Santander just cost me £150 & flight to BM

[Apprentice Dreamer]

Was booking flights to San Francisco from the UK today, found a sweet return flight for £605 giving me a week either side of BM to enjoy the west coast. Got through to finalising it, booked a hire car too, & then my bank card got rejected. Apparently my bank (Santander) has automated software that blocks 'suspicious' transactions, so wouldn't let me book the flight. I had to phone up, speak to 3 separate people before on egot into my debit card. Even then while she said she'd cleared it the website still kept rejecting the payment.

Guess what, wasn't able to book the flight & now its gone. Cheapest flights now are around £750 to 800.

Those of you who've booked transatlantic flights to BM before what do you think my chances are of getting a good deal like that come back? is it a case of when they're gone they're gone or do new seats tend to come on the market at different times?

Even if they do I still don't know if I'll be able to book - apparently Santander isn't able to turn off the automated software or apply exceptions, even though they know I'm booking a holiday. All they can do is clear it after the fact. Though so far they've not even managed that.

Ok Rant over.

[9ah]

I've only done purchases for leaving the US, but over the years I've gotten into the habit of contacting my CC company to alert them so my charges don't get flagged. Do you by chance have a credit card to use instead of a debit card? And Santander has affiliations in the US so it's strange that they should flag it.

There are chances that you will find comparable flights over the next couple months. I looked at tickets a few weeks ago and thought they were cheap, I looked the other day and the price was even lower for some flights. You can find Heathrow flights to SFO for $989rt (650pounds).... about $70 more US than you found originally... If you wanted to be fancy pants and fly Virgin without a layover the tickets are $1100 (725pounds)... Still 25 pounds lower than the prices that you have seen... Do some research on flights and sign up for fare alerts on sites, especially if you are a frequent traveler... Miles add up quickly crossing the pond. best of luck... (I looked up Aug 19 to Sept. 10)... ymmv

[theCryptofishist]

And Santander has affiliations in the US so it's strange that they should flag it.

Agreed. Secretly, I'm wondering if none of the three people talked to was actually competent, but that seems like a pointless exercise to go through on this board.

[Apprentice Dreamer]

Fairly sure they're not competent, otherwise I'd've got my flights booked.

Don't think the USA's got anything to do with it - while I was booking a flight to USA the cost was in denominated in £ & while it was going through a .com website that isn't unusual for internet transactions. Think it was just the fact that I don't usually make transactions of that value so it flagged it as unusual. Therefore obviously fraud.

Glad to hear that prices will fluctuate, I'll keep my eyes open. Thanks for the pointers 9ah, hadn't thought to try a direct flight via Virgin, I'll check into that - though I may actually prefer a layover, one I saw for £725 had a 13hr overnight layover in Amsterdam which wouldn't be a bad start to the holiday.

[mudpuppy000]

I've had plane tickets rejected when I've tried to book them as well (flying from the US to UK). Had to call my card company and approve it.

[9ah]

Fairly sure they're not competent, otherwise I'd've got my flights booked.

Don't think the USA's got anything to do with it - while I was booking a flight to USA the cost was in denominated in £ & while it was going through a .com website that isn't unusual for internet transactions. Think it was just the fact that I don't usually make transactions of that value so it flagged it as unusual. Therefore obviously fraud.

Glad to hear that prices will fluctuate, I'll keep my eyes open. Thanks for the pointers 9ah, hadn't thought to try a direct flight via Virgin, I'll check into that - though I may actually prefer a layover, one I saw for £725 had a 13hr overnight layover in Amsterdam which wouldn't be a bad start to the holiday.

Good to hear that you didn't let that ruin it for you. Hope the next person is competent

I def. agree that a 13hr layover in AMS is worth it, I assume you found a KLM flight? They're pretty good! Even a 6hr layover is long enough to enjoy a little of Amsterdam since Centraal Station is only about 10-15mins from the airport. I wish all airports had storage lockers, they were a nice treat there. If you find a long (10-13hr) layover in NYC or Chicago I would suggest those as well.

[lexy]

its a possibility that the flight you saw will come back, you just have to be super vigilant. prices are all based on availability, so if someone else has provisionally booked those seats they will be gone from the inventory, but if they don't pay in a certain amount of time they will be released back into the system. usually. the airline could also withhold the inventory if they feel like it

best bet is to check super early in the morning and check lots of airlines, or use a comparison site. be prepared to pay as soon as you see something you want. you could also consider using a travel agent, as they will be able to hold seats for you for a day or two, so if your first choice doesn't come back, you still haven't lost the second best seats.
(but don't dick your travel agent around by asking them to do this for you and then booking online)

i am a travel agent

[MikeGyver]

One thing I've done when taking trips is put money on a visa gift card and that wont get flagged when you try and spend it. But that's in US, I'm not sure if it would work in UK