Flyer beware: Consumers complain about two travel sites

Diving behind the consumer complaints

There is anecdoal evidence to suggest that both of these sites are less than a sure bet. Type "CheapoAir.com" or "OneTravel.com" into Google, and the first word that comes up is "scam," a theme that goes on for several pages. These two websites also are the subject of numerous grievances at consumer-complaint websites and traveler forums like ConsumerAffairs.com (read the complaints here and here) and TripAdvisor.com, including:

• being billed more than the advertised fare amount (in some cases, double the price)
• booking a ticket, only to be notified later that the flight been canceled and a new trip must be booked at a higher price
• lack of notification that a flight has been canceled
• inept or unhelpful customer service representatives  

We also checked the Better Business Bureau's website to see how these two companies are rated. Interestingly, CheapoAir.com's parent company, New York City-based FarePortal Inc., earns a grade of A- from the BBB. The BBB also has a listing for One Travel, which is owned by Las Vegas-based W K Travel Inc. One Travel earns a grade of C+, with 33 formal complaints in the last three years. Both companies appear to be making efforts to cooperate with the BBB and resolve complaints, to varying degrees of satisfaction.

By comparison, major travel sites have far more complaints listed with the BBB because they're much larger businesses. For example, Travelocity alone has seen more than 500 complaints in the last year, but because the company has resolved nearly all of them to the satisfaction of the BBB, Travelocity maintains an A rating overall. Expedia has a similar number of complaints, but an A+ rating for its good-faith efforts to resolve problems.

Syndicated travel writer Christopher Elliot interviewed CheapoAir.com's senior vice president, Sneharthi Roy, last August, raising the issue of consumer complaints, and Roy acknowledged that,  "Our biggest consumer challenge is refunds processing." A heated discussion thread follows. In a post at ConsumerAffairs.com, a OneTravel.com representative also responds to consumer complaints.

Given the number of consumer complaints, and especially the lower BBB grade for OneTravel.com, why would a consumer choose to use a travel site that has garnered such negative user feedback? Nearly every complaint we read said the same thing: low prices, sometimes coupled with online coupons that make a low fare appear even lower. 

Putting travel sites to the test

We decided try some experiments on Jan. 26 to see if one common consumer complaint, hidden fees and charges, holds true. We chose two sample flights -- New York to Chicago (one of the top domestic flight routes), and San Antonio to Kansas City (two smaller airports) -- then priced them on OneTravel.com and CheapoAir.com. Then we compared the results against Kayak.com and Yapta.com, two of our top picks for travel sites. We searched for the lowest round-trip fare for two people, departing on Friday, March 5, and returning on Sunday, March 7.

Our search for flights from New York to Chicago yielded little difference in prices. Yapta and Kayak both quoted a per-person price of $189 ($378.80 total, including taxes and fees) on American Airlines, then redirected us to the American Airlines website to book the flight. CheapoAir.com quoted us a per-person price of $183, plus a $9 "special" discount. Despite the savings, the total for two tickets with taxes and fees came to $408.80 -- $30 higher for the same flight. OneTravel.com was a bit more disingenuous, displaying a price of $168 in bold black type, and a price of $183 after fees in smaller gray type. Total cost: $408.80.

Our search for San Antonio to Kansas City flights yielded a greater difference -- or so it seemed. Yapta and Kayak both returned fares of $236 per person on Delta, then redirected us to the carrier's website for purchase. Interestingly, while Kayak's redirect took us directly to an itinerary ($235.80 per person, taxes and fees included, for a total of $471.60), Yapta's redirect forced us to rebook on Delta, where we got the same price. 

CheapoAir quoted us a price of $217 per person, but that was before taxes and fees, something noted in smaller type. The total cost, including taxes, fees (and the same $9 discount we got on the New York to Chicago flight) came to $501.60. OneTravel quoted an even lower fare of $202 per person -- with an even smaller disclaimer that the price did not include taxes or fees. But once you added the taxes and fees -- and a similar $9 discount -- the total also came to $501.60 -- $30 more than what you'd pay by booking through Delta.

In both examples, it was ultimately cheapest to book directly with the carrier, although using a travel site like Kayak.com first did point us to the carrier with the lowest fares.

Our verdict

We wouldn't call the airfares on OneTravel and CheapoAir dishonest, but they are misleading. It's easy to see how an inattentive consumer researching the San Antonio flight could think OneTravel.com's $202 fare was the actual cost, only to realize that the final price is much higher. That said, this can easily be avoided if you do your homework and read the fine print BEFORE you buy. And, as we note in our report on travel sites, many airlines do offer lower fares than what you'll find at travel sites.

The large number of consumer complaints against CheapoAir.com and OneTravel.com gives us pause. Given the fact that larger sites like Hotwire.com, Priceline.com and Expedia.com earn much more positive reviews from consumers and professionals alike, we recommend using one of these sites, or Kayak.com or Yapta.com instead.