Korean Job Discussion Forums

Koreabound2004 · Joined: 19 Nov 2003

Ok, so this is the deal:

I told my travel agent that I wanted a return ticket to Bangkok. Fine, he says 483,000 won. This was in mid-Oct.

Then school changes my holiday time.

I tell him the new dates, the price is 542,000 then.

So I say ok, let's book it, give him our names, ask when to pay.

He says, he will tell me when the "exact price" comes out....so then what was the 542,000 all about???

He doesn't respond.

Then he says, new price, end of December....pay then. I am leaving Jan 8....so what the hell?

What if the new price is much higher?

Should I wait to find out, or go with another agent????

sistersarah · Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Location: hiding out

the EXACT thing happened with me and my husband trying to get tickets back to canada. i let him deal with his company's travel agent, thought it would be no problem. so, she booked us a flight. i keep asking my husband, when can we pay, so we can have the tickets....he called repeatedly, every day, most times he couldn't get her on the phone, and when he did, she said, you can't pay now because the price is going to change because of the season............uuuhhh, yeah, that's why we want to buy them NOW!

anyway, i ended up contacting jacky at kangsan travel, she booked us some flights, cheaper flights than the other place, and guess what? we could pay whenever we want! very smooth, no problem.

get a new agent before those prices change.

Koreabound2004 · Joined: 19 Nov 2003

Too funny.... Laughing

Jacky at Kangsan IS my travel agent, this is the one giving me problems, maybe I should stick it out then???

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

I'm waiting on my price for tix to new zealand which I reserved back in august and no travel agent would give me a price for the fare at the time. I'm pretty much stuck with them now as the flights are booked up solid and I had trouble securing a seat even back in august.

I hate the system they have here when I want to go somewhere i just want to book and pay pretty much straight away. So I don't think it's the travel agent's problem per say but the pricing system that the airlines have here.

sistersarah · Joined: 03 Jan 2004 Location: hiding out

Sejong · Joined: 01 Jun 2003 Location: Wally World

Haha... this has been happening with almost every flight my wife and I have tried to book over the last two years. It's bleeping frustrating! We get the same line every time about how the travel agent can't tell us the price right now because the airlines change their prices so often... doesn't seem to be a problem in other countries. We suspect it has something to do with how Korean tour companies buy up big blocks of tickets in advance, and so the airlines don't actually know how many seats they have left to sell until the tour operators unlock their unsold seats at the last minute. Makes sense, I guess, but if true it still doesn't make it any less annoying.

edgellskiuk · Joined: 21 Jun 2004 Location: Seoul

I am not sure for the reason for this either. When I fly back to Europe I always get my office there to book my ticket as they can confirm it 3 months in advance whereas the Korean agents wont confirm until a couple of weeks before hand. Inevitably the price has risen. This strikes me as odd as it is the same airline and same plane etc.

I wonder if it is a way for them to boost their ticket commission(if they get paid as a percentage of ticket value).

rapier · Joined: 16 Feb 2003

I've had a few problems with a certain travel agent lately too. Maybe we should start a blacklist of them, so we can threaten them with it.

Real Reality · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: Seoul

Sejong wrote,
"the travel agent can't tell us the price right now because the airlines change their prices so often..."

I have experienced the same thing. Why does this happen so frequently in Korea?

schwa · Joined: 18 Jan 2003 Location: Yap

Just how its commonly done here. Yeh, it aint like back home. Buy your ticket early & pay a premium or wait till last minute & catch a discount. Through your agent you reserve 2 or 3 different flights, no money down (Koreans all do that so there's plenty of last-minute cancellations) & then the agent picks up the best deal a week or 2 before your flight date. Theres a certain leap of faith on the customer's part but if you go with a reputable firm they'll do their best -- they want your return business.

I gave up worrying about the uncertainty (the western penchant for having the ticket in hand weeks beforehand) & I've never been disappointed, many flights later.

thorin · Joined: 14 Apr 2003

LOL never had a problem with "Jacky".