Travelstart Daylight Robbery

wait, found it on the New Zealand immigration website...

So wtf is this OP talking about?

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RAR said:
Be WARNED all potential passengers from ever engaging with this organization in future

I booked on Black Friday and have paid over R21 000 through 3 payflex instalments ,with 1 more instalment of R7000 due 10/01 and a further R17 000 for my first booking change.

Now again due to VISA processing delays I have to postpone my trip till the next school holidays.
I received a change quote requesting payment of R8767.
To say that R54 000 for a return trip Durban to Christchurch in April ie.booking 4 months in advance is daylight robbery is an understatement!
I now want to cancel my entire booking and will seek legal advice on the way forward.The penalty will be R9186(gasp!) and can take 6-12 weeks to finalize.
I thank them for disappointing a South African who was willing to support this CPT based company.

I will be taking up this matter with all relevant authorities etc.Anyone else with a similar experience?
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Are you a front end dev?
 
Wrath of Khan MD said:
wait, found it on the New Zealand immigration website...

So wtf is this OP talking about?

View attachment 1785581
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There could be a number of reasons. When we flew to Serbia 2 years back our initial VISA application was declined and we had to quickly reapply and got it second time round.

Just cause processing time is 4 weeks doesnt mean you will get it. They could potentially not meet requirements etc.

People need to treat VISA applications VERY seriously have everything present or dont apply - it will likely be declined.
 
Snyper564 said:
There could be a number of reasons. When we flew to Serbia 2 years back our initial VISA application was declined and we had to quickly reapply and got it second time round.

Just cause processing time is 4 weeks doesnt mean you will get it. They could potentially not meet requirements etc.

People need to treat VISA applications VERY seriously have everything present or dont apply - it will likely be declined.
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Willing to bet OP didn’t have a passport to start with and then left it to the last minute and is now trying to blame everyone else.

Classic case of T&C’s failure and taking the cheapest deal.
 
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SauRoNZA said:
Willing to bet OP didn’t have a passport to start with and then left it to the last minute and is now trying to blame everyone else.

Classic case of T&C’s failure and taking the cheapest deal.
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Yup... Woke up black friday and decided to catch an international flight to NZ on a whim...
 
Insint said:
Good. The point of complaints is to let the most eyeballs see it so that the company can either change its ways or lose business.

I was not aware of all the complaints and won't be supporting them.
Let their competition get the money.
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Their competition will treat this exactly the same.

This is NOT a Travelstart problem.
 
RedViking said:
Hello Peter is scam as well though. He doesn't have the reputation he used to have and it's not a trusted source anymore which is why people ignore it. Until they need to post something negative though. Such a useless website and using the negative reviews to force companies to give them money.
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I don't use Hello Peter for this reason.
It's extortion.
 
Snyper564 said:
Yup its an OP problem.
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It’s always unbelievable to me the incredible amount of people who don’t even know they need a passport to travel.

These days at least all the travel options force you to enter a passport number up front but even that isn’t fool proof.
 
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Still don’t trust travelstart - their fares being cheapest is the first red flag . Flight centre I found to be good and trustworthy if not booking on airlines own site .
 
RAR said:
Be WARNED all potential passengers from ever engaging with this organization in future

I booked on Black Friday and have paid over R21 000 through 3 payflex instalments ,with 1 more instalment of R7000 due 10/01 and a further R17 000 for my first booking change.

Now again due to VISA processing delays I have to postpone my trip till the next school holidays.
I received a change quote requesting payment of R8767.
To say that R54 000 for a return trip Durban to Christchurch in April ie.booking 4 months in advance is daylight robbery is an understatement!
I now want to cancel my entire booking and will seek legal advice on the way forward.The penalty will be R9186(gasp!) and can take 6-12 weeks to finalize.
I thank them for disappointing a South African who was willing to support this CPT based company.

I will be taking up this matter with all relevant authorities etc.Anyone else with a similar experience?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately changing or cancelling booking dates cost a lot on cheap and bargain bookings. That is how they nail you. This will be part of the "hidden" conditions (See fine print). Also note that luggage requirements are severely limited or excluded and will cost you as well. So is refreshments and meals. At least you got a bargain Gal Gadot (or whoever you are using as a profile pic. )
 
Travelstart are useless when any issues arise, I'll never use them again after a nightmare trip, it's not worth saving a couple bucks, rather book direct. Same goes for any 3rd party.

However, a visa issue is a you problem, not travelstarts. Don't see how they are to blame if you didn't get your visa and flights need to be rebooked.
 
theratman said:
Travelstart are useless when any issues arise, I'll never use them again after a nightmare trip, it's not worth saving a couple bucks, rather book direct. Same goes for any 3rd party.

However, a visa issue is a you problem, not travelstarts. Don't see how they are to blame if you didn't get your visa and flights need to be rebooked.
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I think OP is more surprised at the excessive fees of the booking changes. As much as OP is responsible for not having the paperwork in place, I will admit the travel industry and airlines, especially these websites , are a scam.
 
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Firstly, who books a holiday on credit? I mean, she is booking it with delayed payments on her credit card. Imagine not being able to afford it on credit and then selecting the credit on credit option...for a holiday.

Secondly, did she get quotes for the changes directly from the airline(s) as well? Then she could have dealt directly with the airline. I once made a booking through Travelstart where I also had to change the flight, Travelstart was crazy with the change, but the airline directly charged me R500 - for an international change. So, I did it with the airline directly.

It is painful to lose so much money, but I guess take it as school fees. Meaning, if you learned something from it, it wasn't a total waste. By the looks of it, she didn't learn a thing.
 
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