Comments on: CheapOair’s Roy: “We do face a challenge when users ask us for refunds”

By: Lucy

Lucy — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:34:42 +0000

I have learnt my lesson of using this site. I wish I had done my research before I booked a flight with them. The airline was costing 200 dollars more so I went with them via TripAdvisor but in the end, I had to pay an additional 800 and I encountered a lot of problems with them. Never again.

By: Alexander Stephen Bryce Donahue

Alexander Stephen Bryce Donahue — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:09:36 +0000

I have had enormous issues with this company. And I have filed a Fraud Claim against OneTravel, CheapOAir and FarePortal through my bank USAA.

My son’s ticket could not be bought electronically or issued cause he is an infant flying from the Philippines One-Way Outbound with my wife. My son is an American-Philippine Dual Citizen with all documents in hand. My wife has her Philippines Passport and Temp Marriage US Visa CR1 (Expires 10-25-2010). Philippine Law states for live ticket issues it must be bought physically in the Philippines. My son’s seat was a infant lap request and those are Live Ticket Issues physically.

OneTravel or CheapOAir (Masked as Fraud/False Marketing) or FarePortal illegally used my Debit Card to transact my son’s ticket when it was never actually bought and issued from Delta due to the laws.

I spoke to a CSR Agent of CheapOAir…suprise cause I thought I was purchasing through OneTravel…..in the Philippines and he said it was on authorization pending status still at their department. And my bank also said it was pending. The Agent told me with the issues of Philippine Immigration he would refund the money back or drop the charges so they don’t go through. Within 24 hours he stated it would be fixed and credit back or cancelled.

I never recieved an email confirmation of the refund and the airfare reservation processed through. I called back to OneTravel or CheapOAir immediately and was told that it went through. They apologized and sent a confirmation email to me for the refund. I had to call several times over many hours with several supervisors.

As well as finally speaking to Nancy Marazzito who verified the mistakes and issued the rest of the refund. I have recieved only $74 US Dollars. I am still waiting for about $1084 US Dollars in Refund give or take some cents.
I will take immediate action cause I have no time to wait for up to 3 months to be refunded. My wife will lose her Visa and be stuck there with my son for 2 years again to go through the entire process and several thousand dollars in immigration costs. I will not be able to hold my son or hug my wife for a very long time. I can not afford to travel back and forth constantly international, cover our living expenses seperated and maintain college and a job. Let us say I will not be happy and start some procedures to rectify this if OneTravel, CheapOAir or FarePortal do not refund me in the next week.

ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is my information that I am not lying or making this up.

Booking ID 5075017
Reservation ID YBNXIQ
Total Cost $1158.40
Sept 30, 2010
One Way Ticket
Manila Philippines to Billings Montana USA

Please everyone be aware that CheapOAir has a “F” Rating on Better Business Bureau.

http://www.vegasbbb.org/bbb_rated_acc_rpt.asp?bbbid=78041&tr=rated&lg=F&ex=11%2C16%2C18%2C26

http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/business-reviews/travel-agencies-and-bureaus/fareportal-inc-in-new-york-ny-89212/

Business Name: Fareportal Inc.
Cheap O Air
CheapOAir
Business Address: 213 West 35th Street
Suite 1301
New York, NY 10001
See the location on a Mapquest Map
See the location on a Google Map
Original Business Start Date: 2/27/2003
Type of Entity: Corporation
Incorporated: 2003 in NY
Principal: Sam Jain, President & CEO
Phone Number: (866) 636-9088
(212) 478-0335
Fax Number: (212) 763-0475
Email Address: feedback@cheapoair.com
BBB Accreditation: This business is not a BBB Accredited Business

Type of Business: TRAVEL AGENCIES & BUREAUS
AIRLINES-TICKET AGENCIES

CheapOAir

BBB RatingBack To Top
Based on BBB files, this business has a BBB rating of F.

Reasons for this rating include:
Failure to obtain a required competency license.
BBB does not have sufficient information to determine how long this business has been operating.
Number of complaints filed against this business.
BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business.

Click here for an explanation of BBB Ratings.
Business Contact and ProfileBack To Top
Company Name: Cheapoair
Company Address: 213 West 35th St. #1301
New York, NY 10001
Phone Number: (866) 636-9088
Original Business Start Date: December 2004
Type of Entity: Corporation
Incorporated: 2/27/2003 in NY
BBB Accreditation Status: This company is not a BBB Accredited Business.
Type of Business: Travel Agencies & Bureaus
Web Site Address: http://www.cheapoair.com

http://www.bbb.org/atlanta/business-reviews/business-services-general/onetravelcom-in-las-vegas-nv-3000801

My Information if anyone considering joining together for a possible joint action.

