We've all somehow figured out that budget airlines scrimp and save on everything to be profitable. But the worst they can do is scam the customer. I use the word 'scam' because you may never realize their devilish plots for online bookings if you simply ploughed through the booking process in a rush or without testing fare types.
Here's what I found out. I was booking a trip for myself and friends on Jet Star. For a couple of days now, I've been checking out prices for 1 person to make a preferred pair of flights. Let's just say the outbound flight cost $X. When I searched the same outbound flight for 8 people (the size of my group) the fare became $X + 10. I went Hmmmm? too. I did some testing and found that that if I booked for 7 persons, I'd be shown the $X fare but the fare for the 8th booking, when done separately, would cost $X + 10. The jump is probably triggered by some seat volume quota being passed. But the big problem is, JetStar would have charged a $X + 10 fare for all 8 passengers if I didn't bother splitting the booking. That's $70 extra dollars on a fare that's $52. That's 15% more per ticket per person! Bloody hell I went.
Then there's the credit card facilitation fee or convenience fee. Jet Star charges $12, per passenger. Say what?! Yes $12 per passenger not per transaction. I was a more than a little surprised. It didn't make any sense to penalize all traveller for the sake of making an electronic payment, especially when the ticket prices are this low. For a total ticket price of $105, a fee charge like that is bloody more than 10%. It sounds insane! So here's what I did. I picked to pay offline. You can too. Just gotta head on down to a post office and pay with cash or Nets. No extras incurred. I did that because I'm a selfish ass, didn't want everyone paying more because I used a credit card, and there's a SAM on the 2nd floor of my office building.
So think before you click because sometimes budget doesn't always cut it.
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