I got burned trying to buy tickets on eDreams

eDreams is an infamous airline ticket and hotel booking website. When I used it recently to buy plane tickets, I had never heard of it and didn’t know its reputation – and I very nearly lost $1,200. It’s a tale where I’m a fool and Bank of America emerges as the unlikely hero.

Based on my experience I advise you to absolutely avoid eDreams, no matter what prices they claim to offer. Just go elsewhere. eDreams has a terrible reputation and I, luckily, lived to tell my tale with them.

My eDreams experience

Preparing to fly from Osaka, Japan to Stockholm, Sweden in October 2014 for the beginning of an extended European trip, I went online for the cheapest plane tickets I could find for me and my travel partner Masayo.

I ended up on a very nice-looking website called eDreams. They found an itinerary from Osaka-Beijing-Stockholm for about $540, one way, per person. I had budgeted $1000 for a single ticket; this seemed like a good deal.

I entered the information they asked for – passenger names and my credit card info. The total was about $1190. You’ll note that that is a bit more than $540 x 2 (which would be $1080); at the time, I didn’t really notice. Scammy hidden fees are just an unfortunate part of online commerce, right? I was just excited by the price, and by the trip itself. They sent an email with my itinerary and a confirmation number.

They hadn’t asked for passport numbers and nationalities, so I knew that no airline had actually issued tickets for us yet. I figured a followup email would be coming from eDreams. I went back to the eDreams website but could find nowhere to input my confirmation number to check on the actual tickets, which would be from Air China.

Bank of America alert

Immediately, my credit card issuer Bank of America sent me a message indicating unusual activity – four identical attempts in a row from eDreams to take the $1190. This was because the “submit” screen hadn’t worked so I’d tried four times before it accepted it.

Seemed like the bank was just being cautious but there was nothing actually amiss. I clicked the button that said these charges were not fraudulent (i.e., my card hadn’t been stolen).

The horror

Then I did some research about eDreams. What I found horrified me – customer after angry customer, page after page, website after website, reporting negative experiences, lost money, and warnings to STAY AWAY!

I read how eDreams took money and didn’t issue tickets, or did issue tickets but cancelled them at the last minute (stranding people at airports), were unwilling and slow to issue even partial refunds, etc. It went on and on. (And a few people said they’d had no problem and their travel through eDreams was fine.)

People said the only way to contact eDreams was an expensive toll number where you were kept on hold for 10 to 20 minutes. The operator would then be kind and helpful, but the actual refund and help often didn’t materialize after the phone call.

Dread seeped into my bones.

With the distinct feeling I’d made a mistake I called my U.S. bank long-distance from Japan and spoke to a customer service representative. She said no charge had actually gone through, so suspicious was the bank – and that none would be attempted (unless I actually returned to the eDreams website and tried again).

I felt much better.

How Bank of America rescued me

But two days later, strangely, the charge was indeed attempted and the money was deducted from my credit card balance. I clicked the “dispute” button right away and filled in the form. On Submit, it said to print this page and either fax or mail in a physical copy. I wrote a page-and-a-half detailed explanation and both faxed and mailed in a physical copy across the ocean.

A few days later, I noticed that there was a balance adjustment on my account for the full price of the non-existent eDreams tickets. There was also a refund for a $35 “foreign transaction fee” that apparently eDreams had also tried to get.

Bank of America sided with me, and made sure I paid nothing at all to eDreams. This was different than a previous experience in Malaysia when someone had stolen my card info and made purchases with it – the bank notified me but then made me pay anyway. (Read that story here.)

It would seem that eDreams’ reputation preceded them, and during a dispute the bank virtually immediately sided with me. Thankfully.

Remember that throughout all this, there were never any actual tickets from eDreams. They still hadn’t tried to get me (or allow me) to input the full traveler info that would have allowed tickets to be issued. Airlines don’t issue tickets to names only; they need passport numbers. eDreams had no intention of giving me tickets.

Bank of America soon sent a letter saying that I had been refunded in full and they considered the matter closed. And while a few people say they have had good experiences with eDreams, I have to agree with the overwhelming majority of the internet: don’t use them!

The final lesson

I still needed my tickets. In the middle of all this, I went to the actual Air China website and found the same tickets – with no hidden fees or other nonsense, and so they were cheaper than eDreams. I bought them and was issued a real itinerary with real tickets and confirmation numbers.

Using eDreams without research and for giving my credit card info without having been asked for the full necessary info was a mistake on my part. Bank of America is my hero for helping me through this and assuring I didn’t have to pay a penny to eDreams. I’m glad I caught it early and gave them full, honest, clear documentation about what had happened.

Lessons learned: avoid eDreams, and always check the airline’s official website. Why would “ticket consolidators” have cheaper tickets than the airlines themselves?

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