BBB Complaint, FAA Complaint, FTC Complaint, DOT Complaint, State Attorney General Complaint, US Chamber of Commerce Complaint, IATAN Complaint, ASTA Complaint, ISTA Complaint, TIA Complaint, ARC Complaint, Arbitration Case, Class Action Litigation Case.

Against either or all of CheapOAir, OneTravel Holdings Inc. and FarePortal Inc.

Alexander Stephen Bryce Donahue
406-690-5561
aimlex2008@hotmail.com
aimee_lee2008@hotmail.com
Billings, MT

International Business Student.

By: Alex K

Alex K — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 22:32:42 +0000

My booking number: 4250787
I purchased a 2 round-trip e-ticket on 6/16/2010 to Minsk(Belarus) from Fort Myers with one stop at Milan(Italy) for my wife and daughter – both of them were removed from the flight by Delta airline because Delta do not see a second part of trip from Milan to Minsk and Italian visa respectively, and they should pick up a luggage at Milan(Italy) airport means pass a boarder and come back to airport and do registration at Belavia airlines cause Delta and Belavia don’t have a agreement between each other and luggage can’t go to final destination Minsk(Belarus)
Cheapoair never notified me that there was no interline agreement between Delta and BelAvia and what tickets are separate! And you can’t find anywhere information about agreements between airlines!!!
Who else but a travel agency had to make sure that the connecting flights are sufficient, now I should pay penalties($$$) from both airlines and different of price ($$$) and get a visa from Italian embassy($$$)-2200$ + 3400$ discounting tickets??? I can’t afford to pay for someone mistake 2K!!! I used many different companies to fly overseas – non of them did the same mistake.
What a great experience!!! 50 days of stress!
I ask you, to please do a full refund of my tickets

By: Inese Anadiotis

Inese Anadiotis — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:23:54 +0000

I had purchased an e-ticket from your travel agency on 2/28/2009.My reservation ID 2ATVUW and booking number: 1944682. I must complain to you about the return part of my trip on April 1st, 2009, when due to an obvious error in booking I was forced to miss my connecting flight at the Brussel’s airport. As you can see in your records, on April 1st, 2009 I was traveling from Riga to Newark,through Brussels(flight #601) which arrived on time at 8:30 am at the BRU airport, and my connecting flight #61 to Newark was departing at 9:45 am, however the Continental Airlines closes their check-in 1hour prior to departure which in this case was at 8:45 am.That left me with ONLY 15 min to change the planes;that’s just impossible!!!. Also, at the Riga airport I was issued a separate ticket to Brussles and told that I will need to check-out and in once again in Brussles. Why? Well, I have contacted the Contenental and explained my situation,and they confirmed that the airBaltic and Continental have NO interline agreement, therefore I haven’t been checked-in straight to Newark, US. In a result, I wasn’t allowed to check-in with Continental, even though I was there at 9:00am ( considering the fact that I had to pick up my luggage). The next flight with the same company was only the next day,plus a penalty and upcharge for the business class( becouse there was no economy seats available)would cost me around $695.50. I had no choice but to purchase a new ticket to get home that day, and I spent EUR 446.87(~$650) for the ticket with Delta Air which actually wasn’t even going to Newark but to JFK airport,therefore it cost me another $100 in cab charges to get back to Jersey City, NJ. Who else but a travel agency had to make sure that the connecting flights are sufficient and there is enough layovertime between the flights. In my case there was no interline agreement between two airlines!!!Cheopoair never notified me that there was no interline agreement between Continental and Airbaltic, nor that I will have to face the rechecking instead of walking through to my connecting flight. I had to find out about this later from Continental.Not only this horrible experience cost me lot of money but also a great deal of stress and frustration, and cheopoair is responsible for it. I have the right to request a full refund of my lost ticket becouse it was a booking error. I have tried to contact this company several times but until this day have no clear answer and explanation about what happened and why.

By: Martha

Martha — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:46:45 +0000

Georgia–You have not been honest. The truth is that I had to call you on March 19, 2009 and tell OneTravel that Lufthansa was no longer partnering with Air One (and WHY WAS IT NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO TELL ME?) on the segment of my trip from Brindisi to Rome on May 28. Lufthansa did NOT cancel my flight, you did. And furthermore, you DID NOT book me a new one and I had to pay $800+ to get to Rome and my return flight. I asked what I should do on March 19, 2009 and an agent named Brittany told me that she would cancel the segment with Lufthansa Flt#2835 operated by Air One (ID#3DZ8QP) and rebook me on Air One Flt 4407 because Air One was now partnering with Alitalia. I received an email shortly thereafter changing my airline reservation number FROM #3DZ8QP TO #BMKVNT. When I arrived at Brindisi Airport there was no reservation with EITHER Air One or Alitalia. The rest is history except that you have only reimbursed me for half of the additional $800 I had to pay to get to Rome with a promise that “the airlines” will pay the other half to me. “The airlines” did not cancel my original booking and fail to book a replacement flight for the segment of my trip from Brindisi to Rome–TravelOne did. So, where is the rest of my refund, Georgia?

