'I'm a travel expert - this is the biggest rip off for cheap flights’ (original) (raw)
Which?'s second annual Shoddy Awards has recommended avoiding one particular site if you're after cheap flights
Which?'s second annual Shoddy Awards has recommended avoiding one particular site if you're after cheap flights
Consumer site Which? has announced the winner of its second annual ‘Shoddy Awards’, giving Brits an insight into the biggest rip-offs around. When it comes to travel, there’s plenty of sites which may be charging you more than initially thought.
To be up for a Shoddy Award , nominees had to fall short on one of the following criteria: failing an industry standard, potentially breaking the law, causing consumer harm or confusion or regularly underperforming in the consumer champion’s customer surveys or lab tests. Among them were some handy travel tips for you to be aware of, especially if you’re looking for cheap flights or trains.
It described Opodo as the “biggest let down” when it came to booking flights. While it appears the travel site offers the cheapest headline price, there are a number of hidden costs customers find themselves faced with.
This means that by the time customers get to the payment stage, they’ll be faced with “hefty fees for baggage”, seat selection, and a year-long Prime membership “you didn’t know you asked for”.
Opodo received just 28 per cent customer satisfaction on a 2024 survey conducted by Which? Connect Panel members’ experience of booking flights online.
Which? Travel wrote: “Opodo may offer the cheapest fare when you use comparison sites like Skyscanner, but don’t be fooled. In our latest survey, the flight booking site garnered an abysmal customer score of 28 per cent. One respondent complained that Opodo offered them ‘zero customer service’.
“Others said they unwittingly signed up for its Prime service and only noticed when they were billed later on. We also found examples where it charged over the odds for extras such as baggage and seat selection.”
Buying train tickets at machines could see you fork out more in comparison to buying online (
Image:
Getty Images)
If you’re looking for a wallet-friendly flight, Which? Travel recommended booking directly with “your chosen airline. They said: “A word of advice: always book flights directly with the airline. Even the very best of the online travel agents are just an unnecessary middleman that makes your holiday harder.”
When it comes to train travel, Which? Travel said in its video: “I always fall victim to and I bet you do too. It’s train station ticket machines. Our mystery shoppers found that most have outdated that don’t sell the cheapest tickets, or can charge more than double compared to booking online.
“On average, same day tickets were 52 per cent more expensive. And when only one in six UK train stations have a full time ticket office, it’s pretty shoddy that the self-service alternatives are not up to scratch.”
Some of Which?’s mystery shoppers found most operators have outdated machines that don’t sell the cheapest tickets. Instead, they found that they can charge more than double the price compared to booking online, and the best-value fares can be unavailable or hard to find.
A spokesperson from Opodo commented: "Which?'s flawed research breaches fundamental principles they must follow, and the crux of this so-called research is arbitrary sampling targeting specific brands. While we value every customer experience, their conclusions are based on samples of just 42 respondents or fewer, which is statistically unrepresentative given our 21 million customers.
"Our regular surveys with 1.5 million customers consistently show that 9 out of 10 are satisfied or very satisfied - this metric is independently verified by external auditors. Which? claims to be a serious consumer research body, but this evidence shows it is more interested in clickbait than providing customers with genuine, meaningful information. To protect the public from their misleading research, we are filing a formal complaint against them.”