CheapoAir Cheapo Air Not So Cheap

The CheapoAir website promises "the lowest prices on the web -- guaranteed" for airfares. That is not the case. I purchased two round-trip tickets from Panama City to San Jose, Costa Rica from them for $749. The next day, I found tickets on Copa Air's website for $459 total. When I finally got in touch with a real person at Cheapo Air (about a week), they informed me that to receive the "$15 per person" refund, I would have had to file a copy of the competing quote WITHIN 12 HOURS OF PURCHASING FROM THEM. Some guarantee! 70% overpriced with no recourse!

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Cheapoir.com used the common "bait and switch" tactic with my first transaction with them. I checked their fee on 3 tickets, which came to $2273.40 -I entered my payment info and the flight was automatically increased by $60 without my approval, then I received an email within an hour saying the price was now an additional $58, which added a total of $118 to the price they quoted in the first place. The CheapO employee blamed the airline for putting up their prices, but said they would honour the first price and adjust my balance. She then put me on hold, back and forth, and came back and insisted that I would have to pay that higher price or they could look for another carrier. I told her I wanted that flight so she then changed her tactic and said that if I would agree to another carrier they could find a lower price. I asked her "why would I book a flight and agree to that price if I wanted another one in the first place?" So now it was my fault that they are increasing their prices after committing to one price initially. Outrageous! I told her that to buy from the airline directly would be less and she kept insisting that they had the cheapest price but waited for me to call up the price from the airline while she waited on the line. Sure enough, the price from the airline was lower and after telling her this (again) she said "would you like me to cancel your ticket then?" What consumer wouldn't want a lower price for the exact same flight. CheapO? I don't think so! What a scam company. I would never use them again since this was my first contact with them and they used unethical business practices.

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Dear Sir,

I hope this rebuttal reaches you, it appears I have sent this several times but never seems to hit the "board". You have said that you checked the next day on the airlines website and found a cheaper flight, at the time of your initial booking Cheapoair did have the lowest price available for your dates. The airlines do seat audits on a daily basis, and there could be a very good explanation. Once the audit is completed, and they have realized that this particular flight was not selling at the current price they will discount a few seats. Now, it is not clear that the lower fare on Copa was for the exact dates, times, and flights that you chose with Cheapoair, so those are some factors to take into consideration. Cheapoair does have a low fare guarantee policy, but we do have to set time limits on it. If you are in need of the low fare guarantee policy, please email to feedback AT cheapoair.com

Cheapoair appreciates your business!