By: Georgia Gallarde

Georgia Gallarde — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:03:54 +0000

This is in answer to the comments entered by Martha. We at OneTravel were very disappointed to learn she had any difficulties with her reservation and have been working with her to get this resolved. Her ticket was issued and the airlines was paid for the ticket. Lufthansa later cancelled her flight due to a schedule change and protected her on Air One. Martha was notified of this change.
We have contacted the original carrier regarding the refund of the two unused tickets and have not received a satisfactory answer as to why Martha was denied boarding on Air One.
The refund will be sent directly to Martha by the airlines for the unused portion of her ticket. She has been advised this may take 1-2 weeks to arrive. In addition we have sent her a check via Fed-ex for the other outstanding portion of her refund.
OneTravel certainly regrets any inconvenience or frustration Martha has experienced.
For any further clarification, questions or concerns, please contact ggallarde@onetravel.com

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:00:27 +0000

This is an update regarding Marie L’Heurex, when Marie booked these reservations CheapOair.com was not aware that she would encounter problems regarding the transfer of luggage. According to the legal connecting time she had sufficient time between flights. Due to her having to claim her luggage, and re-check with the connecting carrier, this caused a delay and the airline denying her to board. When the customer brought this to our attention, and had concerns with the return, we immediately starting working on a resolution for the return flight. Marie, was reprotected on the return at CheapOair’s expense, for a new plane ticket, the hotel would not accept a credit card from us for payment so Marie agreed to pay for the room and forward us the bill. It wasn’t until I just recently contacted her requesting the bill to be sent, it appears she never forwarded to our office or contacted me she apparently did not have our office address. I am currently waiting for the receipt and an immediate refund will be given, we always had every intention of paying for the hotel.

By: Marie-Alice L'Heureux

Marie-Alice L'Heureux — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:01:27 +0000

I flew with cheapOair even after they had tried the bait-and-switch tactic…they were dunning me with emails saying the flight that I thought was booked and paid for they wanted to change, but a follow one went through and I thought, OK I’ll fly with them since I am flexible and won’t need to make any changes….but I found I could not check in for the entire flight from MCI to Tallinn at once, since the airlines did not have any agreements. The the leg from MCI to Newark to Stockholm was OK on Continental, although with just a 65 minute layover, I ran from the plane to the baggage pick up, it took 30 minutes to get my bag and there were NO Estonian air people around. Then I had to go through customs, and go upstairs to re-check in.. I got to the gate about 35 minutes before the flight left and there were no Estonian Air people around and by the time I found someone to help who called to the plane gate, I was told it was too late to board. I thought they’d just put me on the next flight, but they would NOT because I did not check in on time!! I would have to BUY another ticket. I have been flying 35 years and this is the FIRST TIME ever that an airline did not help me out and it is because cheapOair booked me on two airlines (Continental/Estonian Air) that did not have a baggage handling or connection agreement. So I had to pay almost $300 for a ticket from Stockholm and of course had to spend a lot of Krona for meals while I waited 8 hours for my flight…to say nothing of losing an expensive personal item during the long delay after a longer flight…DO NOT USE THIS AIRLINE BROKER CHEAPoAIR is NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS. After hassling by email with Aden, Renee Andrews and Katie Schwartz, they finally changed the first leg of my outbound flight to the night before so I could be in ARN early enough and I could check in the night before (Continental would not let me check in 24 hours early if they were not the first leg of my flight)…they booked a hotel for me but did not PAY for it, talk about CHEAP-O and with meals and all that was another $200. plus the hassle, hassle hassle. (I was told that CHEAPoAIr could recover the taxes on the ticket since it was not used…they probably don’t know that since they don’t see to know the basics of air travel.

By: Renee

Renee — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:52:35 +0000

Mr. Martin Smith, please contact me directly so that I can be of assistance regarding your concern you have posted. I will require your 7 digit booking confirmation. I do regret the inconvenience you have experienced, and do welcome the opportunity to assist you further.

My email address is:
randrews@cheapoair.com or
escalation@cheapoair.com this email is monitored 24/7

Regards,
Renee Andrews
CheapOair.com
Online Customer Service Manager
866-636-9088

By: Martha

Martha — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:09:16 +0000

I should have mentioned that both CheapoAir and OneTravel (not TravelOne as I erroneously called it before) are owned by Fareportal, Inc. and the service of process address to file suits is:
Shailesh Jain, CEO (alias Sam Jain)
Fareportal, Inc. (DBA either CheapoAir or OneTravel
Suite 1201
213 West 35th Street
New York, NY 10001
This is the only way we can stop the sale of non-existent airline tickets. and the futile process of trying to recover compensation for same.

