Booking with Last Minute.com

[Butts1]

I have made a booking for next August through the above provider and am becoming a little concerned after reading some reviews on Trip Advisor and Trust Pilot et al .

As a special Black Friday deal you could pay with a 10% deposit the balance being due a month before travel. I received a confirmation e-mail detailing the flights (Business Class) and Hotel I had requested.

However when I go into my Last Minute Account and access the booking page there is a blue icon saying "Why can't I modify my Booking" on clicking it "Changes cannot be made until the booking is confirmed"

I rang the Last Minute helpline which is in India and asked about the apparent contradictory statements in the "confirmation e-mail" and "changes cannot be made until the booking is confirmed" He seemed incapable of understanding the nuance relating to the two messages.

Apparently you get the PNR code and Hotel Confirmation code when the balance is paid. Has anyone got any experience of bookings of this type particularly with Last Minute.com.

[Peko]

There is a bit of a terminology issue here. Your booking is likely “confirmed” (ie made with the airline), but the ticket will not be issued until you complete the payment.

This is fairly widespread practice when full payment has not yet been made. In airline parlance, a booking can be “confirmed” but not yet “ticketed”. The website notification using the term “confirmed” obviously does create confusion.

[Butts1]

Originally Posted by Peko

There is a bit of a terminology issue here. Your booking is likely “confirmed” (ie made with the airline), but the ticket will not be issued until you complete the payment.

This is fairly widespread practice when full payment has not yet been made. In airline parlance, a booking can be “confirmed” but not yet “ticketed”. The website notification using the term “confirmed” obviously does create confusion.

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So when you pay the balance the PNR number or whatever it is will enable you to access the Airlines Website and book seats and print out a boarding pass as if you had never used LM and booked via BA direct.

Has anyone actually carried out this process with LM.COM ?

[RM2016]

Yes you are correct, you will get your PNR to log into the relevant airline website once flights have been paid in full.

[RM2016]

I’ve just looked back at my booking and we booked and paid in full for flights on 28/2 however they were not fully confirmed until 5/3 when we got our PNR codes to use on the Airline website.

[Butts1]

Originally Posted by RM2016

Yes you are correct, you will get your PNR to log into the relevant airline website once flights have been paid in full.

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I am just a little concerned as to whether they have actually reserved the seats at the price quoted.

In less than a week my itinerary has increased in price on BA'S website to over 9000 Euros for the two of us. Even from Gatwick Direct it is over Ł6000. This is just for the two flight tickets Ironically at the outset of the process it was dearer direct from London than starting in Dublin - weird these airline tickets !

I wish I had booked it on BA's website but I didn't want to pay in Euros and get hit for a fee by the Bank. The tickets were just over Ł3000 pounds for the two of us at that stage. The package including the Hotel around Ł4k. The price on last minute was Ł4.1K for the hotel and flights. I only had to pay a 10% deposit with the balance due a month before we go.

For some reason our departure date 8th August is twice as dear as any of the surrounding days in Club World - it is a Saturday.

Have they really secured my tickets at the original price ? . I don't want to pay the balance and find they are suddenly unavailable !

[Butts1]

Originally Posted by RM2016

I’ve just looked back at my booking and we booked and paid in full for flights on 28/2 however they were not fully confirmed until 5/3 when we got our PNR codes to use on the Airline website.

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So after receiving the PNR you had total control of the booking yourself as if you had bought it from the Airline Direct ?

What I mean by that is you could check in and select seats etc without any involvement from last minute.

[ChrisS]

Hi Butts, we've used LM numerous times, albeit paid in full at time of booking. Within circa 30 mins I ring VA to reserve PE/UC seating.

On one occasion Aer Lingus cancelled our 6am Dub to Man flight, the computer generated alternative was unacceptable as it landed at Man as our flight to Fl departed! Rang LM, suggested the 6pm flight on the evening afore, LM sorted in minutes. As it involved an itinerary change I rang VA who confirmed our reserved UC seats remained per original booking.

[Peko]

Originally Posted by Butts1

So after receiving the PNR you had total control of the booking yourself as if you had bought it from the Airline Direct ?

What I mean by that is you could check in and select seats etc without any involvement from last minute.

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Once you have the airline PNR locator, you can do some things directly with the airline, but not all.

Seat selection, adding baggage and online check in can all be done directly.

Any changes to the ticket itself, which basically means any amendment or cancellation of flights and/or passengers, have to go via the travel agent until roughly the time OLCI opens. This applies whether the change is generated by you or the airline (as per the example posted above).

[RM2016]

Originally Posted by Butts1

So after receiving the PNR you had total control of the booking yourself as if you had bought it from the Airline Direct ?

What I mean by that is you could check in and select seats etc without any involvement from last minute.

See more...

Yes that is right, once we had it everything was correct on the Airline website and seats were booked without issue.