The Best Frauds, Scams, and Big Company Cons in America Today

DISCOUNT AIR FARES! -- Are you sure you want them?

BEST FARES IS OFFERING THE "BEST FARES" TO ANYWHERE IN THE U.S., CANADA, OR OVERSEAS.  BUT LIKE MANY OTHER CHEAP AIRLINE SCHEMES, YOU MAY NEVER GET THERE! Cheap Internet fares can be more hassle than you ever dreamed of.

Look at the latest input on this issue, August 15, 2003 at the bottom of this article, in blue, like this. It confirms the scam is domestic as well as international.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:        Fraud by Misrepresentation. Nature of Fraud Forcing customers to pay a subscription just to get a non-working phone number that gave them no "best fares". Hiding the truth of their marketing scam until people give them money. Feigning the appearance of lower airline fares to customers who anticipate getting a normal flight, but in reality, cobbling together dog-leg chains of milk-run connections that no one in their right mind would endure.

Basis of Investigation: Here is the original complaint that came in to us in 1999: I wanted to visit my brother in Vancouver, B.C. and was tired of paying those extortion fees that Alaska Airlines and America West want for their flights. You may not know, Alaska and America West hold a total monopoly on flights to the Pacific Northwest, and have managed to squeeze out all the competition over the years they've had their conspiracy going. The west coast run is one of the costliest per distance in the nation. Sure they let the biggies, United and American do the run too, because they won't undercut them ... but that's another story. Anyway, I decided to get on the net, to see if I could get a cheaper flight. It wasn't long before I discovered there were all kinds of cheap flights to Portland and Seattle on the net that you'd never guess were available, if you'd called a travel agent and got the usual Alaska-America West conspiracy fares. But I didn't see any special deals to Vancouver -- you know, that "foreign country" mentality that Americans have toward their closest neighbor. However, this company called "Best Fares" kept cropping up everywhere -- so I clicked into their website. Hey, it looked really good! I finally found a page that listed fares to Canada -- what's this? Only $149 to Vancouver? Wow! that's a deal I had to get in on. I went to their "International Section" and saw all kinds of cheap flights to Canada. I'd hit the jackpot. But then I noticed that to actually check on specific flights, or book a flight, you had to go to a special page listing "international" flights, and to do this you first had to pay Best Fares $59 to join their club! That knocked me back a bit, but I figured I could save that on the first fare, and then the rest of the savings on other flights would really pay off. So I clicked to join, just to be able to go to this "special" page and book a fare -- which I needed to do fairly quickly. So I went through the rigmarole of joining, and finally got to that "special hidden page". Guess what I found? Nothing but a note saying I had to call an 800 number, which is the only way they handled the "international" flights. I was ripped!! So I had to wait till the next day to call that number. Now guess what? It was out of order!!!! By this time I was ready to kill those jerks. So I called Best Fares, demanding to know why I had to pay just to get to a page with a bad number! They acted like they knew nothing about it. I insisted they call it and find out why it was out of order. They did, and called me back the next day with a new number. I'd lost 2 ½ days with this idiotic run around. But I persisted and called the other number, and you'll never guess what? It was endlessly busy, for days. I said, ---- this noise, I'm demanding a refund and going to a travel agent. In two hours, the agent had me a cheap fare and a good flight plan -- 2 hours compared to Best Fares cunning net scam that wasted 4 days!  My advice to anyone trying to get cheap fares on the net is, don't bother. They're too much hassle. R..J. , CA. [This note came in later]: About that Best Fares letter I sent? Guess what? They credited my credit card for the full amount sure enough, but then a few weeks later, the jerks re-charged it for the same amount. I told them to reverse it again, but they never did. Finally, I had to tell my bank manager the charge was a scam, and to reject all charges coming from Best Fares. That's the only way I could stop it. Thought you'd like to know this is another part of their ripoff. R.J., CA.
