angelfarmwest

ALPHA FLIGHT GURU is a company that sells discounted Business and First Class plane tickets out of San Bruno, CA, although it is also based in Australia. At first glance it appears to be a reputable company with very helpful staff. And yes, it is always satisfying to feel as if one is finding a great deal on a flight! BUYER BEWARE! Although it may work out if your travel plans run smoothly, i.e, no delays or other complications...but if not, you may realize that you are TRAVELING ON THE RESOLD MILEAGE OF OTHERS WHICH IS ILLEGAL. DO NOT BUY TICKETS FROM THIS COMPANY ! I was stranded overseas and had to pay out an additional $1000 over budget and come home early due to the illegal activities of this company which I was too naive to realize at time of purchase! They will continue in business because there is no active monitoring agency for this behavior. It happens on a case by case basis when discovered by the airlines. It may or may not be you but why risk it?
The airlines do not care enough to monitor this activity. I had a terrible experience
and costly one in the past year. There are other companies like this one in existence.
Everyone working for them seems cordial, charming and efficient, and who doesn't like a good deal? BUYER BEWARE! If it seems too good to be true perhaps it is?

kybourbon

>>>The airlines do not care enough to monitor this activity<<<

It's not any airlines job to monitor scammers. If the company is based in California then you need to file your complaint there with the state attorney general office (they handle consumer fraud) or the CA BBB.

NoFlyZone

The airlines DO monitor these companies ... they caught the OP, no?

Ida_Greener

I had a terrible experience with this company, too. A trip ended up cost more than it would if I had just booked with the airlines, after all their change fees were applied. I wanted a RT tix from Jed to Sea, and was informed of a terrific deal, where I could book 1st class for the same price as business. Since my return date was not positive yet, the agent booked an estimated date and said changing that would be simple. NOT SO! I could not get the dates I needed for the return, so ended up booking with another company, another airline. I make this trip every two months, so when I tried to use the remaining portion of the ticket for my next trip, of course the dates I needed were not available again. I ended up booking an economy one portion, and business the rest, for an added fee of $599, to downgrade my flight. I know this is my fault for believing this company, so lesson learned. I could have saved thousands by just booking business class with the airlines, and saved a lot of time, energy and frustration. To pay more it required lots of time on the phone. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COSTS!!

Zambia14

ALPHA FLIGHT GURU – BUYER BEWARE AVOID IT. Yes we had a similar problem with alpha flight guru September 2013, we got to Sydney airport and we were told by Malaysian Airlines that our return tickets from Sydney to London has been cancelled our tickets were booked on someone else membership or frequent flyer points. We spend all day on the phone to Tanya Guru who made our bookings unfortunately she could not get us on any other flight that day so we were stranded in Sydney for 2 days whilst she tried to re-book our travel. We missed our connecting flights booked in advance from London to Europe they were non-refundable plus overnight accommodation. The return flights was another big problem Tanya could not get us back from London to Sydney so we had to forego our connecting pre-booked non-refundable flight from Frankfurt to London and return on the available route provided to us. This cost us a lot but we were just pleased that we got home. Our whole holiday was ruined worrying about getting back also we were spending a lot of time sending emails and phone calls that we did not want. We asked Tanya that we want a report why this happened and she said that it will take time to investigate after 2 months we requested the report again but her reply was it will take 2 months to investigate it. To save our precious time we did not bother chasing it up we knew we would not get any results from her, we have not heard from her since. They are very professional and friendly they referred me to some of their clients for references and they were all good news until the day we started our holiday, it was too good to be true. At the end we were out of pocket for thousands of dollars it did not go smoothly for us. BEWARE AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT AND COSTS.

Odin

<<Since my return date was not positive yet, the agent booked an estimated date and said changing that would be simple. NOT SO! I could not get the dates I needed for the return, so ended up booking with another company>>

Do people really expect that when they want to change their flight, that it will automatically be available for the date & booking class that they want? This is not a scam but a case of naivety, flights are very often full especially on tickets where there is a promotion of book business but fly first.

kybourbon

Someone sounds like an advertiser for Alpha.

MissGreen

If you're buying a cheap heavily discounted business class ticket then you must ask yourself why?

You pay for what you get.

mikecarsgt351

Hi there I used Alpha Flight Guru 3 weeks ago from Perth Australia to Chicago return. I read the forums and was very cautious as the saying goes if it sounds to good to be true it normally is, however I had no problems with the flights via Virgin Australia and Virgin America flying business class all the way there and back.
The only issue I had was I wanted to extend my stay and the cost to change flights was huge so we just stuck with our original leaving date.
I received emails when I left and an email when I got back checking everything went well, the guys name was Fevos very helpful.
If you want any info send me an email at [email protected] I'm in Australia

TerryRose

We have used Alpha Flight Guru twice. First time - Business Class, May 2012. Great flights at great prices, Adelaide to London. In late 2013 we booked again for May 2014 - Adelaide to London. In April I checked our booking on line with US Air. They had been cancelled! I contacted AFG, and our agent Robert Carbone told me that US Air had informed him that my wife had rung US Air direct and cancelled the flights and that US Air were investigating the event. I replied that my wife had certainly not cancelled the flights, and that we were still wanting to fly. After that AFG organised substitute flights at about half price. But I had to pay for these flights. So I am still waiting for the refund from the original flights. I got one email only from US Air to the effect that they had refunded the taxes to AFG but this has not been passed on to me. Still waiting. NO refund from AFG so I am out of pocket for two Business class flights Adelaide Australia to London UK.
I fear that this is an example of fraudulent mileage brokerage.

eliztravels2

TerryRose: Your wife called to cancel? That's a creative excuse, but not very clever as you didn't fall for it. I wish you luck on getting your refund. Have you contacted your credit card company? I don't know how this company manages to stay in business as fraudulent practices seem to be their modus operandi.

jacketwatch

TR did you book with a credit card? if so just protest the charge.

eliztravels2

Inspite of your assurances to the contrary, Rainbowgc, I suspect you are a shill for AFG. This forum does not easily trust someone who joins simply to post a strongly felt report, either positive or negative, about a specific provider.

But if I were to give you the benefit of a doubt, how could you expect me to believe you when you say categorically that AFG is “an honest and dedicated discount fare provider”? As Zambia notes above, they are known to book tickets using other people’s frequent flyer miles, which is certainly not honest, clearly against airline rules, and probably illegal.

rberger1379

Thanks for posting I had a similar experience !

rberger1379

Update to my previous comment. Initially my experience sour as the other users described. However I must say Alfa Flight Guru really went above and beyond to correct my situation.

I had a trip booked to Hanover and this company was not only able to to upgrade my seat but I they put me in First Class for price of a business class upgrade.

They lived up to their name stood by their mission statement and proved me wrong. !

"Alpha Flight Guru brings personalized guru service to the search for cheap business class tickets and cheap first class tickets to destinations from Europe to Asia to Australia and beyond. Not only do we offer discounted airfare, but we also provide all of our clients with their very own guru to make sure they get the personal, white-glove treatment they deserve"

Kathie

But I expect your tickets were still purchased with someone else's frequent flier miles, putting you in jeopardy as well as the person who sold their miles.