Booking before payment?
Aug 8, 2023 | 6:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2023
Posts: 11
Booking before payment?
This has happened a couple of times with Singapore but not other airlines. It seems that if you select your flights and run through the booking process, even if you don't pay it reserves your flights on the system ...even without payment. I left the payment page as my laptop battery was very low, so presumed it'd time out and then I'd book later after searching for the flights again.
Is this just a flaw in the Singapore website or does this happen with other airlines?
I had to speak to support and book over the phone to finally make sure the reservation wasn't paid for.
Is this just a flaw in the Singapore website or does this happen with other airlines?
I had to speak to support and book over the phone to finally make sure the reservation wasn't paid for.
Aug 8, 2023 | 7:00 am
#2
Join Date: Jan 2005
Programs: SQ TPPS, CX GO, Hyatt Lifetime Glob
Posts: 1,919
This has happened a couple of times with Singapore but not other airlines. It seems that if you select your flights and run through the booking process, even if you don't pay it reserves your flights on the system ...even without payment. I left the payment page as my laptop battery was very low, so presumed it'd time out and then I'd book later after searching for the flights again.
Is this just a flaw in the Singapore website or does this happen with other airlines?
I had to speak to support and book over the phone to finally make sure the reservation wasn't paid for.
Is this just a flaw in the Singapore website or does this happen with other airlines?
I had to speak to support and book over the phone to finally make sure the reservation wasn't paid for.
Aug 9, 2023 | 9:56 pm
#4
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 8,839
It is a feature, not a flaw. It creates the searched PNR and holds it for a while if all that was missing was the payment portion. IIRC it holds for 24-48 hrs and if you were logged into a KF account (and they have your email) they'll send you a "complete your booking" email as well. Overall this designed like an abandoned shopping cart type case that some retailers offer (e.g. Amazon).
Last edited by demue; Aug 9, 2023 at 10:16 pm
Aug 11, 2023 | 12:05 am
#7
Join Date: May 2004
Location: SIN (LEJ once a year)
Programs: SQ, LH, BA, IHG Diamond AMB, HH Gold, SLH Indulged, Accor Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 8,839
This feature is supported by Altea PSS (reservation system) if I'm not mistaken so in theory it could be used by other Altea system users (carriers) as well.
Aug 11, 2023 | 1:23 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2023
Posts: 11
You should be able to pay it, but it basically takes your booking (the PNR) and prices it again and then you complete the payment. IIRC, it doesn't go straight to payment as the final fare calculation needs to be redone (it could change a bit, e.g. due to exchange rates and such) before they can take payment and issue the ticket.
This feature is supported by Altea PSS (reservation system) if I'm not mistaken so in theory it could be used by other Altea system users (carriers) as well.
This feature is supported by Altea PSS (reservation system) if I'm not mistaken so in theory it could be used by other Altea system users (carriers) as well.
Interesting, thanks.
I ended up on the online chat for a long time and then on the phone to complete the booking.
My laptop battery had gone whilst on the page (before entering any payment info). I reconnected on a different WiFi network and there was the reservation on my account.