Smart Fares

I purchased a flight through this company and had a very difficult experience confirming my booking with Porter Airlines. Unfortunately, there was a very minor mistake in the name on the ticket, which I only noticed two weeks prior to the flight. Instead of assisting me, customer support repeatedly blamed Porter Airlines and claimed that name… Read more

corrections were not permitted. As a result, I was forced to purchase a new ticket just one week before my departure date, at a price nearly five times higher than the original fare. I would not recommend purchasing from this company. While the initial price may seem attractive, any changes or issues later could end up costing you significantly more. Please be cautious before booking.

Thank you for choosing SmartFares for your travel plans. My booking request (FM31HM) was marked as “processing,” but no tickets were ever issued. When I contacted customer service, I was told that the advertised price was no longer available. However, when I checked online, I saw the same price still listed, so I attempted to book again. Once… Read more

again, no tickets were issued. This resulted in repeated phone calls, wasted time, and what appears to be a misleading scam.. Customers are shown a price, encouraged to book on line, and then told the price is unavailable—despite it still appearing online. This is especially concerning for people who may not be familiar with common travel booking scams. Additionally, the company does not appear to have a verified Google review page, which further raises concerns about legitimacy.

I purchased a flight with Smart Fares after multiple failures attempting to book directly with the airline (Philippine Airlines). Anyway, after booking with Smart Fares, it also had an issue and gave me a phone number to call to rectify. I was impressed with support, no waiting time. They told me one of the flights could not be confirmed causing… Read more

the whole lot to fail. They said it would cost $350 to confirm that flight. Considering that leg should have only cost $150, I said no, let's just cancel. They were happy to cancel immediately and within 2hrs the funds were back on my card. I suspect the issues were more related to the airlines booking system than theirs. Overall happy with how it all transpired despite not successfully booking.

Do not use Smart Fares. Was sent to them through Kayak to finalize ticket purchases over a month ahead of the trip. Ordered "flexible" tickets as an add-on. These were not honored. They also cost more than buying direct from an airline and their own fare protection. This third party service should be avoided at all cost. Customer service was… Read more

atrocious. I'm not normally a reviewer, but save your time, money and aggravation. Calls to them were painful, they would not provide transcripts, I assume for no evidence of the calls, or how they treat you. Just terrible

SCAMMERS - DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM THEY WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY – Booked a return flight SYD to LHR. Paid via Paypal over $7k for business class return. Received an email asking to call them urgently. Did so and they said they cannot honor the fare but offered me an Air India flight. I declined and asked for the booking to be cancelled. Two days later the Paypal transaction went through for the full amount.… Read more

I called after being cut off twice and was initially told I had only cancelled the return portion of the trip. I called the next day and spoke to someone different. They said the booking had been cancelled and they have not debited any funds. I am out of pocket and need to fight via Paypal and wait several weeks for these scam artists to be given an opportunity to respond. DO NOT USE!!!

Careful when you hit the book button. The fare advertised is not the same as what you pay regardless the exchange rate – I completely echo the sentiments of the my fellow 1-star reviews. I already understood the exchange rate to US dollars before receiving a response from the Customer Service Team, telling me this again. I was after an explanation as to why the advertised fare jump by $500 AUD (after checking my bank statement) right after I clicked the book… Read more

button. It did not tell me that there was a fare price difference. I should have taken a screenshot! As I mentioned to Customer Service, I won’t be using Smart Fares service again after my trip. It’s quite disappointing.

Waiting 3 months for a refund – Having had to cancel two fares and rebook one, I was promised a refund of $1,800 AUD. This was 3 months ago. All I get are apologies and promises. This company is unreliable. Show details

Bunch of scamming jokers – After booking the flight, I needed to contact them to change the flight. Their response time is 7 days. Entire flights get booked in 7 days. By the way I never received the reply from them. Show details

Worst travel service booking website – They will announce a discounted local currency value and you make the transaction you will be shocked by another increased fare at least 500 dollars more! Stay away from them , they are scammers Show details

Nothing can describe how bad these guys are – I could write a novel about how bad Smartfares are, if i could give them a negative i would. Even though flights quoted in AUD, it was in fact going charge in USD, so you will expect a surcharge from your card provider. When you work out the conversion you will end up paying more than what you think. The reservation email stated tickets issued… Read more

within 24hrs, i did not have time and rang them the following day around 18 hrs after my booking, only to be told sorry we cant get you flights at that time, did you want to fly with someone else or pay more which was now out of my budget. That infuriated me and i have asked them to cancel. Alarm bells should of been raised based off their dodgy looking website.

