrote: »

that is unfortunate as kiwi must be one of the most complained about third parties. The 'good' Trustpilot reviews are questionable
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k9928727-Kiwi_com-Air_Travel.html
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k11942353-Beware_of_Kiwi_com_and_fake_reviews-Air_Travel.html

Hi Caz,

Sorry to hear your thoughts about Kiwi.com. Apart from the fact that they offer competitive pricing and a broad range of flights, we only rarely encounter an issue with them. We have already been partners for 2 years. I have however checked their reviews on Trustpilot and Tripadvisor, and it does seem that there are multiple negative reviews. It seems to be mostly regarding the issuance of refunds. I have sent an email to one of their employees asking if they can look into the issue. I hope this will help to prevent further issues with Kiwi and their customers.

photome · 28 September 2018 at 9:26PM

Flymble wrote: »

Hi there,

If I may respond to your point, no, Trustpilot does not allow companies to remove reviews. However, anyone - businesses and consumers - can flag a review if they think it violates their guidelines. Their Compliance Team will then investigate the review. Only if they agree, the review will be deleted. Please refer to their FAQ page if you are uncertain.

I am not uncertain. There are many instances where companies have removed reviews that they didn’t like.

stevie11 · 28 September 2018 at 10:49PM

Flymble wrote: »

Hi Stevie,

Thanks for pointing that out. We do indeed use live pricing, but these prices are given by the Kiwi.com API. These prices are updated less frequently than the prices on their website. Also these prices are (slightly) higher than their website prices. Therefore it can sometimes happen that prices seem (a lot) more expensive on our website. They are aware of this issue and are working on it. The total price we display includes our credit partners' service fee of 17% (based on a 10 month plan). Important to note is that our credit partner (FlyNowPayLater) performs a credit check, meaning not all customers will be accepted credit. They believe one should only take credit if they can manage to pay it back. Furthermore, our aim is not to sell expensive flights to everybody, but rather to help specific users when they really need a flight but simply can't afford one. Think of weddings, family related matters or honeymoons. We clearly show our prices to make sure no surprises can occur. Let me know if you have any further feedback!

Seems a very convoluted method to purchase a flight i.mo.

So if your price hasn't been updated by Kiwi are you going to inform the customer that the actual live price is lower?

With the example I gave earlier the customer either has a poor credit history not being able to purchase flights in the normal way and possibly save £100s by doing so or just be naïve. Therefore is your business plan to increase the price and take advantage of those with poorer credit, who want to pay it off on the 'never never'?

Or am I getting this totally wrong?

budgetflyer · 28 September 2018 at 11:38PM

if those with poor credit cant access the service, then there really isnt much point IMO.
Anyone with good credit could bypass yourself and Kiwi, search the market, book direct at a lower rate via credit cards/loans etc.
There probably is a market for for those with poor credit though

Pollycat · 29 September 2018 at 8:00AM

Flymble wrote: »

Hi Caz,

Sorry to hear your thoughts about Kiwi.com. Apart from the fact that they offer competitive pricing and a broad range of flights, we only rarely encounter an issue with them. We have already been partners for 2 years. I have however checked their reviews on Trustpilot and Tripadvisor, and it does seem that there are multiple negative reviews. It seems to be mostly regarding the issuance of refunds. I have sent an email to one of their employees asking if they can look into the issue. I hope this will help to prevent further issues with Kiwi and their customers.

Hi Henry
It's not just Caz's thoughts about KIWI.com.
There are threads about this company on the Air Travel board of Tripadvisor that run into thousands of posts. One thread runs to 130 pages!

The most commonly used word is 'avoid...'.

cubegame · 29 September 2018 at 8:21AM

One might suggest that those who need to put a flight on credit probably can't afford to travel to their chosen destination and need to re-evaluate their options.

Pollycat · 29 September 2018 at 8:41AM

cubegame wrote: »

One might suggest that those who need to put a flight on credit probably can't afford to travel to their chosen destination and need to re-evaluate their options.

It may be an emergency such as illness or death in the family, requiring someone to fly who doesn't have the readies.
But I get your point.

Flymble legit?

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