Our Action and Verification: We were almost going to throw this complaint out, as "just another cheap airfare marketing scam", but when we sent it out for review, one of our reviewers came back with this: "Sure, Best Fares, I remember them. They conned me into a one-year subscription to their magazine over two years ago, and I got absolutely no value out of it, for the $60 I wasted. The next year, they automatically billed my debit card for another year's subscription without my authorization! I almost didn't notice the charge! These people are running a real con!" Okay, that did it. We got the Best Fares "magic hidden number" for their "special international flights", we called it (several weeks later than R.J.) and yep, it was still out of order. So then we assigned our most patient girl to call the other number R.J. was given, and yep, it was endlessly busy -- but after several days, her patience finally paid off. We noticed she was actually talking to someone, though rather angrily. The conversation went on for almost an hour, when our most patient girl finally lost it! She came in, livid, with the following, hair-raising report, that was the proof of a real crafty scam: "I checked out this "cheap" flight to Vancouver you asked me to, and you won't believe it. They have no vacancies for at least 3 weeks on any flight, and then after that, here is the flight plan she gave me: Day 1 fly to Long Beach at 1 in the morning, wait for 8 hours, change planes to Sacramento with a 2 day layover, get back on, take a milk run to Portland with 3 stops and 1 layover, fly 3 days later at midnight to Spokane, lay over 2 days, take a commuter plane to Seattle with God-knows how many stops, then take a commuter shuttle on an "as available" basis to Vancouver at night, and wait for the next morning to clear customs! How much will it cost in motels, to take a week to get to Vancouver?" "I was so furious with the sales agent. She said  'Don't get mad at me, I don't work for Best Fares!'  I quickly snapped back, 'Best Fares my a--, they should be called Best Frauds!!!' and hung up." Stunned, speechless, and amazed at seeing our most patient girl so infuriated, it took us weeks to get over the incredible scam represented by this kind of "amalgamated milk-run" nonsense. No person in their right mind would even consider such a ridiculous ordeal, just to save $100 or so on a ticket. So now you know how the name "Best Frauds" came to be. It was dear old "Best Fares" that finally made us realize we just had to go public with these types of unbelievable scams!!! Conclusion: This pathetic incident really opened our eyes to the depth and degree of "cheap air fare" marketing scams on the Internet today. We suspected the usual stuff, like selling overbooked flights illegally, booking tours that never happen, and all the kinds of things the government is now warning people about on their websites (see links page for those links). But we never imagined that anyone could so craftily misconstrue the meaning of "competitive airfares" by suggesting that any sane person would take such a nightmarish flight! It really opened our eyes to the extreme effort some businesses will go to, to make vaunted claims that are so far out of line with the expectations of any normal purchaser. How can anyone claim this milk-run flight is competitive to what people normally expect -- i.e. non-stop, or at most 1 stop, and travel for only a few hours?
