Manchester/Helsinki

[Hartington]

Son lives in Newcastle and wants to book Manchester/Helsinki. He goes to Skyscanner who tell him the flights are Finnair operated by FlyBe. So he thinks "I'll go the the horses mouth" and looks at FlyBe except they don't offer Manchester/Helsinki. Back at Skyscanner he clicks on the flights and gets taken to Tripsta.co.uk (I've never heard of them).

At this point I get a phone call asking if I know what the baggage allowance is. I suggest he phones Tripsta since he's thinking of buying from them. I suggested he also ask for their ATOL number. The response he gets is that they don't have an ATOL but here's our IATA number and this is the IATA number that will issue the tickets. The checkacode site shows the IATA numbers to belong to agencies in Greece.

The difference between what Tripsta want to charge and what Finnair want is about £100 for the 2 of them. I find it difficult to believe that an agency in Greece has a deal with Finnair, especially not on MAN/HEL. Given that Greece is still in the Euro I can't see any currency reason for the discrepancy.

Now for my questions

1) Has anyone here either heard of or done business with Tripsta?
2) The Finnair flight is operated by FlyBe is this a simple charter arrangement or something else? (FlyBe do operate some domestic Finnish flights).
3) Given that it seems to be a "real" Finnair flight I'm guessing the baggage is the Finnair allowance - 1 bag?

Oh, he's got some BA Avios so I've sent him off to see if he can get a part cash/part Avios deal.

All comments gratefully received.

[mixture]

1) Has anyone here either heard of or done business with Tripsta?

No.

I take it you have googled and read some online reviews on places like Trustpilot or TripAdvisor?

Make sure he uses a credit card so he gets the benefit of 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 if the transaction value is more than £100. Just to re-iterate, that's credit card NOT debit, or Amex or Paypal or .... !

The checkacode site shows the IATA numbers to belong to agencies in Greece.

Looking at the T&Cs on the Tripsta site, Tripsta is actually Travelplanet24 S.A t/a Tripsta and they publish a PO Box in Athens as their address and refer to Greek law in their T&Cs.

2) The Finnair flight is operated by FlyBe is this a simple charter arrangement or something else? (FlyBe do operate some domestic Finnish flights).

Codeshare maybe ? FlyBe and Finnair did have a joint-venture until recently.

3) Given that it seems to be a "real" Finnair flight I'm guessing the baggage is the Finnair allowance - 1 bag?

Depends whose metal he's ultimately flying on, since that will decide the allowance.

Oh, he's got some BA Avios so I've sent him off to see if he can get a part cash/part Avios deal.

That would be my first choice.

[finncapt]

I may be incorrect but, unless it has changed recently, Flybe Nordic operate what used to be Finnair's Embraer and ATR aircraft.

I think Finnair and Flybe own about 50% each.

There was talk recently of the partnership ending and one side was trying to dispose of their stake for 1€.

If the Flt no. is AY2*** then it is a Finnair flight operated by Flybe Nordic using, probably, an E190.

In which case the baggage allowance will be Finnair's.

If it is BE*** then it is a Flybe Nordic flight entirely and, probably, bookable through BE website.

You may find it may be bookable and cheaper through ba.com.

Finns tend to use "Expedia" or "Kilroy" if they go through one of those "intermediary" websites.

Personally, I wouldn't touch anything to do with Greeks - bearing gifts springs to mind.

Just tried it ba.com allows booking on BA6003 - the ba codeshare operated by Finnair using Flybe Nordic metal on this route.

You won't get free drinks, a la BA, though!!

[Hartington]

Thank you gentelmen

Particulary Finncapt for the explanation of relationships.

[Curious Pax]

Proves nothing, but I got a cheap ticket on AF LHR-CDG-LHR via Tripsta last year that went without a hitch.My gut feel is that Skyscanner would only link to reasonably reputable companies, but I may be a bit naive!