CheapOairReviews 14,845

For anything but coach watch them. I purchased $8,000+ business class ticket back April 2015 now Jun 2015 for flying Oct 2015. They changed my ticket from business to coach. I know this is $6000 fare difference. Tried to bump me from first/business aisle seat to back middle seats. Maybe cause I booked my seats directly with Qantas and didn't pay their $$ fee to preselect seats through them. Plus I can't pull up the booking on their website via booking nbr I have use emails they've sent.

My seemingly non refundable tickets were easily refunded through the call center. Be sure to do it in the first 24 hours of purchase, though.

The call center waiting time was 10 minutes, which, I think, is pretty acceptable.

This company has very wrong practices I have never seen before with any other online company ( and I travel quite a lot).

I purchased a flight from New York to Montreal. After an initial search, I could not find a convenient schedule. So, I clicked the option "flexible dates" assuming that the programme would give me different schedule options to choose from, which I did.

Well, this is the trick. It turns out that the options you choose are not really final, even though you think they are and you are prompted to provide your credit card details to make your purchase. Once all the online operation is completed and you close your computer, then programme still looks for the cheapest option within a three-day margin to the dates you provide and picks the cheapest dates by default. An email is then sent to the account I provided (which of course went into my junk mail) with a request to confirm the proposed dates within 24 hours. Otherwise, if they do not hear from you the programme will buy the ticket according to these dates.

As you can imagine, the dates the programme bought for me do not work at all. When I found about this a few days later, I called the phone number provided in the webpage and was informed that this is the way the system works if you mark the "flexible dates" box. They also told me that this information was clearly stated somewhere (which is probably true but probably in such a small font that I do not remember having seen it at all).

In order to get a new ticket with dates that worked for me, I would have to pay a $200 penalty and the difference for changing the dates. After complaining about this, the operator discussed it with a supervisor and the penalty was lifted. However, the difference to be paid was still above 500 dollars, which would round up the purchase to a full amount of $1000 for a New York- Montreal trip!

I insisted that this practice of having a programme to buy a ticket for you based on travel dates chosen by default is something unheard of and simply not correct. Other companies offering the "flexible dates" option do provide a menu of schedule options to choose from. But the final decision always belongs to the customer, without taking my silence as acquiescence. Otherwise, what defence would I have if for some reason I cannot read the email they send so that I confirm within 24 hours. As I said, the email went to my junk and I only retrieved it after one week...

Even though the date to travel is July 4th, I have already decided to purchase a ticket with another company and forget about this one. Maybe I could get some money back if I cancel it, who knows. But the experience has been to frustrating to try again.

I hope any potential customers will find this information useful, as I would not like them to be misled and tricked the way I was.

On their website it clearly states that I'll get refunded under the Compassion Exception Policy and it clearly says I'll get discounted 100% on cancellation, refunded or changed fees.
I am in the military and am eligible for this but according to them I still had to pay the cancellation fees.
I asked for a cancellation and refund back and was told I would have to pay $359 in total fees and plus whatever fees they had hid up their sleeves.
I spoke to Richard on the phone and he clearly said " Where are you getting this information from?"
Its on the website, he clearly lied to me. I've bought 5 tickets alone this year through cheapoair.
That was my last ticket I'll ever buy from them.
I'll never do business with them again.

Richard thank you for lying to me don't ever let me find you in person.

After I post this up
Cheapoair will pretend to be compassionate and reply to this review that they are sincere.
Blah blah blah
Con artist

If my experience is typical, I doubt I will use CheapOair again.

I booked a ticket via CheapO. I was told to expect an email with my ticketing info, at which point I could select a seat. The site also explained that, until I received this confirmation email, the price was not guaranteed, and could rise. This important email was to be expected in about 30 minutes. It is now 6 hours later, and still no email.

I first "chatted" on line with a CheapO rep who told me the delay was because my credit card company had not yet authorized the charge. While the rep waited, I called my card company and they told me: (1) CheapO had not requested authorization; (2) any such request would be granted because my card was good for that amount; and (3) I could give CheapO the card company's customer service phone number and they would immediately authorize the charge. 5 hours later, my card company still had not been contacted by CheapO.

I tried to resolve this over the phone, but got nowhere. I have been on hold as I write this for 65 minutes and counting. The recorded message says to use their online chat or email functions. I tried to start a chat, but was told no one was available to chat and I should try another time. I tried to send an email, but the "submit" button did not work.

6 hours after booking my ticket, I still can't select my seats, and can't be sure I even have a ticket. In the meantime, prices may have risen, and I may have lost opportunities on other sites for cheaper fares.

FOLLOW UP: If finally received my confirmation email -- 8 hours after making my booking. The price was as advertised. In the meantime, I was able to speak to a CheapO rep who helped me with seat assignment -- for a price. He told me that if I paid $14.95, I would be allowed to choose my seats. If I didn't pay that amount, I would have to wait until 24 hours before my travel date. So I paid the money and chose my seats. When I received my ticketing email from CheapO, the message said that I could choose my seats by calling CheapO or using their online seat map. In other words, I didn't have to pay a dime to get what the phone rep charged my $14.95 for. What gives, CheapO? Am I owed a $14.95 refund?

