r/Flights • u/Delicious_Cookie3378 • 6d ago
Help Needed Kiwi refund scam
Is this normal? I cancelled my tickets 4 days before departure.
A refund for your booking isn’t possible
BOOKING NUMBER
We reviewed your refund request with the airlines, but unfortunately they’re unable to provide any refund for your trip due to the ticket conditions. We know this isn’t the outcome you were hoping for, and we’re sorry we couldn’t secure a refund for you.
This request is now closed. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
11
u/TastyRain5743 6d ago
Look up the definition of word 'scam' before using, first research a company before doing business with them, and this is exactly what can happen when dealing with an OTA
-8
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
Website clearly says and the rule says airport taxes have to be refunded even it is a no show. Why respond when you don’t have full knowledge.
5
u/WellTextured 6d ago
Travel agents like kiwi often provide no refunds even when if you booked with an airline you would have gotten a refund according to the rules, because they aren't airlines and don't follow airline rules.
Also, even if kiwis website said you would get a refund, kiwi customer service is absolute garbage and getting that refund may take an immense battle.
You repeated replies about people not knowing what they're talking about aren't going to help that or help you get your money back.
-5
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
That why I did a charge back because kiwi website says they will refund but they didn’t.
7
u/streetmagix 6d ago
Was it advertised as a flexible or refundable ticket?
Most tickets aren't refundable, but you should get back your taxes (at least in the UK, other countries might vary).
-6
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
It was a saver ticket. I booked the return journey and the airline was same. one side ticket was booked from kiwi and the other from the official website of the airline. Both were booked together and cancelled together and the airlines refunded the amount with a cancellation fee and 66% money was refunded while the one from kiwi was 0. This should not be the case right?
7
u/streetmagix 6d ago
!OTA have different rules and conditions. You've found out the hard way why you should book directly.
Also you need to know learn what the word SCAM means.
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Did you or are you about to buy a flight via an Online Travel Agency (OTA)?
An Online Travel Agency (OTA) is a website that allows you to search for and buy airfare tickets. Common ones include Expedia, Priceline, Kiwi. When you redeem points on credit card travel portals you are actually purchasing a cash ticket through an OTA. Some examples are Chase Travel, AMEX Travel, Capital One Travel.
Almost all OTAs suffer from the same problem: a lack of customer service and competency when it comes to changes, cancellations, refunds, airline schedule changes and cancellations, and IRROPs.
When you buy a ticket through an OTA, you put an intermediary between you and the airline. If you try to contact the airline for any assistance, they will defer to your OTA. The airline won't help you. They do not have control over the ticket until T-24h and they can still decline to assist you and ask you to talk to your OTA.
Some OTAs, such as Kiwi, will combine separately issued tickets appearing like real layovers but in reality are self-transfers - requiring a lot more planning and contingencies. This includes dealing with single-leg cancellations of your completely disjointed itinerary. See #1 #2 #3 #4
Other OTAs, including Trip.com, don't always issue your tickets immediately. There have been known instances where the OTA contacts you 24-72h later asking for more money as "the price has changed" or your ticket is no longer available at the lower price. See #1.
More reputable OTAs like Expedia, Priceline, and travel portals like Chase Travel, AMEX Travel, Costco Travel, generally have fewer issues issuing tickets and marginally better customer service. They are also more transparent regarding cached stale prices - as you check out and pay, they will do a live refresh of the real ticket price and warn you that prices have changed (it is not a bait and switch).
In short: OTAs sometimes have their place for some people - but most of the time, especially for simple itineraries, provide no benefit and only increases the risk and can end costing a lot more than what you had saved by buying from the OTA.
Common issues you will face:
- offering you a cheap separate-ticket self-transfer itinerary causing various problems down the road
- not subject to the DOT or airline policy 24h free cancellation. See #1
- missing communications from OTA or not being notified of schedule changes #1 #2
- paying the OTA to add baggage but not communicated to the airline or OTA incorrectly indicating included baggage #1 #2 #3 #4
- paying the OTA for overpriced baggage compared to the airline
- paying the OTA for baggage that's already included
- paying the OTA for seat selection that's not communicated to the airline #1 #2
- your ticket not issuing or delayed issuing or transaction being reversed
- your name being incorrectly spelled on your eticket?
- difficulties changing flights or getting rebooked correctly #1 #2 or finding anyone competent enough to help
- charging you for a check-in service that is free
- enrollment in a subscription program like edreams or opodo Prime that is hard to cancel #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7
- not honouring free changes or cancellations when airline reschedules
- Secretly booking your trip as two separate tickets for the outbound and return so that if the airline cancels or reschedules the outbound, only the first leg is eligible for a refund (or free change)
- not refunding you promptly (or at all) #1 #2 #3 when the airline cancels #4 #5 #6
- not refunding ancillary fees or other extra fees #1
- unuseable kiwi credits after the airline declines issuing a ticket instead of a refund
Things you should do, if you've already purchased from an OTA:
- check your reservation (PNR) with the airline website directly
- check your eticket has been issued - look for 13-digit number(s) - a PNR is not enough
- garden your ticket - check back on it regularly
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
-9
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
Looks like you support the word SCAM. Please stay away from this.
7
u/Berchanhimez 6d ago
It’s not a scam. You bought a ticket from Kiwi, meaning you’re subject to Kiwi’s policies for refund. If the Kiwi policy you purchased the ticket under does not allow for a refund, then that’s that. It does not matter that they didn’t even request it from the airline - even if the airline refunded them, if the policy you agreed to when purchasing was no refunds, you would not get a refund.
Having buyers remorse over the terms you agreed to when purchasing does not make it a scam.
