I recently purchased two nonstop international tickets from airfare.com. What a mistake.

Approximately a month after the purchase, I contacted the airline for seating assignments. However, as the flight information I had been given by airfare.com did not match an existing flight, I could not be assigned seats. The airline advised me to contact airfare.com.

When I reached them, I was told that the airline had changed the flight and that they would re-book me on a flight with a stop and a plane change. I explained that I had purchased a nonstop; had I wanted a stop and a plane change, I would not have gone through them. I asked why they had not informed me of a change earlier. What would have happened had I simply gone to the airport on the day of the flight? I would have had no flight at all.

I explained that in view of the change, I wanted a refund. They said that might be possible; I was transferred to another employee (with the sort of holds and language issues that others have discussed). She took a different line--the tickets were non-refundable. Period.

I replied that buying one item and receiving another was not ethical. The discussion grew heated but not profane. It ended when she hung up on me. A subsequent email to airfare.com was never replied to.

In sum, airfare.com can provide low rates; however, airfare.com and "customer service" is an oxymoron. Never have I dealt with travel industry people so entirely rude and aggressive. Their approach to customer service is like none I had experienced before in the United States.

My credit card company (whose fraud division I contacted) noted that the original charge had been made to my card not by airfare.com but by the airline. I contacted them; they explained that the original flight had been cancelled, but the same airline had a nonstop flight several hours later. As the reschedule involved more than an hour, if I wished, they would refund the ticket price in full. As the rescheduled time did not work for me, I requested a refund. I have received it. With no help, of course, from airfare.com.

Avoid the surprises; avoid the stress; avoid the time on the phone. Avoid airfare.com

One word: CROOKS. I bought tickets to India via airfare.com. Since we had our 6 month old daughter travelling with me, I booked the tickets, way in advance. Everything seemed fine until AirIndia cancelled the flight and waitlisted me and my family on another flight almost a day before my original schedule. I called the airlines who agreed to give me a full refund and asked me to contact the travel agent. The customer service of airfare.com turned out to be absolutely rude and they hung up a few times, even yelled "..you got a good deal, what are you complaining about ?" before hanging up on me. After about 25 calls, I was able to reach "Rex" who charged my credit Card $200 as "cancellation fees" for a guaranteed "Full refund" for flight tickets, which were cancelled by the airlines. Knowing that is the only way to atleast get back some money, I agreed. The full refund was MINUS the agent fees !! Airfare.com had charged me for booking the flight and then for cancelling the tickets for a flight, that airlines had cancelled. It was an absolute nightmare which costed me $ 375 for NOTHING. I would ask anybody and everybodyOne word: CROOKS. I bought tickets to India via airfare.com. Since we had our 6 month old daughter travelling with me, I booked the tickets, way in advance. Everything seemed fine until AirIndia cancelled the flight and waitlisted me and my family on another flight almost a day before my original schedule. I called the airlines who agreed to give me a full refund and asked me to contact the travel agent. The customer service of airfare.com turned out to be absolutely rude and they hung up a few times, even yelled "..you got a good deal, what are you complaining about ?" before hanging up on me. After about 25 calls, I was able to reach "Rex" who charged my credit Card $200 as "cancellation fees" for a guaranteed "Full refund" for flight tickets, which were cancelled by the airlines. Knowing that is the only way to atleast get back some money, I agreed. The full refund was MINUS the agent fees !! Airfare.com had charged me for booking the flight and then for cancelling the tickets for a flight, that airlines had cancelled. It was an absolute nightmare which costed me $ 375 for NOTHING. I would ask anybody and everybody to stay away from airfare.com. to stay away from airfare.com.

I booked a flight to Hong Kong via airfare.com and paid the full amount. But the e-ticket airfare.com sent me was NOT able to get me checked in. Here is what happened:
1. I booked a flight to Hong Kong via Airfare.com in November, 2007 and paid the amount in full.
2. Airfare.com confirmed the issuance of my e-ticket (with confirmation number).
3. I received my itinerary.
4. I arrived at San Francisco airport about 3 hours before the departure time and was NOT able to check in based on the e-ticket. The airline, Cathay Pacific, told me that the e-ticket number was not correct.
5. I called Airfare.com, talked to multiple representatives, one of whom was extremely rude, and had airfare.com representatives talked to Cathay staff. This took me about two hours. I even called American Airlines.
6. Airfare.com representatives were not able to help me check in thirty minutes before my flight departure time, which is the cut-off for baggage check-in for international flight. I had to purchase another ticket to get on the flight.
7. I sent an email to Airfare.com after I checked in with newly purchased ticket. I have not received any response as of today, Mar. 24, 2008.
8. I sent Airfare.com another email about a month ago with all the facts and copies of everything. I have not received any response as of today, Mar. 24, 2008.

If I booked a flight ticket and couldn't board the plane, what's the purpose booking the ticket via Airfare.com? This is the worst experience I ever had with any online travel agency.

Seems like a lot of people have had terrible experience with Airfare.com. Maybe we should start a class action lawsuit against Airfare.com.

I purchased one ticket through them last year as they could provide a complicated itinerary that was much more expensive directly through the airlines. My ticket was valid. Once ticketed I received an email link to Amadaeus system and could find flight. I didn't have any problems so did not need to contact the customer service folks or experience the problems others report.

Dishonesty reigns in this company that should be dragged to the law courts. We fully paid for flight tickets that were cacelled at the last minute by the airline and airfare,com neither refunded us the money nor attempted to find us alternative flights. They are dishonest and will be sued.