I was trying to find out Air Asia's baggage policy because Cheapoair had a good price. Forget it, the web site doe not work. Then, I called, the phone went to India. So hard for me to understand them. Twice, both of the customer service rep told me they don't see the flight on their computer. Finally I went to Expedia, their website clearly indicated the baggage weight etc. Therefore, my experience is Cheapoair is not ideal for your on-line booking.

My family wanted to take a summer trip and they rely on me to set up everything, flight, hotel and do the driving. Because the size of my family I had to look for some type of deal, I tried Priceline, it did not work for me so I tried CheapOair.com and found it was people friendly and the prices for hotels and flights were great for my budget. I booked a trip to San Diego, CA. I did not have any issues with hotel, flight or car... I passed on to my friends how much fun we had and if they plan to travel to use CheapOair. You can't go wrong.

My wife bought airline tickets to Tampa, FL for our family of 6 months in advance and paid, in full. Approximately, a month before our departure we get a notice that our flight had been been cancelled and we were booked on a different flight.
1. My wife paid to have all of our seating together. 2. we scheduled to take a red-eye so that we could fly straight through without a layover.
CheapOair decided to NOT put our seating together AND we have a layover in Miami on the return trip.
Customer service couldn't be less helpful nor speak English any worse. The only way we can get seating together, it seems, we'd have to pay more money. Hmmm seems like a scam to me!
I only wish she had told me before using this horrible service, I would have advised against it. The name alone screams distrustful.
They have lost our business for life and I will be certain to review them every where I can. Anything I can do to hurt their bottom line I will.

These guys are a crock, don't believe a word they say. I booked a room online for my wedding in Temecula. They sent me an email with my reservation, I then told wedding party, parents, friends and family where we were staying. 4 days later I booked 3 more rooms for family over the phone. They gave me killer deals as they told me each room would receive a 50 dollar credit in 4 business days, I had a 40 dollar promo code but decided to take the deal over the phone instead as it was obviously better. I called back to rebook my room that I had booked 4 days ago. That is when they told me that room was not confirmed as the hotel was now booked and they cancelled it while I was on the phone with them. I asked how the hotel could be full when I just booked 3 rooms that day. They couldn't tell me. They acted like they didn't understand what I was saying. They told me I could call back the next day to speak with Faban their Manager. When I called he was never there and I had to speak with Caden again. Caden's only solution was to cancel the rooms I did book. Cuz that solves things, or I could book a Suite at the hotel for full price. So I had to book that room through AAA at a higher rate as time had past. Then when I called to talk about the 50 dollars they were suppose to credit back to my card which they never did, they told me the hotel raised the price on them so they were not able to do that all of a sudden. They tell you whatever it is you want to hear in order to get you to book and then they don't follow through. Their only solution to things is, "we can cancel the reservation for you" knowing as time goes by rooms get more and more expensive. These guys are 100% con artists and need to have their business license revoked! I'll never use them again. Trying to figure out how to file a claim against them with the BBB.

Check, check and re-check the charges. You can get much cheaper flights booking direct with an airline and I am sure much less hassle. Customer service staff are unhelful, incompetent. E-mails are NOT replies to. I will never book with CheapOair again. Overcharged on my credit card - as yet no explanation. I have sent numerous e-mails - no response, have spoken to several customer service staff - all say different. Billing office promised to sort out the problem and ring back - DID NOT.

CheapOair erroneously responded to my review. They accused me basically comparing apples to oranges by stating"Refunds are only given within 24 hours of making a reservation. Requesting a refund because the fare has gone down only works when it's the exact same flight, date, time. Darren wanted to change to an earlier flight". Originally I did request a different flight but once I was informed of the penalty, so I requested the same flight, with the new price of less than $100 for each ticket. CheapOAir said that they would not honor that. They claim within 24 they will not assess a fee, but when booking on the website, if you click "free cancellation" the small print says 4 hours with out a fee, another false advertisement. Long story short, I booked 2 flights for $614 combined. The price has since then dropped daily. In fact, the EXACT same flight 72 hours later dropped to $348 combined... almost half. Still, CHEAPoair will not honor the new price and clearly elevated my original booking since the market of flight prices did not fluctuate that greatly with several other booking agencies and domestic flights. Again... stay away. Poor customer service, poor policies, inconsistencies and poor communications make this company a rip off.

So I purchased a ticket and received a confirmation that my payment went through. However a few days later I receive an email saying the payment didn't go through, so I contact them and they tell me just to resend the info, which I do (the same exact info). However now the price is $50 more I ask them to honor the original price and they pretty much tell me too bad not their issue. Congratz cheapOair looking at previous complaints, you've lost yet another customer.