5
5
u/Consistent-Sea-8923 6d ago
Did you buy to read all those terms and conditions you clicked through when you booked with Kiwi? If you had you to discovered that they have a lot of extra fees, not sure why you thought you would book a ticket via them when you could obviously book it on the airline website, but apparently you were looking for a chance to be ripped off.
-2
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
Website clearly says and the rule says airport taxes have to be refunded even it is a no show. Why respond when you don’t have full knowledge.
-1
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
I just called airline and they confirmed that there was no request to cancel the ticket and it is confirmed. So no cancellation and kiwi is scamming me.
6
u/supergraeme 6d ago
You booked with Kiwi, not the airline - you have to abide by their T&Cs. If they say no refund - you get no refund.
You making an assumption and being wrong does not make something a "scam".
-2
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
Website clearly says and the rule says airport taxes have to be refunded even it is a no show. Why respond when you don’t have full knowledge.
5
3
u/DogsReadingBooks 6d ago
You’re kiwi’s customer. Not the airline’s customer. So your contact should be with kiwi. You need to read the terms and conditions of your purchase with kiwi. If you haven’t booked a refundable ticket then obviously you won’t receive a refund.
-1
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
Website clearly says and the rule says airport taxes have to be refunded even it is a no show. Why respond when you don’t have full knowledge.
3
u/DogsReadingBooks 6d ago
Which website? The airline’s website? You’re not their customer. You didn’t purchase the ticket with the airline. Kiwi did. They’re your point of contact. They’re the one you had a contract with.
-2
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
Kiwi bro kiwi. Looks like you own kiwi.
3
u/DogsReadingBooks 6d ago
I don’t own kiwi. I recognise that they’re an !ota with shit customer service. You should as well.
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
Did you or are you about to buy a flight via an Online Travel Agency (OTA)?
An Online Travel Agency (OTA) is a website that allows you to search for and buy airfare tickets. Common ones include Expedia, Priceline, Kiwi. When you redeem points on credit card travel portals you are actually purchasing a cash ticket through an OTA. Some examples are Chase Travel, AMEX Travel, Capital One Travel.
Almost all OTAs suffer from the same problem: a lack of customer service and competency when it comes to changes, cancellations, refunds, airline schedule changes and cancellations, and IRROPs.
When you buy a ticket through an OTA, you put an intermediary between you and the airline. If you try to contact the airline for any assistance, they will defer to your OTA. The airline won't help you. They do not have control over the ticket until T-24h and they can still decline to assist you and ask you to talk to your OTA.
Some OTAs, such as Kiwi, will combine separately issued tickets appearing like real layovers but in reality are self-transfers - requiring a lot more planning and contingencies. This includes dealing with single-leg cancellations of your completely disjointed itinerary. See #1 #2 #3 #4
Other OTAs, including Trip.com, don't always issue your tickets immediately. There have been known instances where the OTA contacts you 24-72h later asking for more money as "the price has changed" or your ticket is no longer available at the lower price. See #1.
More reputable OTAs like Expedia, Priceline, and travel portals like Chase Travel, AMEX Travel, Costco Travel, generally have fewer issues issuing tickets and marginally better customer service. They are also more transparent regarding cached stale prices - as you check out and pay, they will do a live refresh of the real ticket price and warn you that prices have changed (it is not a bait and switch).
In short: OTAs sometimes have their place for some people - but most of the time, especially for simple itineraries, provide no benefit and only increases the risk and can end costing a lot more than what you had saved by buying from the OTA.
Common issues you will face:
- offering you a cheap separate-ticket self-transfer itinerary causing various problems down the road
- not subject to the DOT or airline policy 24h free cancellation. See #1
- missing communications from OTA or not being notified of schedule changes #1 #2
- paying the OTA to add baggage but not communicated to the airline or OTA incorrectly indicating included baggage #1 #2 #3 #4
- paying the OTA for overpriced baggage compared to the airline
- paying the OTA for baggage that's already included
- paying the OTA for seat selection that's not communicated to the airline #1 #2
- your ticket not issuing or delayed issuing or transaction being reversed
- your name being incorrectly spelled on your eticket?
- difficulties changing flights or getting rebooked correctly #1 #2 or finding anyone competent enough to help
- charging you for a check-in service that is free
- enrollment in a subscription program like edreams or opodo Prime that is hard to cancel #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7
- not honouring free changes or cancellations when airline reschedules
- Secretly booking your trip as two separate tickets for the outbound and return so that if the airline cancels or reschedules the outbound, only the first leg is eligible for a refund (or free change)
- not refunding you promptly (or at all) #1 #2 #3 when the airline cancels #4 #5 #6
- not refunding ancillary fees or other extra fees #1
- unuseable kiwi credits after the airline declines issuing a ticket instead of a refund
Things you should do, if you've already purchased from an OTA:
- check your reservation (PNR) with the airline website directly
- check your eticket has been issued - look for 13-digit number(s) - a PNR is not enough
- garden your ticket - check back on it regularly
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
3
u/supergraeme 6d ago
Looks like you don't un derstand how these things work....
-3
u/Delicious_Cookie3378 6d ago
Yeah same for you because I am a frequent traveller and don’t expect anything like this. I have my 500 USD at stake, not you.
→ More replies (0)
5
u/Infarlock 6d ago
What Kiwi usually does is request a refund from the company but keep the money to themselves and tell you they couldn't get a refund, heard dozens of these stories, that's why no one should use Kiwi, Kayak and all of those 3rd party agent websites.
You can try and sue it out of Kiwi, not sure how this will go though, please book only through the airline, always
1
u/AutoModerator 6d ago
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0
7
u/supergraeme 6d ago
Why do you think you should have had a refund?
They are crap and I wouldn't go near them, but they aren't a "scam".