Travel agent in Europe?
#31
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 14
Originally Posted by rcs85551
Still way too much. With some tweaking, you do get the fare down in Amadeus. Lowest price that's possible on this route is about 550 Euros plus any applicable TSC.
EUR 269 base fare (134,50 EUR per o/w)
EUR 190 fuel surcharges (95,00 EUR per o/w)
EUR 90 taxes
EUR 269 base fare (134,50 EUR per o/w)
EUR 190 fuel surcharges (95,00 EUR per o/w)
EUR 90 taxes
#32
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: London
Posts: 778
OT: Travel Agent in Germany, recommendations?
Dear all,
First of all, I apologise for hijacking the M&M forum with an OT question (hopefully the mods will give my thread a short run before moving it to a more generic place). Despite not being LH/M&M related, I trust that without doubt you are the ones with the most experience on this topic.
Can anyone recommend a good travel agent in Germany? Ideally who can speak English and would accept to route payments through a UK credit or debit card.
One particular airline (not LH) currently has exceptionally good F-class fares ex-Germany. I need to plan some trips to SE Asia in Oct/Nov and would really like to buy 2 or 3 returns in F using these fares.
Problem is that my TA can't book the promotional fare (only available to German TAs apparently). I could book it through expedia.de or similar, but despite being a fully flex and refundable fare (against a fee) all these sites sell the ticket as non refundable (sometimes even non changeable). The airline itself is not eager to sell directly either. So, it seems a local TA would be the best option.
Thanks in advance for any recommendation!
First of all, I apologise for hijacking the M&M forum with an OT question (hopefully the mods will give my thread a short run before moving it to a more generic place). Despite not being LH/M&M related, I trust that without doubt you are the ones with the most experience on this topic.
Can anyone recommend a good travel agent in Germany? Ideally who can speak English and would accept to route payments through a UK credit or debit card.
One particular airline (not LH) currently has exceptionally good F-class fares ex-Germany. I need to plan some trips to SE Asia in Oct/Nov and would really like to buy 2 or 3 returns in F using these fares.
Problem is that my TA can't book the promotional fare (only available to German TAs apparently). I could book it through expedia.de or similar, but despite being a fully flex and refundable fare (against a fee) all these sites sell the ticket as non refundable (sometimes even non changeable). The airline itself is not eager to sell directly either. So, it seems a local TA would be the best option.
Thanks in advance for any recommendation!
#33
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: BOS
Posts: 519
Dear all,
First of all, I apologise for hijacking the M&M forum with an OT question (hopefully the mods will give my thread a short run before moving it to a more generic place). Despite not being LH/M&M related, I trust that without doubt you are the ones with the most experience on this topic.
Can anyone recommend a good travel agent in Germany? Ideally who can speak English and would accept to route payments through a UK credit or debit card.
One particular airline (not LH) currently has exceptionally good F-class fares ex-Germany. I need to plan some trips to SE Asia in Oct/Nov and would really like to buy 2 or 3 returns in F using these fares.
Problem is that my TA can't book the promotional fare (only available to German TAs apparently). I could book it through expedia.de or similar, but despite being a fully flex and refundable fare (against a fee) all these sites sell the ticket as non refundable (sometimes even non changeable). The airline itself is not eager to sell directly either. So, it seems a local TA would be the best option.
Thanks in advance for any recommendation!
First of all, I apologise for hijacking the M&M forum with an OT question (hopefully the mods will give my thread a short run before moving it to a more generic place). Despite not being LH/M&M related, I trust that without doubt you are the ones with the most experience on this topic.
Can anyone recommend a good travel agent in Germany? Ideally who can speak English and would accept to route payments through a UK credit or debit card.
One particular airline (not LH) currently has exceptionally good F-class fares ex-Germany. I need to plan some trips to SE Asia in Oct/Nov and would really like to buy 2 or 3 returns in F using these fares.
Problem is that my TA can't book the promotional fare (only available to German TAs apparently). I could book it through expedia.de or similar, but despite being a fully flex and refundable fare (against a fee) all these sites sell the ticket as non refundable (sometimes even non changeable). The airline itself is not eager to sell directly either. So, it seems a local TA would be the best option.
Thanks in advance for any recommendation!
http://skytravelagent.de/
The staff does speak very good English if you don't speak German.
#36
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,658
I dealt with the following TA for last minute tickets and they are quite good:
http://www.vornesitzen.de/home/index.html
http://www.vornesitzen.de/home/index.html
#37
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: INN
Programs: LH, KLM, BA
Posts: 566
I highly recommend Sky Travel:
http://skytravelagent.de/
The staff does speak very good English if you don't speak German.
http://skytravelagent.de/
The staff does speak very good English if you don't speak German.
#38
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: London
Posts: 778
Dear all,
Thank you so much for your recommendations; extremely useful! I used Sky Travel and can confirm that the service is top notch. The agent that took care of my reservation speaks perfect English and sorted everything for me (enduring my requests for several changes during the booking phase).
I'd definitely recommend them and will most definitely use their services again.
(on a side note, I think that TG's offer for 3000€ return in F to BKK, HKG and several other Asian destinations was excellent value... Especially when picking the flights operated by the ex-9W 777 and perhaps connecting to HKG on the A380)
Thank you so much for your recommendations; extremely useful! I used Sky Travel and can confirm that the service is top notch. The agent that took care of my reservation speaks perfect English and sorted everything for me (enduring my requests for several changes during the booking phase).
