Like a totally normal person, I look forward to my trips by debating which cameras and how much film I should bring months in advance. Alas, someone took advantage of my wanderlust, and they’re looking for their next victim. A company advertised by a trusted travel search website with fake reviews and an extremely aggressive telephone manner is operating a bait-and-switch scam.
TL;DR: Avoid SkyTrend and beware of Trustpilot surfacing fake reviews.
I’ve used Momondo to find cheap flight tickets for nearly a decade. It has an excellent UI and several ways to share its data on the best times to buy and fly. They typically search their database to surface good options, then direct you to the vendor, presumably collecting affiliate fees upon purchase.
But Momondo also shows occasional ads, and the one I clicked on is not marked as such (even though Momondo’s VP Consumer Support said that it is an ad via email). That ad led me to SkyTrend.
SkyTrend listed ticket prices that were $100-$500 cheaper than Momondo’s. As you may know, flight tickets can vary by that much very quickly as the companies that sell them use dynamic pricing to maximize their profits.
Since I’ve never booked through SkyTrend, I looked them up on Trustpilot and saw that they have a 4.1 out of 5-star rating. The vast majority of reviews are positive, with a few negative ones, some calling them a scam. But it’s the Internet, and the nature of modern air travel is stressful and often unpleasant, so I thought that a disgruntled customer among a sea of positive reviews isn’t necessarily a red flag.
After the purchase, I received a call. I was in the shower, so I had to call back, when I was met with a friendly voice asking me to hold for five minutes.
The next person informed me that the flights I got were this cheap because the dates will change at any moment, and I can not bring anything on the plane, not even personal items.
What the fuck? My initial reaction was anger. The voice told me they won’t help me if I yell at them and assured me there’s no way my bank will process a chargeback against United Airlines, which is who they will be charging me through (as an intermediary, they only forward my details to the actual airlines).
The talent of that operator was in being able to match my anger, bullshit confidently, and wear me out emotionally to consider his side seriously. The deal: an extra $900 add-on to ensure that I can bring baggage, and the flight dates are set. This is an unfortunate situation, but I reconsidered my emotions; perhaps this person was just relaying their company’s policy; perhaps I shouldn’t’ve yelled. So I apologized to the bully and went with an option I thought would salvage my trip and the sunk cost.
It was a different flight that wasn’t on the exact dates I wanted, and it stopped in cities I didn’t care to visit. My credit card charges appeared from United (the actual airline) and PayPal (for the $900 addon).
After catching my breath, I called my bank. They suggested I check with the airline whether I actually have the tickets. I did. Then they said I must call both parties back and attempt to get a refund before they could launch an investigation.
I managed to request a refund from United via their website. They have a 24h window during which it’s no-questions-asked.
SkyTrend’s main phone line asked me to select 1 for English in a loop. So I dialled the Texas number they called me from earlier.
SkyTrend used the same playbook on my callback. I just needed a yes/no answer on a refund to proceed with my bank. The other end demanded answers and tried to make the call as stressful as possible, telling me that my bank won’t believe me and that it’s all lawyers who are not on my side.
But the circumstances were different this time. After angrily denying my request over the phone, SkyTrend refunded my money immediately after the call ended.
Dmitri