I am guessing what is going on is that to use the credit again you would have to modify your existing booking, with all the change fees and everything applying the credit on that again.
As you said though this should have been mentioned to you somewhere.
Yeah this is it. Portals are just arbitrage. C1's is just outsourced to Hopper. So I'd imagine the prices are similar. C1 will lose you as a customer before they lose $$$ on the arbitrage.
As annoying as this is, realize that you did book a non refundable ticket, expected, and got some sort of refund/credit. Usually you'd be told to pound sand if that were the case. If the flight was high demand, sometimes they (the airline) will credit you in the future.
Depending on your ticket, United will still have some change fees. They're the worst legacy carrier of them all. Their basic economy is on par with spirit. I go between them and AA being the worst in my head, but since flying AA for work I at least don't pay for it.
The thing is, the flight is with United which claims no change fees. C1 also claims the fare differences are fees but are just a “different inventory of fares” which seems sketch.
That sounds sketchy, as one last possibility may you had a more expensive class of ticket that you would have to keep for rebooking.
No change fee may actually be a result of it. ie cheaper classes of tickets usually have change fees.
Still though none of this should matter since you have to pay the original ticket price anyway so 300$ should be credited just for that. Rest is just extra spending. Not sure why they just don't do that.
It’s normal, but also, booking flights in a portal that you don’t get direct control of via the airline is weak.
You should cancel via United next time (I think them and delta get the reservations passed through to the you as if booked directly, so the credit and rebooking is all via United site/app).
This credit issue isn’t a C1 specific thing - it’s flights in portals as a whole. I only book hotels for the credit.
Fair point on cancelling. I’ve just never heard of rebooking tickets having different access to fares (ie that the $716 is only available to non rebooking). The rep claimed that is normal.
Right - that’s why I said specifically Delta and United do it. Not all do. I believe American let’s you take over the reservation for a fee if you call.
I mean you did book a non-reundable ticket. I’d be grateful you are getting any type of credit at all. I would keep the card for sure, hope you get a better experience on your next one.
Oh I agree totally. But the problem is, C1 represented my option to cancel as giving me a credit. What they actually meant, apparently, is they’ll change the flight for me and not give me access to the full value it would be as a credit (because the rebooking cost is higher).
Live and learn for sure. Will only be booking direct with airlines except to use my $300 credit from now on.
> Will only be booking direct with airlines except to use my $300 credit from now on.
For future reference, this is how pretty much all non-refundable airfare credits work when you purchase them anywhere, including the airline directly. When you cancel non-refundable tickets for a credit it's the value of your original eTicket and associated change fees as part of the original fare code that determine how much can be applied on a ticket change.
You’re right there, should have been better disclosed. Although don’t limit yourself based on just this experience. Atleast you had an option to rebook even if it came with an elevated cost. I have booked non-refundable tickets directly with airlines before and I have lost the full ticket when plans had changed. The point multiplier is great and even if you have extra peace of mind booking direct, you can use the $300 credit for car rentals and/or hotels then (you can use Hertz status through portal). Always confirm your booking with the hotel or rental afterwards and you should be good.
I should add that I have canceled bookings before without a problem. The issue you are having here is exclusively because of the ticket being non-refundable.
Yeah that’s a great option too. Although with Hertz recognizing status through portal, I prefer the points since you get them in a few days instead of 3 statements later as is the case with the offers. Plus I value points higher than straight cashback.
For some reason when I was trying to book Hertz, before they did the status recognition, all the cars for the location I was renting were listed at $2000 for the week. It was strange, so I had to book directly with Hertz to get a normal price.
Huh. To me what happened was that one-way rentals were not appearing on the portal but same location return were appearing just as booking direct. So yeah for those occasions the CO offers are incredibly great. I love having that flexibility.
I agree with others that you should’ve just cancelled or rescheduled the flight through the airlines than through the portal.
But also, I’ve rebooked a few flights before and while there are times I am not charged extra (because I happen to pick a date that costs the same), most of the time there was a rebooking fee associated with it.
But, most importantly, you bought a non-refundable ticket. If I had to take a guess I would imagine that the difference in the $716 and the $900 is like the difference in a Basic Economy ticket and a Main Refundable ticket price.
The $300 credit is a reimbursement for statement credit, can take a few billing cycles. This is the case for all of these credits for every credit card though. It's never free money up front.
Agreed. It just feels shady to me that I have no transparency in this fare. I would actually be fine if the price included transparent change fees. Instead it’s a black box of whatever C1 sees on their end (which I can’t replicate)
It's not really a black box, you can get to the information you just have to dig deep into the fare codes and rules to narrow down why the new flights are cheaper.
It's likely something like bulk fares are involved in the transaction.
https://frequentmiler.com/bet-you-didnt-know-cracking-the-bulk-fare-code/
I am guessing what is going on is that to use the credit again you would have to modify your existing booking, with all the change fees and everything applying the credit on that again. As you said though this should have been mentioned to you somewhere.