I'd definitely recommend them and will most definitely use their services again.
(on a side note, I think that TG's offer for 3000€ return in F to BKK, HKG and several other Asian destinations was excellent value... Especially when picking the flights operated by the ex-9W 777 and perhaps connecting to HKG on the A380)
#39
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: BOS
Posts: 519
Dear all,
Thank you so much for your recommendations; extremely useful! I used Sky Travel and can confirm that the service is top notch. The agent that took care of my reservation speaks perfect English and sorted everything for me (enduring my requests for several changes during the booking phase).
Thank you so much for your recommendations; extremely useful! I used Sky Travel and can confirm that the service is top notch. The agent that took care of my reservation speaks perfect English and sorted everything for me (enduring my requests for several changes during the booking phase).
#40
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1
I highly recommend Sky Travel:
http://skytravelagent.de/
The staff does speak very good English if you don't speak German.
http://skytravelagent.de/
The staff does speak very good English if you don't speak German.
When paying with credit card they want you to sign a written agreement to "unconditionally honor any travel-related charges" they put on your card, without mentioning the specific booking or price. Which (IANAL) means that you won't be able to dispute any charges if they screw up for whatever reasons, because you just gave up all protection that your credit card usually offers. This form needs to be accompanied with a scan or photocopy of your credit card.
In addition they also want a copy of your passport to be sent to them, which I prefer to not to do unless it is a legal requirement. Ticket and credit card were both in my name, not booked for anyone else, so it's not that there was any possibility for me to use it if I wouldn't have been the owner of my credit card. I found this quite odd and unusual, so I refrained from using them. Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I thought it's good to post my experience so other users can decide for themselves.
#42
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,751
Is it just standard practice for travel agents?
I have never experienced it from any other business, and personally agree with Tiura that it isn't acceptable. My guess is that Tiura isn't based in Germany, so the TA didn't really want the business.
I have never experienced it from any other business, and personally agree with Tiura that it isn't acceptable. My guess is that Tiura isn't based in Germany, so the TA didn't really want the business.
#43
It's standard practice for a lot of businesses... if they don't verify your identity (and can prove it by supplying a copy of your passport) they are liable for all charges that prove to be fraudulent.
I get this a lot when paying with a credit card not issued in the country where I'm a resident or where I place an order. For instance, US business do this a lot for orders placed with non-US card.
The other part is more a TA, or third party, thing since they will want to avoid being liable to the airlines for non-refundable fares while you dispute the charge with them. Otherwise they would need your (written) confirmation every time before they make any bookings on your behalf, and that's highly unpractical in their business where fares are volatile.
I get this a lot when paying with a credit card not issued in the country where I'm a resident or where I place an order. For instance, US business do this a lot for orders placed with non-US card.
The other part is more a TA, or third party, thing since they will want to avoid being liable to the airlines for non-refundable fares while you dispute the charge with them. Otherwise they would need your (written) confirmation every time before they make any bookings on your behalf, and that's highly unpractical in their business where fares are volatile.
Last edited by RTW1; Apr 22, 2013 at 7:27 am
#45
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: IHG Diamond Ambassador, Accor Plat, M&M FTL, BA Blue, QR Gold
Posts: 3,699
I was quite excited when I read your recommendation, and the follow-ups of other posters. I wanted to make Sky Travel my new standard TA, but I won't after trying them out for a booking. I'd like to briefly state the reasons, so that everyone can make up their own minds whether they find their procedure for credit card payments acceptable or not.
When paying with credit card they want you to sign a written agreement to "unconditionally honor any travel-related charges" they put on your card, without mentioning the specific booking or price. Which (IANAL) means that you won't be able to dispute any charges if they screw up for whatever reasons, because you just gave up all protection that your credit card usually offers. This form needs to be accompanied with a scan or photocopy of your credit card.
In addition they also want a copy of your passport to be sent to them, which I prefer to not to do unless it is a legal requirement. Ticket and credit card were both in my name, not booked for anyone else, so it's not that there was any possibility for me to use it if I wouldn't have been the owner of my credit card. I found this quite odd and unusual, so I refrained from using them. Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I thought it's good to post my experience so other users can decide for themselves.
When paying with credit card they want you to sign a written agreement to "unconditionally honor any travel-related charges" they put on your card, without mentioning the specific booking or price. Which (IANAL) means that you won't be able to dispute any charges if they screw up for whatever reasons, because you just gave up all protection that your credit card usually offers. This form needs to be accompanied with a scan or photocopy of your credit card.
In addition they also want a copy of your passport to be sent to them, which I prefer to not to do unless it is a legal requirement. Ticket and credit card were both in my name, not booked for anyone else, so it's not that there was any possibility for me to use it if I wouldn't have been the owner of my credit card. I found this quite odd and unusual, so I refrained from using them. Maybe I'm just overly cautious, but I thought it's good to post my experience so other users can decide for themselves.
Sky Travel Agent have found me some brilliant fares over the last years and their service has been top-notch, including rebookings out-of-hours. Their fees are reasonable. Thoroughly recommended.