I just received the worst Customer Service reply I've seen so far. My original message was as follows:

Four days later, I received this reply from Flights.com:

Did they even bother to read my message? I thought I made it pretty clear that my dates were flexible!

Yes, I understand but they way they have their systems working, no date, no fare!

So the only way to find out when the $755 fare is available is to plug in approx. 900 date combinations (31 possible dates for departure and 28 possible dates for return during the month of August) into their booking engine?!!! Why is it so difficult to have a "fare calandar" a la Travelocity?

I'm not entirely convinced that they are all trying their very hardest to book you the best available fare!

Wow, at least you got a response!

I e-mailed their European offices a few weeks ago to ask about the conditions attached to some BA/QF fares (some of these - like stopovers - used to be viewable online on the old TISS before it was "improved"). Still haven�t gotten a response.

In TISS�S defense, I seem to recall they will let you check more than one date/fare at once, and will tell you if it�s either the outbound or return that�s sold out.

BTW, this "give us your dates" seems pretty ubiquitous in the industry. It often takes effort to find an agent who will work with you to FIND dates for a given fare . I had to do just that with BA last week (when their US sales people wouldn�t "fish" for dates, I called their UK sales number and found an agent who would).

Anyway, sorry for the long ramble. Must be that post-final-exam cool-down effect .
Yonatan

I couldn't find either feature on their website

Darien, what planet do you live on? I want to move there! This was really the "Worst Customer Service ever"?

For heaven's sake, use another search engine! Or better yet, pick up the phone and call a travel agent! What do you think the Internet is for, a personal shopper for every customer?





[This message has been edited by JS (edited 07-10-2001).]

No, of course not! It's only 435 date combinations (assuming both return and departure between Aug 1 and Aug 31 and earliers return is two days from departure.

It is certainly the most unhelpful Customer Service e-mail I've ever received, even if you ignore its typos, bad grammar, and the fact that it's in all-caps.

If you can show me another search engine that has a $755 JFK-MNL fare for the month of August, I'll gladly use it. I tried Travelocity (Sabre network), ITN (Apollo network), Expedia, Orbitz, airfare.net (consolidator), and a few others.

Dudster:

Good catch! I guess I forgot that you can't return before you leave!