Misled by Emirates booking agent
 

I've just booked flights home to London from Sydney direct with Emirates and been misled by the booking agent which has cost me £200.

My girlfriend chose Qantas codeshare flights as she is saving their points, and I phoned up Emirates to get the same flights. I would have booked online but I'm in Australia and paying in GBP with my Emirates American Express card (which I have thanks to a tip on FlyerTalk, and it's been great).

At the start of the call I was quoted AU$2134 which was the rate on the website at the time I called. Prior to payment I was informed the total price would be nearly $2500. I asked if the initial price was excluding taxes and fees and was clearly told that it was.

Once the booking was completed I checked the website and realised that the $2134 price in fact included all fees. Since then I've phoned back twice and been told that:

• The price was for different flights (it wasn't, I noted the numbers)
• The price had gone up whilst I was on the phone (the agent insisted I clicked through the website with him and confirmed the identical price of $2134, which we did)

I'm amazed that neither Emirates employee would refund my ticket (and allow me to re-purchase at the correct fee), or adjust the cost of my booking.

I went to Emirates directly to book my flights to avoid shady business practices like this. The agent at Emirates told me that the $2134 fare we had discussed did not include fees and taxes when in fact it did, presumably in order to convince me to purchase the fare (at a higher rate) over the phone.

The last person I spoke to claimed that they will call back regarding a final decision, and will report back should I get such a phone call.

I would caution other members to take extra care when booking tickets in another currency to that of your departing country, in case a similar thing happens to you.

Not sure if you are aware but EK online prices are typically cheaper than what the EK agents can ever quote you - I've never seen an EK agent quote a better price than what is available on the website.

I still can't understand why you did not book online??You are in Australia and trying to pay with your UK based card in GBP. Wouldn't the card be billed in Australian dollars anyway ( though you will be hit by a currency transaction charge)

I have not used the Australian EK website but I frequently buy tickets on the EK India website DEL-DXB-LGW-DXB-DEL using the same card as yours (registered with a uk address) .

If the price on the website was better than that which the telephone agents could give, why did you actually purchase over the phone rather than the website?

The agent on the phone may have been trying to come up with logical reasons why there was a difference but would be better if the agent had just said "I don't know" , but other than that I don't see what wrong has been done

You did agree to purchase a ticket at the price quoted over the phone and there is no entitlement to refunds on purchases of goods based on change of mind in Australia

You can even select which currency you would like the transaction to be executed in.

Indeed you can

On the Emirates site , that is bad value since rather than just simply converting to the other currency (like some airlines do), Emirates's exchange rate comes out worse than just paying credit card currency conversion fees

Thanks for the replies. Answering some questions above:

I didn't book online as every time I tried to access the UK site it redirected me to the Australian web page, showing prices in dollars. I got someone to try the booking from the UK for me, and that too displayed AUD when the departure airport was Sydney.

As my savings are all in GBP I wanted to be charged in pounds, thereby avoiding the foreign transaction fees so I phoned the Emirates call centre number for the UK.

I could've booked online with my UK card, paid the foreign transaction fees and still saved a great deal of money. The only reason I didn't is because I was lied to by the Emirates employee who told me the figure of $2134 was not including fees and taxes.

You would still have been charged in AUD even calling the UK line as the ticket would be issued ex-AU as SYD is the origin city. Additionally calling to make a telephone booking with EK results in an additional fee levied iirc.

AFAIK you default to the country specific EK site based on the origin of the first flight . That means that you cannot buy a ex SYD ticket from the UK EK website and have to buy it from the Australian website.

My ticket was issued in GBP according to the PDF receipt, and also looks to be in pounds based on the value of 'pending transactions' on my internet banking.

Are you sure that EK has not just done the equivalent of "dynamic currency conversion" which is usually worse than your credit card FX fee? Fares are constructed using IATA's internal currency, NUC, which would then be converted to the commencement country's local currency (AUD) via the rate of exchange specified in your fare calculation on your e-ticket pdf - those fares are then propagated via the fare distribution systems. I think it would be strange for EK to break protocol that way by issuing a ticket ex-SYD in GBP directly...

There is no breach of protocol. When a ticket is issued in UK , it can be issued in GBP. Unfortunately EK uses the currency exchange to take a few percent

No different to Australia. If I purchase a ticket originating outside of Australia, the agents will permit either payment in currency of departure or in Australian Dollars

I stand corrected, thank you!

Nothing to see here. Moving along..Anything that can be said will be in hindsight.