nsummy

I got in on this "mistake" fare from Miami to Manaus, BR, with an airline I had previously never heard of: Avior. Anyways, they are a Venezuelan carrier, and both directions have a layover in Barcelona, VE. I bought 2 tickets through Vayama for a grand total of $235.40

The itinerary gets ticketed and all looks good until I read this in the fare rules:

Is this even legal? No mention of it when I bought the ticket, no real mention of it on the Avior website with the exception of a small box of fare rules which 99.9% of people do not read. I'm also guessing I will have to pay the $40 fee to leave Brazil also. Normally I could care less about an extra $120 for a ticket but I am going to have to take a positioning flight to Miami and is starting to get to the point that this is barely a deal. I was going to dispute this with my CC company but wanted to get input here first to be sure there isn't some loophole that allows them to do this that I wasn't aware of!

Often1

US law requires the carrier and thus Vayama to have quoted and collected the full price, including taxes (except the Brazil departure tax). You may have a valid DOT complaint here, but the taxes are owed and I doubt that a CC dispute will be sustained. You are certainly entitled to cancel for a full refund and if Vayama won't make that happen, a CC dispute over a refund is more likely.

But, I suspect that you have a bigger problem and that 9V simply won't honor the self-evident mistake fare. With some luck, you will be notified prior to departure from CID. With not such great luck, 9V will tell you at MIA check-in.

scottpenderson

I believe that this is the relevant DOT regulation (14 CFR 399.84)
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-20...-sec399-84.pdf

MichaelBaku

"I got in on this "mistake" fare from Miami to Manaus..."
You knowingly bought a 'mistake' fare and now you've got your fingers burnt. That's the risk you took.

MDFFlyer

OP, Venezuelan carriers often do this though unsure if it's legal. Avior, Santa Barbara and Conviasa all make you pay taxes at the check-in counter.

OP, I doubt this is a mistake fare, but simply a very good deal.

Often1

All this means for OP is that he can get a refund if he wants one. But, it doesn't mean that he can beat paying the taxes.

For the carrier, it may mean a DOT fine, but so what?

As to whether it's a mistake fare, at this price, I sure as heck would be confirming with 9V that it will honor the tickets before spending a heck of a lot more on domestic tickets to get to MIA. Even then...

acmys

I don't know about you, but 23h+ in both directions in Barcelona, Venezuela doesn't sound very fun to me.

MDFFlyer

Excellent point haha

nsummy

No, the risk of a mistake fare is that your ticket might not be honored. Luckily there are laws in place to mitigate risk when buying an airline ticket.


Correct, for the record I'm not outraged and insisting that they honor the price without taxes; I would rather just get a full refund and make the whole thing null and void. I would never file a DOT complaint with a mistake fare. I tried getting a refund from Vayama but unexpectedly their support is terrible.
I'm going to try the cc dispute route.

I told my friend that they would some day make a movie about our 5 hour layover in Barcelona

Often1

You should not have a problem with a CC dispute if you point to the sale in violation of US law (cite to the rule) and your attempt to contact Vayama.

MDFFlyer

LOL - I'd definitely be the first in line to buy a ticket.

Evenstar22

I've paid taxes in airports before- far more common for south american airlines than the US.
I wouldn't complain, because you snagged a mistake fare.

But it's not them being shady necessarily. It's just different!

Often1

It is definitionally shady. It is expressly a violation of US law for a ticket originating in the US. The total price includes taxes and may not be increased post purchase.

MDFFlyer

Scenario: Ticket bought in Vzla in local currency. Flying CCS-MIA. On return segment, MIA-CCS, airport tax is asked to be paid for. Is this allowed?

Often1

There is only one potential airport tax for departures from the US. It is the Passenger Facilities Charge (PFC) which is levied by some airport authorities to pay for airport improvements and is collected as part of the ticket price. It could be up to $4.50. I am fairly certain that MIA does have such a fee.

It would be a violation to collect that fee at the airport as, under US law, it should have been included in the ticket price and it is unlawful to increase the ticket price post purchase. But, it's only $4.50, so if it's anything else you are asking about, I think that you are just getting ripped off entirely.