Sold a flight, took my money, then claimed “sold out” — while still selling the same flight for more
***edit - this has since been resolved. However, systems and processes should not have allowed this to happen in the first place. I had to really fight for this to be fixed and escalated within Trip.com. Had this not been done, trip.com would not have resolved this issue in a satisfactory way** I booked and paid in full for a family flight from Italy to Dubai — over £2,000 for four passengers. Payment was taken and the booking was confirmed. Trip.com then contacted me to say the flight was “sold out.” The problem: the exact same flights were still being advertised and sold — on Trip.com’s own website and via Skyscanner — at a higher price, at the very time I was being told there were no seats. So it wasn’t sold out. The price had simply gone up, and rather than honour the confirmed booking I’d already paid for, I was told it was unavailable and offered alternative times that didn’t work. Taking payment, confirming a booking, and then failing to deliver it while continuing to sell the same service at a higher price is not acceptable. A confirmed, paid booking is a contract. The correct outcome is to honour it — not to push the customer onto worse alternatives or a refund that leaves them out of pocket to rebook at the inflated price. I’m now pursuing this through my card provider. I’d caution anyone booking with Trip.com: your “confirmed” booking may not be honoured if the fare rises after you’ve paid.