Opaque Fares: Kingfisher's scam to con travellers exposed?
Kingfisher in a bid to woo more passengers to buy its tickets offered to sell its tickets below market prices on Makemytrip. The customers would come to know of the airline's identity only after booking the tickets.
"We have removed Kingfisher Airlines from opaque selling to avoid any customer-related issues. Opaque fares will continue with all other participating airlines. Once Kingfisher normalises its operations and more importantly its perception we will be happy to introduce them on opaque," makemytrip.com COO Keyur Joshi told the Economic Times.
The truth was unravelled by Jet Airways after it complained to the aviation regulator to look into the matter and bring the practice to a stop. Following the complaint, Jet airlines were also pulled out from Makemytrip's web portal.
When asked if the step was taken following Jet's threat, Joshi said, "This is on our own volition."
While
'opaque
fare'
is
a
trade
practice
followed
by
several
airlines
to
sell
their
tickets,
Kingfisher's
attempt
to
cash
on
this
mode
while
it
is
cancelling
its
series
of
flights
is
in
a
way
deceiving
its
customers,
as
it
has
been
calling
off
its
flights
without
prior
notices
and
also
not
refunding
its
customers
for
the
same.
What
is
opaque
fare?
It is a heavily discounted ticket with no flight number or details of the airlines and usable at the latter's prudence.
OneIndia News