Family using Flight Centre Gift Card stumped by hefty booking fee

FAIR GO: Gift cards can come with with strings attached so read the fine print, warns Consumer NZ.

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Finding the perfect wedding gift can be tricky. Many opt for toasters, wineglasses or salad bowls – but Ben Heaney wanted to think outside of the box. And he nailed it.

The Christchurch builder was hoping to get something that really showed his sister and her young family what they meant to him. "I'm very close with my sister, she's one of my lifelines and I wanted to give them something nice and something they would enjoy."

So Heaney purchased a $250 Flight Centre gift card.

Jayne and Todd Brownlee were thrilled, because they could take their three-year-old daughter Tayla – a plane fanatic – on her first flight. The Brownlee’s live near the airport in Christchurch and Tayla regularly runs to the window to try to find one in the sky.

"She absolutely loves planes," says Todd. “She can hear a plane coming from ages away.”

But the trip never got off the ground. When Jayne went to book online with Flight Centre NZ she couldn’t complete the transaction with a gift card. After calling Flight Centre she was told she had to go into a branch or do it over the phone – both of which incur a $50 per person travel expert service fee.

In this case that service fee came to $150, of the $250 gift card.

“We were a bit surprised because the total for the flights was only $330 and they were taking $150 of it.”

The unexpected service fee is outlined on the Flight Centre website, under gift card terms and conditions. The $50 fee is for domestic travel. It can be as much as $150 per person for people travelling further afield.

Ben Heaney says he was never told about the fees when he bought the gift card.

“It’s a bit embarrassing. I just thought it was a $250 gift card. Cash for cash.”

Abby Damen from Consumer NZ warns that gift cards can be tricky.

“It’s a little bit different to cash. Ultimately there are terms and conditions associated with the use of that card,” she says. “Do your due diligence and find out, but generally we say using cash is better because there’s no strings attached.”

Flight Centre NZ’s General Manager Heidi Walker says she appreciates the situation will be frustrating for the customer.

“However we remain confident in the transparency of our service fees. Our website clearly states that our gift cards can only be used in store and over the phone, and a service fee will be applied at the time of booking."

And as for how clear that situation was made to Ben Heaney? "We encourage our consultants to have this conversation with customers when purchasing gift cards and apologise if this additional clarification was unclear on this occasion."

She says Flight Centre is in the process of updating its website so customers can book with gift cards online.

But Heaney knows what he’s giving as his next wedding gift.

“I won’t be doing that again,” he says. “I’ll just give cash.”

- Before you buy a gift card, check out the relevant website and read the fine print to see if service fees will detract substantially from the value of the card.

- Buy from reliable outlets. If a retailer goes bust before the card is used, it's unlikely you'll get your money back. (And if you can't find a use for it, gift it to someone else.)

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