September 28, 2011

Direct Air Family Ties

I can not tell you how many people have complained about this program to me.   The other day I was at my mother's and my next door neighbor came up to me and told me how his kids had bought him tickets through the Family Ties program for the past month he has tried to buy tickets, which expire in two months, but there are no flights ...

On that I get e-mails now maybe twice per week telling how bad this is.....   Anyone out there have Family Tie Vouchers and how did it work for you?

14 comments:

Steve Foley said...

So is Direct Air completely booked for the next two months, or do they only allow a certain number of family ties tickets per flight?

Bill Randell said...

no idea? Bottom line he can not get any tickets with his family ties vouchers

Anonymous said...

Best i know, Direct Air only makes available 50 seats per flight for Family Ties.

ben

tim macdonald said...

My dad bought the family tie voucher and had a similar issue. They only hold so many of the seats for each flight. I agree its not the best but what airline special ever is. I would rather just buy my seatg the day I want to fly and skip the funny promos.

Steve Foley said...

I wonder if Direct Air complies with the Massachusetts Abandoned Property Regulations.

If I have vouchers ready to expire, I would certainly call Department of the State Treasurer, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Abandoned Property Division


960 CMR 4.00: PROCEDURES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF ABANDONED PROPERTY

Intangible Property: Money, money orders, checks, drafts, deposits, interest, dividends, income and bonds; credit balances, customer overpayments, gift certificates, security deposits, refunds, credit memos, unpaid wages, unused airline tickets, mineral proceeds and unidentified remittances; stocks and other intangible ownership interests in business associations; money deposited to redeem stocks, bonds, coupons and other securities, or to make distributions; amounts due and payable under the terms of an annuity or insurance policy; amounts distributed from a trust or custodial fund established under a plan to provide any health, pension, vacation, severance, retirement, death, stock purchase, profit sharing, employee savings, supplemental unemployment insurance, or similar benefit, as defined in M.G.L. c. 200A, § 1.

Bill Randell said...

I dont steve but technically is is not really even an asset (airline ticket). it is merely a voucher to buy a ticket

Anonymous said...

I know someone that used them, but he and his wif used them early on. I think it is people leaving them until close to expiration...like me...that might have trouble with the seats being booked up.

David Z. said...

Bill,

As a follow-up to my email to you about Direct Air adding flights to San Juan and Nassau, it does say in this article/press release that the flights begin November 17th. However I tried booking the flights and the on-line reservation system will not let me.

https://www.worcesterchamber.org/direct-air-adds-new-nonstop-service

Bill Randell said...

dave

I am very concerned about Direct Air. Between what they charge and how mcuh it costs to fly these planes, i just dont see how they make any make any money.

i would be very reluctant to buy any Family Tie vouchers

Bill

Bill Randell said...

Got to ask could Family Ties promotions be a last second cash grab?

David Z. said...

Bill,

On your home page; you have West Palm Beach restarting service in November 2012. I think you meant 2011.

Anonymous said...

I got tickets for 6, Plattsburgh NY to Lakeland Florida in December, using the Family Ties promotion. Before buying the vouchers, I spoke to a Direct Air agent to see how many open seats there were that were eligible on the particular flights I wanted. She said there are 50 seats set aside, and none had been booked yet. There were 10 days between the voucher purchase deadline and the first day you could book with the vouchers. I called the first day and had no problems booking (the main 1-800 line was a non-starter though, I called Lakeland airport office directly to book the tickets).

The gentleman handling the booking was very courteous and gave some advice for reducing baggage fees when we head on the trip.

For me, it was book with Direct Air, or don't go on the trip given the savings for a party of 6. I hope it works out, but am a little concerned about the press it's been receiving.

Anonymous said...

It is a huge scam. They oversell and so very very few can actually use their vouchers. It is very clever of them. They are impossible to get through to talk to. Their phone lines are always tied up, so you can't ask questions. Probably another part of their plan that is working. I am just mad at myself for not researching and finding this out before investing over $600 in these vouchers - which by the time they tag on the taxes and baggage fees etc.. they really weren't even that great of a price!! How do they keep getting away with this?

Holly Brown said...

I bought $700.00 worth of tickets for the Lakeland Florida airport on the Family Ties program and attempted to book a flight a week later there were no flights available----AT ALL, ANYTIME! They advertised that I could use the tickets from the Lakeland Airport anytime until they expire, but they have not had ONE flight available from the Orlando/Lakeland Airport or the Orlando/Sanford Airport. We have to drive 8 to 10 hours or more to find an airport to fly out of - or lose our $700.00 worth of tickets. The worst part is that there is NO customer service and you cannot contact anyone about the problems. They want you to book and purchase tickets online without being able to ask anyone questions about details. It's hard to believe that after so many negative reports of this airline and a BBB rating of an "F" (from back in 2010) that this airline "front" (they actually only charter flights)is still a functioning company and is STILL offering the Family Ties program with no available flights!