Applicable Statutes: Fraud by Misrepresentation is included in the UCC and CPA statutes for consumer protection. However, Best Fares still thrives on the Internet today, probably because of the following reasons: 1. If they reverse the charge on the customer's request, legally it is not fraud, because no money was taken. However, the repetitive recharges are disturbing, to say the least. 2. Admittedly, this was their "special international flights" and they can conveniently claim that the booking of those flights is handled by another agency, over which they have no control. 3. They are offering a service to people who will go to any lengths to save a few bucks, and no doubt many people are happy with the savings they've got from Best Fares -- but, we suspect, on the U.S. flight side, not the international one we tried. 4. Probably many if not most "cheap airline fares" companies on the Internet are doing things much like Best Fares -- so what's the big deal? That last point is the most disturbing of all. If they are all doing it, that magically makes it right, huh? So let's just throw out all Federal laws on misrepresenting services and products you sell. After all, these laws were only designed to protect customers from being deceived and scammed by companies who operate with borderline ethics, using vaunted claims that are not supported in fact or reality. Who needs them? Let's just overlook repeated billings to credit and charge cards as "simple billing errors", and let's just say they are doing "the best they can" in a dog-eat-dog business. Since everyone's doing it, let's all have a big party, scamming each other, so no one need worry about any of this! Federal Government Involvement: The Feds have absolutely NO HOPE of pinning any statutory violations on these type of businesses, because they are ethically borderline, and don't stray so far that any problems cannot be explained away as simple "billing mistakes", or "difficult customers". Uh huh ..... sure ..... Core Issue: Any industry that professes to serve the public with discounts off normal fares, rates or charges, is obligated to live to the expectations that the consumer inherits about the service, based on use of the "normal" providers of such services. Any company that so distorts the rules of their service, that they fall far short of the normal expectations of the consumers, is simply scamming the public. Principles Involved: Sadly, we have to agree that Best Fares is probably typical, or more correctly, symptomatic of everything that is wrong with offering cheap airline fares on the Internet today. Doubtless, a lot of other companies are probably doing much the same thing. We thing R.J. was right. Buying airline tickets on the Internet can be good if you know who to choose, but if you don't, it's best to keep away from them. You almost certainly will get burned.
Alternative: You will find a lot of sites on the net that claim: "We have access to the same booking systems that the ticket agents use to find you the best fare. Do it here yourself and save!" Don't believe it. We've tested out those ticket "search" engines, and they are woefully inadequate at finding anything other than top dollar list prices. Put them to the test by trying ANY flight path engine on the net, and you will find that NONE of them are able to show you ALL flights coming into any particular destination -- say Tahiti -- from anywhere on the globe. You MUST first enter an originating airport. So how will you ever find out if it's cheaper to fly in from another airport, if you can't see ALL the fares coming in from ALL originating points, ALL on the one screen? Got you on that, didn't we? Yet airline travel agents can do exactly this, and tell you ALL options available to you from anywhere (at least the good ones can). So even the ticket search engines on the Internet are themselves a scam. Our advice is to get hold of a good travel agent who really knows his or her stuff. Good professionals, when they really know their business, they can do in minutes what it would take you hours or days of fumbling on the Internet to do -- and they really can get you the same fare prices as are available anywhere on the Internet -- even "Internet only" special prices. The people who predicted the demise of airline travel agents were too hasty. The initial rush to the net is now over. Those people whose time is valuable are now realizing the value of a good travel agent. When you're on a good thing, stick to it!
Here is the latest input on this issue -- same scam, different methods -- 15 August, 2003 You were too kind to Bestfares. They are just as bad booking domestic flights as they are at booking international flights. Also beware of the advertised so-called "direct monthly specials" and the discount coupons they send when one becomes a member. My experience was as follows; Last year, online, I went to the Budget Car Rental website through a link on the monthly special page on Bestfares.com. I wanted to get the 20% discount offered. Four days after the ad appeared Budget claimed that no cars were available at the discount price in Tampa. (Not possible..it was off season). However the webpage automatically redirected me to another webpage where Budget offered me a rental car at a price 20% higher then most every other rental company at Tampa Airport. It was obvious that Bestfares printed an ad without checking out the validity of the advertisers claim. Either that or they are raking in an excessive commission from all those foolish enough to go for what was a Bait and Switch scam. Attempted to use a BestFares "Buy One Night Get a Second Night Free" certificate at the Radisson Sand Key Resort in Florida. Mind you it was off season and there were many vacancies. Called the special number Bestfares lists on the certificate. Received a price quote of $278/night with the second night free. Very curious as the pricing for the same room through other sales outlets for the same dates were $149-155/night. When I pointed out that the "discount" was really $12-$15/night (hardly 10%) and certainly not one night free I received the ridiculus answer that the lower rates everyone was advertising were really discounted rates. Other travel agencies were paying Radisson below the retail sales price. No one ever accused Bestfares of not being creative. P H P, MD.
Last updated 15 August, 2003