5

I used airline's website to book. From X to Y via Z.

I was charged 3 times. 2 for 2 flights, 1 for dohop

Connection is guaranteed by Dohop but title of the email Dohop sent me is "Booking confirmation X to Y with Transavia Smart Connect"

Delays or cancellation of your flight

If your flight is delayed or cancelled, Dohop will rebook you on an alternative flight to your final destination. To benefit from this service, please contact Dohop Connect as soon as possible by calling or sending a SMS to ... or by sending an e-mail to ....

Should I be worried? There are frequent strikes in Y

Improve this question
16
  • 3
    While this likely can be answered, it is much easier if you edit in the actual airports and airlines.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 12:48
  • What is your citizenship/PR/visa situation for Y? A self-connection means you need to be able to enter Y (not just airside transit). Also do you have checked luggage? Do you have to go through entry or exit passport control? Transavia sell self-connections which are nearly impossible (and IMHO this is really completely illegal for the airline to sell like this).
    – jcaron
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 17:09
  • Can you elaborate on this? "Transavia sell self-connections which are nearly impossible" - I can enter Y with the visa I have. No checked luggage. Y is the first entry into Schengen, so yes I will go through the passport control there. I will have about 2.5 hours of layover which is normally more than enough
    – oooooo
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 17:11
  • 1
    @jcaron I'd put my grain of salt that it isn't illegal in the slightest if the customer is correctly informed, Ryanair has done that for 20+ years and hasn't had a single issue that I know of. If that was done covertly, yes, it would be, but in this state bad business practice, yes, illegal no
    – Nicolas Formichella
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 20:40
  • 1
    At best, it’s on the edge, clearly trying to circumvent EC261 case law on connecting flights, by selling those connecting flights, but then pretending they are not related by putting them on separate bookings/tickets. It’s one thing for a third-party OTA to do this, it’s really another for an airline to let you build an itinerary like that and marginally mention Dohop in the process. But I notice Transavia are not the only ones, Easyjet and quite a few others now do the same thing (using the services of Dohop as well). I guess we won’t know until this gets to court…
    – jcaron
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 22:35

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
11

Should I be worried?

Yes. Self connections are generally a bad idea and the so-called "guarantee" has often very little value.

No one can really guarantee a connection so it all comes down to "what happens if you miss it".

This case seems to be particularly problematic since Dohop appears to say "Transavia handles it" whereas Transavia says "Dohop handles it". At least Transavia is a bit more specific about it "https://www.transavia.com/help/en-eu/search-and-book/smart-connect/flight-delayed-or-cancelled".

If it is not possible to find an alternative, Dohop will refund the unused part of your booking. If the new flight does not leave until the next day, Dohop will also refund the price of a hotel room (worth €60) and all meals (worth €15 per meal).

That's really bad. Dohop can simply say: "sorry, we could not find an alternative" and the only thing you get back is the money for the flight you missed. But you are still stuck in Y and have to figure out how to get to Z. Same-day or next-day flight tickets will often way more expensive than your original ticket.

Also: good luck finding a hotel room for 60 Euro close to a popular airport.

Improve this answer
16
  • There are 4 flights to the same destination of the same airline in the same and next day. It is very unlikely that they will all be full. Can Dohop still say "sorry, we could not find an alternative"?
    – oooooo
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 14:21
  • Flight can be 100% full and often are within Europe, even if there are 4 on the same day.
    – Willeke ♦
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 19:37
  • Can Dohop still say "sorry, we could not find an alternative" while in fact there are empty seats in many flights in the same day?
    – oooooo
    Commented Apr 11, 2023 at 20:48
  • 1
    I have read enough T&C and the associated weasel language and also reports about KIWI to assume that, but, yes, I'm not 100% sure. Feel free to plow through it yourself and draw your own conclusions support.dohop.com/hc/en-us/articles/…
    – Hilmar
    Commented Apr 12, 2023 at 4:34
  • 2
    @oooooo: There isn't much can you do at this point. If all goes as planned you will be fine. Problems will only occur if you miss your flight. For this case: make sure that you know the process and will be able to contact Dohop (SIM card, etc) and it's probably not a bad idea to research alternatives: what other flights can you take later that day or the next day.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Apr 13, 2023 at 11:51
8

Dohop's connecting flight insurance is rubbish. It's all in the fine print. I bought the insurance for our family for one connecting flight for our summer holiday. Everywhere I read is said worry free, no hassle, you are covered etc. Well it doesn't work that way. Our connecting flight was cancelled and according to the terms I read when I bought the insurance this wasn't going to be a problem. Dohop was supposed to get us a new flight and get us to our destination. That's where the fine print came in. If the later flight is cancelled and not the first flight then they don't cover anything, you are on your own. Dohop is a business that has been run on the wrong side of the profit/loss line for many years and from my point of view they needed some more cash inflow and came up with an insurance that doesn't work and they don´t have to compensate people. its a SCAM in my eyes. Don't deal with them.

Improve this answer
4

I recently used Dohop to book a multi-segment flight, involving four flight segments with Pegasus and AJet. To my surprise, only one segment was successfully booked, but they still charged my account for it. The rest of the journey was left incomplete due to Dohop’s system failure.

When I contacted their customer service for a solution, I was met with complete disregard. Not only did they deny responsibility for their own booking error, but they also had the audacity to tell me that I should call the airlines myself to fix the issue or cancel the booked segment. This level of service is completely unacceptable from a booking agent.

I am planning to escalate the matter to consumer protection authorities in the UK and Iceland, as well as the IATA. This experience with Dohop feels borderline fraudulent, and I would strongly advise against using their services unless you want to risk incomplete bookings and zero accountability.

Avoid at all costs.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .