Mary P.

Recent Discovery: This company previously flew under the name "Best Air Fares." THAT name has a F on BBB. And it has a one star rating on its Trustpilot page. It looks like they stopped using the name a year ago. They are attempting to move forward under a new name, but their game is the same.

Here's the rest of the story:

I spoke with a CSA named Damien who was friendly enough when explaining that they couldn't book the flight through American Airlines because the cheap flight I wanted was full. It didn't occur to me that it was a scam. He offered a ticket through Frontier that was more, but only a hundred or so. So I went with it as the only option available.

During our two phone calls, he spoke quickly and I had difficulty following what he was saying. During the second call, he explained the charges would be split in two. But I said okay. He also stated that I might have to approve the second fee as banks sometimes decline those charges.

This struck me as odd, but I said yes, thinking that this is all related to the cost of the ticket. So I agree to it. A little later, I got the itinerary, went to Frontier's site, and note that the the cost of the ticket was significantly less than what he quoted to me. I also noted that he'd added his email, not mine--which he had--to the account.

I contacted Frontier who told me that I had been charged everything they were going to charge me. Which means that the other 114.00 was coming from Hot Flight Deals. My best guess is that this is their newest effort to make a profit. If they hadn't gotten greedy--had only charged, say 5%, I might not have blinked.

I've booked flights, rented cars, and motel rooms through other services a few times. And never been subjected to an extra fee--at least not one large enough to get my attention. There is NO reference to this extra fee anywhere on their site.

I just found a reference to extra charges in their terms and conditions, but it's vague. "You may be charged additional sums by HotFlightDeals.com to offset increased fees, fuel surcharges, taxes, and fluctuations in foreign exchange markets or any combination thereof."

None of this applies to my situation. There is nothing in that which would have anything to do with my purchasing a ticket for a domestic flight online.

Final Note of Warning: Please note that many of the positive reviews are suspicious. If you'll check them, you'll note that this is the only review that most of them have written under this name. And many of the "American/English sounding" names are oddly spelled. If you will check their FB page and elsewhere, you'll see the complaints are many.

I spoke with Damien who was friendly enough when explaining that they couldn't book the flight through American Airlines because the cheap flight I wanted was full. He offered a ticket through Frontier that was more, but only a hundred or so. So I went with it as the only option available.

He spoke quickly and I had difficulty following what he was saying as he explained the charges would be split in two. But I said okay. He also stated that I might have to approve the second fee as banks sometimes decline those charges.

Again, I'm thinking that this is all related to the cost of the ticket. So I agree to it. A little later, I get the itinerary, go to Frontier's site, and note that the the cost of the ticket is significantly less than what he quoted to me.

I contacted Frontier who told me that I had been charged everything they were going to charge me. Which means that the other 114.00 was coming from Hot Flight Deals.

I've booked flights, rented cars, and motel rooms through other services a few times. And never been subjected to an extra fee.

I just found their reference to it in their terms and conditions. It is vaguely worded. "You may be charged additional sums by HotFlightDeals.com to offset increased fees, fuel surcharges, taxes, and fluctuations in foreign exchange markets or any combination thereof."

None of this applies to my situation. There is nothing in that which would have anything to do with my purchasing a ticket for a domestic flight online.

I will pay it because I said I would. But you shouldn't have to. Let my experience be your warning.

I contacted them multiple times in order to cancel the membership with them. I acknowledged that I may have misunderstood the membership information and was (originally) willing to pay a cancellation fee. But after one reply from their customer support, requesting information, which I sent, the response was crickets. And their vagueness about the cancellation fee is disturbing.

After more attempts that included warning them that I was going to cancel the card in order to avoid unwanted charges, I cancelled the credit card and removed my name and address from the system.

The sad thing is? I found the images I actually wanted elsewhere and for less money.