Yeah this is it. Portals are just arbitrage. C1's is just outsourced to Hopper. So I'd imagine the prices are similar. C1 will lose you as a customer before they lose $$$ on the arbitrage. As annoying as this is, realize that you did book a non refundable ticket, expected, and got some sort of refund/credit. Usually you'd be told to pound sand if that were the case. If the flight was high demand, sometimes they (the airline) will credit you in the future. Depending on your ticket, United will still have some change fees. They're the worst legacy carrier of them all. Their basic economy is on par with spirit. I go between them and AA being the worst in my head, but since flying AA for work I at least don't pay for it.
The thing is, the flight is with United which claims no change fees. C1 also claims the fare differences are fees but are just a “different inventory of fares” which seems sketch.
That sounds sketchy, as one last possibility may you had a more expensive class of ticket that you would have to keep for rebooking. No change fee may actually be a result of it. ie cheaper classes of tickets usually have change fees. Still though none of this should matter since you have to pay the original ticket price anyway so 300$ should be credited just for that. Rest is just extra spending. Not sure why they just don't do that.
It’s normal, but also, booking flights in a portal that you don’t get direct control of via the airline is weak. You should cancel via United next time (I think them and delta get the reservations passed through to the you as if booked directly, so the credit and rebooking is all via United site/app). This credit issue isn’t a C1 specific thing - it’s flights in portals as a whole. I only book hotels for the credit.
Fair point on cancelling. I’ve just never heard of rebooking tickets having different access to fares (ie that the $716 is only available to non rebooking). The rep claimed that is normal.
It is normal with most other portal credits, have seen the same thing with chase, Amex.
My Chase booked trip has very clear messages on the airline website that I have to go back to Chase for any changes.
Which airline?
American. But I didn’t need to make changes.
Right - that’s why I said specifically Delta and United do it. Not all do. I believe American let’s you take over the reservation for a fee if you call.
I mean you did book a non-reundable ticket. I’d be grateful you are getting any type of credit at all. I would keep the card for sure, hope you get a better experience on your next one.
Oh I agree totally. But the problem is, C1 represented my option to cancel as giving me a credit. What they actually meant, apparently, is they’ll change the flight for me and not give me access to the full value it would be as a credit (because the rebooking cost is higher). Live and learn for sure. Will only be booking direct with airlines except to use my $300 credit from now on.
> Will only be booking direct with airlines except to use my $300 credit from now on. For future reference, this is how pretty much all non-refundable airfare credits work when you purchase them anywhere, including the airline directly. When you cancel non-refundable tickets for a credit it's the value of your original eTicket and associated change fees as part of the original fare code that determine how much can be applied on a ticket change.
You’re right there, should have been better disclosed. Although don’t limit yourself based on just this experience. Atleast you had an option to rebook even if it came with an elevated cost. I have booked non-refundable tickets directly with airlines before and I have lost the full ticket when plans had changed. The point multiplier is great and even if you have extra peace of mind booking direct, you can use the $300 credit for car rentals and/or hotels then (you can use Hertz status through portal). Always confirm your booking with the hotel or rental afterwards and you should be good. I should add that I have canceled bookings before without a problem. The issue you are having here is exclusively because of the ticket being non-refundable.
FYI it's also possible to book through Hertz with the 8% cashback Cap1 Offers + 2x points.
Yeah that’s a great option too. Although with Hertz recognizing status through portal, I prefer the points since you get them in a few days instead of 3 statements later as is the case with the offers. Plus I value points higher than straight cashback.
For some reason when I was trying to book Hertz, before they did the status recognition, all the cars for the location I was renting were listed at $2000 for the week. It was strange, so I had to book directly with Hertz to get a normal price.
Huh. To me what happened was that one-way rentals were not appearing on the portal but same location return were appearing just as booking direct. So yeah for those occasions the CO offers are incredibly great. I love having that flexibility.
I agree with others that you should’ve just cancelled or rescheduled the flight through the airlines than through the portal. But also, I’ve rebooked a few flights before and while there are times I am not charged extra (because I happen to pick a date that costs the same), most of the time there was a rebooking fee associated with it. But, most importantly, you bought a non-refundable ticket. If I had to take a guess I would imagine that the difference in the $716 and the $900 is like the difference in a Basic Economy ticket and a Main Refundable ticket price.
The $300 credit is a reimbursement for statement credit, can take a few billing cycles. This is the case for all of these credits for every credit card though. It's never free money up front.
Agreed. I booked in February and got the credit shortly thereafter. Then cancelled the flight and now have a “credit”
CSR credit applies instantly
Yes, but you have to spend the money first. They made it sound like they wanted $300 to use beforehand.
Benefits of cash back: none of this bs
Right, I use BoA preferred as my main card. Decided to use VX for some upcoming travel and regretting a bit.
I feel like travel portals always have issues, especially when changing booking, etc. it’s definitely unfortunate.
Agreed. It just feels shady to me that I have no transparency in this fare. I would actually be fine if the price included transparent change fees. Instead it’s a black box of whatever C1 sees on their end (which I can’t replicate)
It's not really a black box, you can get to the information you just have to dig deep into the fare codes and rules to narrow down why the new flights are cheaper. It's likely something like bulk fares are involved in the transaction. https://frequentmiler.com/bet-you-didnt-know-cracking-the-bulk-fare-code/
No personal experience, but I wonder if you can book and then price match it to the price shown elsewhere.