Is BravoFly Legit or a Scam? When booking flights online, it’s important to ensure you’re dealing with reputable agents to avoid getting scammed. In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at BravoFly to determine if it’s legit or a scam.
BravoFly is an online travel agency that specializes in flights. However, customer reviews are mixed. Some report seamless bookings while others claim issues with canceled flights, lack of support, and refunds not materializing.
To gain a clearer picture of BravoFly’s reliability and legitimacy, we’ll examine:
- Company background and ownership
- Features and booking process
- Customer service and support
- Refund and cancellation policies
- Trustpilot and online reviews
- Alternatives to consider
By the end, you’ll have the information needed to decide if BravoFly is trustworthy for your travel needs or if you’re better off booking elsewhere.
Also Read: Is Super.com Legit or a Scam? The Eye-Opening Truth Revealed
Is BravoFly Legit? Company Background
BravoFly was founded in 2004 and is part of the lastminute.com group, a large online travel company. Lastminute.com has faced scrutiny in the past for opaque pricing and upcharges, so its ownership could influence perceptions of BravoFly.
BravoFly operates websites for multiple countries and claims to book over 10 million travelers annually. However, some criticize its lack of physical addresses, only providing a PO box in Switzerland for its headquarters.
While an established brand, BravoFly’s ownership by lastminute.com and non-transparent business structure have understandably created skepticism for certain customers. Its reputation also suffers from numerous poor review complaints as we’ll cover later.
BravoFly Features and Booking Process
BravoFly allows searching flights from over 350 airlines. During checkout, it may pre-select extra services like travel insurance without clarity if they’re optional. This practice of defaulting extras has drawn ire from customers.
The site aims to simplify flight booking, but some report issues at key stages:
- Confirmations: Delayed or missing confirmations cause anxiety for travelers.
- Seat Selection: Basic fares don’t allow choosing seats, leading to stressful flights.
- Changes: Altering bookings directs customers to airlines which charge high fees, negating BravoFly’s advertised change flexibility.
- Customer Support: Chat is the primary support but responses are slow with no live phone line for urgent issues.
While convenient in theory, BravoFly’s execution of the booking flow leaves room for improvement according to customer complaints. Issues tend to arise if changes are required, making the process far from seamless.
Customer Service and Support
Customer service is a major sore point for BravoFly. With no phone number, support is limited to online chat and email. But response times are commonly described as “abysmal” and “non-existent”.
Even for minor queries, travelers report waiting days only to receive generic responses. In urgent situations like cancellations or missed connections, the lack of a hotline creates serious problems.
Some also complain BravoFly routes issues directly back to airlines despite charging service fees. This passes the buck instead of resolving matters itself as the agent.
Poor communication destroys trust and comes across as uncaring towards customers in need. With so many alternatives, lackluster support significantly damages BravoFly’s reputation and trustworthiness.
BravoFly Refund and Cancellation Policies
When flights are canceled or plans change, customers expect prompt refunds. However, BravoFly’s policies have drawn the ire of many reviewers:
- ** refunds**: The process is described as “lengthy” with customers waiting months to receive owed money back.
- Fees: BravoFly retains sizable portions of refunds as fees, contradiction its promises of low-cost flexibility.
- Credits: It may offer credits instead of full cash refunds, though the credits expire quickly and come with restrictions.
- Changes: While touting a flexible change policy, fees are still applied which partly negates any savings from initial low fares.
Poorly handling refunds seriously damages trust in BravoFly. Customers require their money back promptly when plans change, not empty promises of partial credits months later.
Is BravoFly Legit or Scam? Reviews and Complaints
Online reviews provide valuable crowdsourced insight into customer satisfaction levels. An evaluation of BravoFly’s Trustpilot profile paints a troubling picture:
- Rating of 2.9/5 (the travel sector average is 4/5)
- 44% of reviews are 1-star, the highest negative rating
- Complaints of canceled flights, missing refunds, non-existent support
- Frustration with pre-selected extras and non-transparent upselling
- No resolution of issues with credits only offered as the solution
Comments on Reddit, TripAdvisor and other sites echo these complaints. While some have smooth bookings, an overwhelming number discuss refund headaches, lack of assistance and deceiving practices.
The volume and consistency of 1-star reviews cannot be ignored – they suggest systemic issues within BravoFly’s operations that damage many customer experiences.
Alternative Options
Considering the generally poor reviews of BravoFly, there are safer options when booking flights online:
- Direct airlines: Book direct with carriers like United, Delta and easyJet to avoid middlemen and ensureSmoother cancellation processes. Support tends to be superior.
- Google Flights: This search tool displays prices from multiple sites to find the best deal without ambiguity on charges or policies.
- Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz: Big online travel agencies offer 24/7 phone support with long operating histories and more transparent policies.
- Skyscanner: Like Google Flights but also allows set price alerts for route monitoring until the best fare emerges.
- StudentUniverse: Specializes in cheap student fares with reliable service albeit more limited flight selections.
The above alternatives carry lower risks compared to BravoFly due to their established track records, responsive customer service and transparent business models.
Final Thoughts
Based on the evidence, BravoFly does not appear trustworthy given its numerous and serious issues:
- Opacity in ownership and business structure
- Troubling booking and change processes according to customer feedback
- Abysmal customer service with no phone support
- Lengthy and problematic refund handling destroying goodwill
- Overwhelmingly negative reviews from dissatisfied customers
Buying flights involves trust that plans will materialize and issues will resolve seamlessly if anything goes wrong. Regrettably, BravoFly falls far short of those standards based on broad reviews.
While some bookings do work out fine, the high risks, frustrations commonly reported and poor communication do not inspire confidence in its reliability or legitimacy. Safer choices exist without these downsides.
Unless BravoFly undergoes major reforms to improve transparency, policies and customer care, it remains difficult to recommend its services over more reputable alternatives. Proceed with caution or consider alternative booking sites for a more worry-free travel experience.
FAQs on BravoFly Reviews
Q: Is BravoFly a scam?
A: Based on the overwhelming negative reviews, BravoFly does not appear to be a full-blown scam, but its lackluster policies, poor customer service and delays handling issues come across as deceptive to many customers. While some bookings work smoothly, there is high risk of frustrations that other booking sites do not share.
Q: How do I contact BravoFly support?
A: BravoFly support is only available online via chat or email. They do not offer a phone number for customers to call. Response times to chats and emails are reported to be very slow, sometimes taking days.
Q: Why is BravoFly sometimes cheaper than airlines?
A: BravoFly can occasionally find lower fares by bundling flights from different providers. However, some claim the low initial prices come with strings attached like opaque extra fees. Its lack of transparency has drawn criticism.
Q: Is BravoFly refund policy good?
A: Most customers report BravoFly’s refund policy leaves much to be desired. Refunds are described as a lengthy process taking months. Fees are also retained meaning customers do not always get back the full amount owed. Alternative providers tend to have faster, more customer-friendly refund procedures.
Q: Should I book with BravoFly?
A: Unless booking needs are very basic without possibility of changes, alternatives that offer more responsive customer service like airlines, Expedia and Skyscanner may be safer options given BravoFly’s spotty reputation and numerous complaints discussed in reviews. However, individual circumstances vary and some travelers have used BravoFly without issues.
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