Fraudulent company – Worst company to try and buy airline tickets from, tried hundreds of time to buy tickets at price the say they are sell at, but ever time i try and buy, its always pending and flights never go through as they always up the price over a $1000 on top of what they say the prices are, its fraudulent and i hate seeing there company on the apps i have to buy airline tickets, the apps shouldn’t allow this fraudulent company on there sites Show details

Worst booking service never book airline tickets from them – I had cancelled a ticket which I had booked from them, they still haven't provided the refund its been ages. They are scamsters. Show details

Absolutely terrible – I was on the qantas website and booked in a flight. However in the itinerary it was smart fares and not qantas. I unfortunately didn't think much of it then. One day before the flight when I was going to check into Qantas, there was no reservation whatsoever. Couldn't even contact smart fares. Now I have to pay double the price. Just avoid smart fares when you see it, it will save you a lot of stress.

as above, don't risk it – We booked on a Saturday afternoon and hadn't heard anything so got in contact on Wednesday and they said the card had been declined (there was no reason for it to be declined and we didn't receive any correspondance from them) and conveniently the new fare would be an extra $180US... we told them to cancel and we'll go elsewhere... very poor business model

Stay Away – These are bogus online travel agents. Paid for flights and money got debited instantly. 2 days later told booking cancelled as fares had increased. More than a week waiting for a refund, meanwhile the prices have gone out of reach and still haven't got my refund Show details

Fraudsters – Tickets were quoted in Australian Dollars throughout the process, No mention about USD at any point. However, charged in USD and lost money. Stay away from this fraudsters. Show details

PLEASE STAY AWAY! – 1. Tickets were quoted in AUD during the booking and payment process, however it was chaged in USD, resulting higher cost due to FX related fees. 2. They refused to fulfil their own "CANCEL FOR FREE with 24h" policy, I was told to bear all airline and bank imposed costs, because "the tickets were issued" - too bad! 3. All links in their emails… Read more

goes to "404 Web Site not found", luckly the reservation code was valid therefore I could get information from the airline.

This is a very bad company – I pay one tickets and never recive the confirmation for the airline so that happens you pay but smartfares don't pay the money to the airline company. And the constumer service Is terrible

DON'T BE TEMPTED TO DO BUSINESS WITH TRAVELLERS HELP DESK! EVER! – If I could give 0 stars I would. Traveler Help Desk deliberately lied to my partner and I on a recent trip, claiming that our airline-cancelled flight would require a $250US per ticket "administration and airline penalty fee" (i.e. all costs on your company's side) to rescheduled. After 30 min of digging for the the truth of this claim on an… Read more

international call (after they didn't return emails) the company they still refused to admit the truth and instead offered a 'discount' of $70US, still leaving us $180US out of pocket each ticket, none of which was their fault, "their hands were tied". Of course, this line was a complete lie and the airline was always obliged to find re-schedule to a preceeding flight so we could still make our connection - the airline was more than happy to do so at no cost, it was just Traveler Help Desk that was adding the extra fee against our legal rights.

Upon going through the dispute process with the AIRLINE (as a formality because they were dealing with a third party as we hadn't booked direct with them) Traveler Help Desk sat on things until a week before our flight before processing the changed flight without charge, as was their legal obligation. TRAVELER HELP DESK IS AN IMMORAL QUASI-SCAM COMPANY. They lied multiple times on the phone, even when explicitly questioned about the veracity of their information, and tried multiple pressure tactics to get us to agree to egregious and significant false fees ("we will have to give you full refund and you'll be exposed to current market prices for a new ticket if you don't agree to our charges this minute", "our 'discount' will only last 15 minutes" and calling back multiple times when I hung up and said I was checking with the airline itself).

Be careful who you book your plane tickets with, as we were sub-booked/pushed to this company without our knowledge by another widely-advertised discount fare travel agent (actually just a front for THD) called Smart Fares that has somehow has pumped up its TrustPilot review to 4.1 stars (likely through fake reviews).

SAVE YOURSELF A LOT OF STRESS AND POSSIBLY LOTS OF MONEY - DON'T BE TEMPTED TO BOOK WITH EITHER SMART FARES OR TRAVELLERS HELP DESK! EVER!

Do NOT buy tickets through this Airline.This is a complete SCAM – My mom bought a ticket los Angeles to Colombia flex. We had to change the ticket and called their centre. The supervisors Alle Fernandez response was that the ticket can not be change and they can refund the extra money pay for the flex. They said it was my fault for buying a cheap ticket. When I asked why the flex option was then available they… Read more

kept changing the subject and eventually hanged up on me. I am going to report this with TCRF but we will have to buy a new ticket. Don't waste your money here.

TICKET BOOKING – never book ticket with this website to get customers showing super discounted tickets once you pay, that tickets not avilable you have to more or refund will give when refund they 200 to 300 dollars (even you pay extra money for price guarantee same they dont consider) after i seen others reviews main business is cheating money without invest anything SO I DONT WANT TO GIVE ANY STARS Show details

Scam !! – Purchased flights through this website thousands of dollars. Never received our tickets or confirmation of tickets being purchased. When talking to customer service they told us our flights had been cancelled by the airline which we never received confirmation of. We were told to pay $1000 more for the difference for new flights. Should have… Read more

googled the reviews before purchasing! Offered us a small refund then changed refund amounts and would not refund us in full. Do not purchase through this site! Will be following up through our bank as fraud for a refund.

False advertisement – I booked a flight from india to Melbourne. Upon 2 days of my flight I realised that the flight was canceled and they didn’t even informed me. So I tried to rebook a flight but they couldn’t offer any instead they gave me a future credit worth 1400 but i paid 1800. since the refund will take 6 months so i chose the future credit once I phoned them… Read more

to book my future credit they ask for more money since the cant find 1400 dollars flight its always higher than that. They want me to pay extra 350 dollors more and I refused to pay cause I don’t trust them anymore. So i lost 1,800

SCAM SCAM SCAM – I bought a ticket on their sire. But didn't receive it. When I asked for the ticket, they asked me to pay additionally about 100$. I didn't have time to find a new one, so had to agree. Show details