I needed to fly from London to New Mexico on short notice with a family member. It was a very stressful time with a lot of things up in the air. After finding two appropriate tickets on SkyScanner that included one suitcase per person, I was redirected to the Travel House website.
The form hardly required any information before asking for card details for payment (in this case, £1400). This was around 9pm. Once the payment went through, all it said was, “Thank you for your payment!” No information on what do next. No information about an e-ticket and no information about how to acquire it.
Soon after, I got a phone call from someone at Travel House. He told me if I wanted 2 suitcases, it would be £500. I said, “You can’t do that. It says the suitcases are included.” He put me on hold. When he came back, he said, “Okay, I’ll do it for you for £1400 from London to Oregon.” I said, “No! It’s to New Mexico.” He said, “Okay”, and hung up.
25 minutes later, I started to panic as it looked like I had been scammed. I called back and told them I wanted to cancel. He said, “There will be a charge”. I said, “How much of a charge?” “£500.”
It went on:
Me: £500? You can’t do that.
Travel House: That’s our policy.
Me: You didn’t say that online.
TH: We don’t say it online. If you had called within 20 minutes, you could have cancelled for free.
Me: When am I getting my tickets?
TH: 24 hours from payment.
Me: Fine. Goodbye.
Did I get my tickets at 9pm the next day? No.
I e-mailed them. I did not get a response until the next day at 10am. They said they would e-mail me them in 24 hours. In other words, another 24 hours from 10am the day after…!
I replied asking why it is taking longer than it should. No reply.
I received an automated e-mail the following day with the e-tickets: over 48 hours with no instructions or details. Not even seat numbers.
Thankfully, they did work and I got on my flight.
One more thing:
A few days before the flight, I called American Airlines because Travel House never offered me the option of an aeroplane meal with dietary restrictions. The lady at American Airlines said, “Okay. I’ve given you a kosher meal for this flight as well as for your February flight from LAX to Gatwick.” I said, “I never booked such a flight.” She told me I needed to contact Travel House.
I e-mailed them and thankfully I had not been charged. Just another illustration of the competency crisis over at Travel House.
Best,
Jay
