1 reviews | Active since Jan 2014
They changed my flight destination without explanation and now they ignore me!
I booked a return ticket from Frankfurt to Cape Town flying with Etihad on 14 October 2021.
On 24 November 2021, I got an obscure email informing me that my destination had changed to O.R. Tambo Johannesburg. Travelstart calls this a 'schedule change'. However, it is not a 'schedule change'. It is a DESTINATION change!
For context, Cape Town International airport and the O.R. Tambo International airports are about 1600 km apart. Hence, it is similar to saying sorry you aren't flying to London anymore; you are now landing in Dublin. But, unfortunately, they offered no solution or alternative or options for a connecting flight.
I tried contacting Travelstart. However, one can only reach them via Whatsapp. They take hours to respond, and when they do respond, they say they handed over my case to the 'schedule changes' team and immediately closed the ticket. The 'schedule changes' team emailed me and said they were sorry they could not get hold of the airline and would contact me once they did. That was a day ago, and I got no further information. This email was sent from a 'noreply@' address, again blocking communication. Also, Travelstart is the booking agent. How can they not get hold of the airline? Unacceptable!
I tried contacting them again two hours ago this morning (26 November). So far, they are ignoring my Whatsapp.
So everyone, be warned when booking a ticket through Travelstart! You cannot contact them when something goes wrong. They will simply close your support ticket or respond to you from a noreply@ email address. Thus far, they have been of no help and seems to think it is normal to change the flight destination calling it a 'schedule change'.
I will never book with Travelstart again! The risk is just too big! I need to travel from Frankfurt to Cape Town in three weeks. It is Christmas time, and the flights are getting full, and Travelstart offers no explanation or alternative.
They act as a booking agent, but they are nowhere to be found when something goes wrong. There is no channel through which to contact them. They are entirely defaulting on their obligation as the booking agent!
Travelstart continued with their position that changing the flight's destination is not a flight change but a mere schedule change. They further said it is a perfectly regular occurrence to have such schedule changes. Nowhere in the world is it normal that flight destinations are changed to different cities more than 1000 km apart. They offered no connecting flights and no means of transport between JHB and CPTN.
They remained unhelpful and dismissive of the problem until Etihad cancelled the flight as a whole.
Travelstart continued with their position that changing the flight's destination is not a flight change but a mere schedule change. They further said it is a perfectly regular occurrence to have such schedule changes. Nowhere in the world is it normal that flight destinations are changed to different cities more than 1000 km apart. They offered no connecting flights and no means of transport between JHB and CPTN.
They remained unhelpful and dismissive of the problem until Etihad cancelled the flight as a whole.