You can be first in line and still get no tickets on FlySafair special - but airline is in the clear

13 March 2019 - 08:24 By Nico Gous
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FlySafair
FlySafair
Image: Facebook/FlySafair

Even the early bird can be too early to catch the worm, as Nicholas Shabangu found out when he tried to book low-cost plane tickets from FlySafair.

He complained to ad watchdog the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) about FlySafair’s promo plane tickets for a flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town last month.

The airline’s ad said: “Today’s Rush Hour Sale! You have one hour to book a seat on flight FA200, departing on February 17 at 5:55am between Joburg and Cape Town for R399. Ready to rush? Click on the button below to book now.”

The sales terms and conditions said:

  • “This sale takes place between 1pm and 2pm on Tuesday the 13th of February 2019”; and
  • The R399 one-way offer is only applicable to JHB to CPT Flight FA200 departing on the 17th of February 2019 at 5:55am.”

Shabangu said he struggled to find the sale prices when he logged onto FlySafair’s during its promotions.

“The experiences happened immediately after receiving communication from the respondent (FlySafair),” ARB said about his complaint.

FlySafair said in the specific instance under complaint, Shabangu had tried to book his ticket at 12:52pm.

“The advertisement clearly stated that the special starts at 1pm and ends at 2pm. [Shabangu] should have been [able] to see the special on the respondent’s website when he visited the website again at 1:25pm,” ARB wrote.

FlySafair gave ARB a spreadsheet of their sales for this promo.

ARB was convinced by the spreadsheet and dismissed Shabangu’s complaint. “In fact, it appears that some consumers were able to secure the advertised price after 2pm.”

TODAY’S RUSH HOUR SALE! You have 1 hour to book a seat on flight FA 200, departing on 17 February at 05:55 between...

Posted by FlySafair on Wednesday, 13 February 2019

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