Summer is here which means BBQs, beach days, and for many a vacation. But don’t let your vacation turn into a nightmare, protect yourself from travel scams, like Justfly.com when you’re booking vacation travel.
What is Justfly.com?
In a nutshell, Justfly.com is a discount airline booking website. According to the About Us section of their website, “Justfly was created by a team of technological experts with many years of experience in the travel industry. We believe our platform is second to none when it comes to issuing low-cost tickets efficiently in a user-friendly environment. We have partnered with over 400 airlines to deliver the best prices possible to our customers. Our team of travel agents is ready to assist you on the phone you can rest assured we’re with you every step of the way to make sure your vacation is flawless.”
This all sounds great, after all, who doesn’t want to get the best deal? So what’s the problem with Justfly? According to the BBB, and several financial experts Justfly.com is a major scam and should be avoided at all costs.
Why is Justfly a Scam?
It’s hard to say if the issues many have been having with Justfly are due to unintentional mistakes or if the company is intentionally trying to scam hardworking Americans out of their vacation savings. Considering the BBB has received 872 complaints in the past 3 years, we have to lean towards the latter.
Lack of Customer Service
Most people don’t hold strong opinions of a company until they have to deal with the company’s customer service. How customer service handles a situation will often make or break your view of that company. Considering 676 of the 872 Justfly.com complaints are due to customer service issues, it’s safe to say you won’t have an easy or pleasant time dealing with Jusfly’s customer service. What kinds of issues have people reported having with Justfly’s customer service?
- Mistakes being made by booking agents, such as the name and spelling of the passenger’s name. Adjustments to the booking result in significant fees to the consumer from both the airline and justfly.com
- Not receiving email booking confirmations as promised
- Being on hold for excessive periods of time when calling into the customer service department. Some people have even reported being hung up on
Keep in mind, these are only some of the complaints that people have reported with Jusfly’s customer service. There are likely many more issues that are going unreported.
Hidden and Added Fees
Even worse than a company with terrible customer service is a company that charges you more than they say they will. Pair that with an awful customer service experience and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Beware: customers have reported the following complaints:
- Differences in the quoted price as opposed to what is actually charged on the consumer’s credit card after booking
- Being charged more for a cancellation fee than was originally quoted
Other people have said that Justfly’s “price guarantee” insurance has been added onto their final bill without them approving it.
No One Knows Where They’re Located
As reported on the BBB’s website, Justfly.com provides an address in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, but BBB has confirmed that the business is not actually located there and mail for Justfly.com is being forwarded to an as-yet-unknown location. Having a business located in an unknown location screams scam to us at Living Well Publications.
What About FlightHub?
According to the Better Business Bureau, FlightHub and Justfly are owned by the same parent company. With this in mind, we recommend avoiding both websites until they get their act together.
How to protect yourself
Armed with this information, what can you do to protect yourself from scams like this? First of all, never book a flight with Justfly.com or Flighthub.com, but that should be obvious at this point, so what else can you do?
Book with a Credit Card
When you book your travel with a credit card you have more rights than if you book with a debit card. If you find yourself in a situation where you are noticing added fees and charges, call your credit card company and dispute the charges. Many credit card companies will be on your side when it comes to unwelcome charges from these sites. The beauty of credit card companies is that they have the funds and infrastructure to refund your fraudulent charges and prosecute these companies themselves. This saves you time, money, and hassle.
If a website doesn’t allow you to book with a credit card, run for the hills! It’s 2017, any legitimate company is going to accept and welcome payments by credit cards. This goes without saying, any company that wants you to wire money with Western Union, or a similar company, to secure your trip is most probably a scam and should be avoided at all costs.
Check the Airline’s Website
Websites that pull price and flight information from multiple like Orbitz and Kayak are great to help you determine which airline to book your travel with. However, often times these sites show you the lowest price that the airline charges and that price is often the same as what airlines charge directly on their websites.
So after you’ve decided on a particular flight with an airline, head over to that airline’s website to see what price they are charging and book with the airline directly if the price is the same or at least within the ballpark. You’ll have more rights and often receive better customer service than if you book with a 3rd party website.
Consider Fees and Extras
A lot of times these discount websites will lure you in with an incredibly discounted price but that sticker price isn’t what you pay. If you find that the price advertised and the price at checkout are different consider: taxes, baggage fees, seat selection fees, etc. A lot of times 3rd party companies will advertise the base cost for booking the flight and not include taxes and fees associated with purchasing a plane ticket. When you book with an airline directly, 9 times out of 10 they will include taxes and fees in their advertised price. Plus you have the peace and mind that you are not getting scammed.
Happy booking! If you’ve had any experience with Jusfly or FlightHub, comment below and share your opinon.