By: Steve Cousino, ACC

Steve Cousino, ACC — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:58:23 +0000

First, full disclosure: I am a professional travel consultant. I have arranged air-only itineraries for customers. I don’t know what sort of multi-GDS systems CheapOAir is using, but on my GDS system when I ticket a flight, I immediately have access to ticket numbers, confirmation numbers, and other pertinent information on that flight for my client. That’s the only way I know the flight reservation is confirmed with the airline. This information is provided immediately upon payment. Ditto with airline websites – you pay, and immediately receive a confirmed reservation number (record locator) and ticket numbers for the flight(s). Considering this, there is no reason anyone should settle for a travel company that takes money and sends a confirmation number a while later. Confirmation numbers are available as soon as payment is made.

I understand the desire to save money, especially on high-priced airfare tickets. But, many times the ways money is saved has a negative result on the travel experience. Combining multiple carriers on the same itinerary opens the traveler up to several risks. This includes the possibility of missing a connecting flight without recourse for alternate travel plans, baggage misdirection, and more. Sure, that can happen on any flight, but it’s typically more prevalent on multi-carrier flight arrangements. In order to ensure a seamless travel experience, multiple airlines involved in the same itinerary must have an interline agreement with each other, providing passage for the traveler. In the absence of such agreements, the traveler is playing with really hot hands. Not all airlines have interline agreements with all other airlines, and the general public is generally left in the dark on these.

Really, if you are needing airline tickets, the absolute best thing you can do is book directly with the airline or with a professional travel consultant. Sure, you might pay an additional fee, or a few dollars more for your seat, but I don’t think the aggravation and agony you’re likely to endure is worth the cost savings.

By: Martha

Martha — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:48:52 +0000

CheapoAir is also TravelOne and they are owned by the same crook. Last December 2008, I booked (TID#1684718) 2 roundtrip flights from Washington DC to Brindisi, Italy for May 2009 at a cost of over $3000. When the 3 Paper Tickets arrived at my house, one segment of the trip was missing–the return from Brindisi to Rome. I immediately called and was told that this segment of my flight was an electronic ticket but there was never an electronic confirmation as I usually receive from an e-ticket. I called two more times hoping to get another agent who could provide confirmation and was told the same thing, i.e. it’s an electronic ticket, don’t worry, you have paper tickets anyway. When my husband and I arrived at Brindisi airport at 5 am on May 28, we were told that tickets had never been paid for nor booked for this flight. We waited for two hours while the plane was completely boarded while the whole airport searched for our reservations. At the last possible minute, we paid over $800 to get to Rome and our connecting flight. Upon our retun home on June 9, I contacted Julie Kaswen, Director of Customer Service at Travel One and was told that she was assigning a prioity customer team to research my complaint. Ms. Llajjaira Diaz phoned twice and asked if I had proof of another ticket purchase and I told her I could email copies of my tickets and receipts right then if she would give me an email address. She refused to give me an email address over the phone but 2 weeks later she emailed me and wanted to know why I had not sent documentation. I sent it immediately and was told I would be updated on the status of my refund. It has now been 10 weeks since I requested a refund for a ticket I had to pay for twice and it has been 6 weeks since I had a response of any kind from Ms. Diaz although I ask her weekly for an update on what she calls “a glitch in the system”. I join many others on the internet who call this the worst customer service in the industry and I see many others who say they too have had to pay twice for one part of their trip. Is it not fraud to say a ticket has been booked when indeed it has not? How can these thieves be stopped?

By: Johnny

Johnny — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:22:22 +0000

I purchased a few times from Cheapoair. When I needed to change my trip, I called their Toll free number. Trouble I had initially was to get them since their phone system have a long menu and you have to listen carefully. After few attempts I leant if I select as existing customer option 6 and provide booking number to their phone prompt system , press 2 and bingo…I could connect to an agent faster than time you need to fog a mirror with your breathe. You can speak to phone agents within minutes and do not have to wait an hour. You need to have booking number to be able to get quickly to an agent. Cheapoair had to take special permission from the airlines for a death in my family and I have spoken to them 6 to 8 times and every time I got through. I will always recommend my friends and colleagues to Cheapoair

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:28:06 +0000

This company is the worst I have dealt with! It took over two months and countless hours on the phone (when I could get someone on the phone), to finally get through to these guys that they double charged me for airline tickets. I faxed them several times the credit card statement showing their mistake, but they still didn’t get it. After I contacted the NY state consumer fraud division, the BBB and an attorney, they suddenly realized their mistake. Stay away from them.

By: Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:28:30 +0000

Just an update on this interview. CheapOAir tells me no one by the name of Annie works for the company.

They’ve also asked me to forward the name and reservation numbers of anyone with a grievance to the company, and they’ll review their case.