I regret to report the absolutely appalling and negligent service and experience I recently received on a Fiji Airways flight from LA to Sydney, with a layover in Nadi
Firstly, under the US Transportation Passenger Bill Rights, I request to be compensated for a tarmac delay of over 3hrs in Nadi. The delays caused significant issues, including missing an extremely important meeting at a Government agency in Australia on the Friday. This had a huge professional and financial cost.
I also am reporting the extremely poor service from the Flight Staff on the 22.5hr journey. my request for a gluten free meal was apparently not received from the booking agent so I was unable to eat anything on the first 15hr leg of the journey. I wasn’t offered anything else to eat. One staff member attempted to get me a crew meal, however they completely ignored my strict dietary requests. i could not eat it as I have a severe allergy and coeliac disease and it is completely unsafe for staff to be unaware of these severe allergies and not to cater for them.
On the second leg of the journey, after sitting on the tarmac for 3.5hrs, there was still no food provided. The staff said that they did not have “anything” on the plane to offer me. Not even a piece of fruit. It is unsafe to allow a customer to go 7.5hrs without a single thing to eat. Especially after it was the same staff from the initial leg of the trip, so they knew I hadn’t eaten anything for the 16hrs prior either.
They also ignored my request multiple times to please fill my drink bottle with water; with three staff saying yes they would fill it but never returned. It took over 1hr to get water and eventually I went to fill it myself. Similarly, I requested from 4 different attendants for a cup of tea. Each of them forgot, never returning with a tea for over two hours. Despite the attendants on the opposite aisle doing multiple laps up and down bringing customers sodas, tea and snacks. The attendant on my side of the row, rarely came by and when he did he was almost blatantly ignored me (avoiding eyecontact), despite trying to get his attention. I finally got the attention of another staff member and asked for tea and tried to explain the situation and his response was that I should have come to the back of the plane to get it myself. This is completely unprofessional.
It is appalling service and negligent to allow a customer to go over 22hrs without anything to eat and similarly over multiple hours without water. Despite the staff knowing that I had not eaten anything for over 16hrs, they never returned to check if I was ok, or to offer me anything. After finally getting their attention (they said they would return with something for me to eat from business class, two hours went by and they didn’t say anything) the attendants response was “sorry we have nothing for you”. He just was going to ignore me and not say anything had I not asked him.
Upon arrival in Sydney I was extremely ill; suffering from the lack of food and water for the extremely long journey (including the significant delays).
I have posted this complaint publicly online on your Facebook account
I request to be compensated for the delays under the US Transportation Passenger Bill Rights.
I also request to be compensated for the appalling, unsafe and negligent service. I do not wish to travel with Fiji Airways ever again. I have a return flight leg of this trip from Sydney to LA on December 2nd however do not wish to be treated with such negligence again. I am eager to speak with a customer service representative to be upgraded to Business or First Class where you can ensure that this poor level of service will never happen again.
I will be following this up on your Facebook account and on the consumer boards public feed to ensure that it is seen to effectively
Leraj
2.0
Dear Sir/Madam
I purchased a ticket to Fiji, departing from Christchurch on the 12th December because I was informed that I needed an onwards ticket from New Zealand to a place other than Australia and that I could not obtain an Australian visa from New Zealand. Unfortunately I was incorrectly advised and I have successfully obtained an Australian visa whilst being in New Zealand. Therefore I can still go to Sydney as planned on the 11th December with the ticket I purchased a few months ago.
Could I please request a refund of this ticket as I had no intention of visiting Fiji and was under duress to buy this ticket so I could board my flight to New Zealand. The ticket reference number is 7748173929. Your cooperation in this matter is kindly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Leraj
Amlesh Narayan
5.0
Worse day of my life got a buddy pass off my friend but got treated like an idiot, was suppose to catch a flight to Melbourne on Sunday 2/09/18, got in early to make check-in on standby under staff, they made me wait and wait, told me to come at 5.30, so I went and they took my passport and told me to wait till 6, like are they serious, around 6.10 a guy called me casually with no respect, said you can check in now all good, got my boarding pass and happy went through customs and everything was processed, then came running a ground staff in departure lounge, said to me, you are of loaded due to some revenue customs guy just came in and he got priority, like what the hell, my passport has been processed and shit, so he made me go upstairs, downstairs running around like a headless chook to cancel my customs processing thing, everyone looking at me like i am a criminal, how said Fiji airways, treating a customer like this, they told me iam the only staff on stand by and they had 13 empty seats, why the hell i got ofloaded if they gave someone else the seat, 12 seats were still left, worse to worse i had to book my flight to VIRGIN, and when i went through customes again, they said your passport is not recoginsed, yes it wont be coz some idiot processed it and didnt cancel, so had to stuff around fixing that, thanks for all these FIJI AIRWAYS who has big fake smile with no customer service, i choose not to fly with you guys again and will let all my friends and families know not to use this stupid airline who has no value for customers
Quandee Semrow
1.0
We are booked on Fiji airways from the State’s to Tonga. They have cancelled our flight from Suva to Tonga so we have to sit for 16 hours to catch the next flight!
I have called several times and I am 100% sure that Fiji Airways has the worst customer service I have ever encountered.
They won’t do a thing to accommodate us except tell us to leave a day early! It’s too late to change our itinerary so we are wasting a day at the airport.
I would never fly this airline again and have already informed several people that are planning a vacation not to fly this airline.
Clearly from reading the reviews I am not alone. What a despicable company!
Firoza Aziz
1.0
Fiji Airways is a nightmare to deal with!! What is their standard timeframes for responding to emails? I’ve sent multiple emails re: previous major complaint In Jan 2017 (following a visit to Fiji for a funeral) in which the airline has agreed to provide Business Class upgrades the next time I chose to travel with them. Over 1.5 years later, when I finally contact them about taking up the offer (emails dated 28/05, 30/05 & today 13/06) as my husband and I are now travelling for our honeymoon – I get NO response! The only reason I paid MORE to book with this airline was take up this offer but Fiji Airways continues to fail miserably with no regard for it’s customers.
Pamela
1.0
I usually don’t spend time writing any complaints but now I do so others can be aware of it. I thought I found a “good” cheaper deal with the airline to fly to LA from Sydney but not really. Be careful of reading the baggage policies, meanwhile all other companies give 2 free check in pieces for intercontinental flights this airline doesn’t just one and if you want to access to overweight, upgrade or buy another baggage prices are outrageous. Plus I had a special requirement for a medical condition that occurred after buying the ticket and no ground, on board staff really cared about giving any help. Totally disappointed now even can’t get any helpful solution for any of my inquires at reasonable prices. Better should’ve chosen another airline with a hundred dolars more and avoid all the stress. I’m sorry but feedback maybe would help this to change
Amit Maharaj
5.0
I am a regular customer and spend around $6000 on average every year since 2010 (you can check that). I noticed this year that our booking is monitored and just before I can make a cheaper fare booking…specially local..they change it on the spot and make it look as if only that many seats are there. This is utterly disgusting and unfair.
Selina
1.0
Worse customer service. We had flights booked for LA to Melbourne, Australia. At LAX, we paid for 1 overweight luggage of USD$150- we were told by the people there that it would cover luggage all the way to Australia. We had a lay over in Nadi, and they required us to take our luggage out and we sat in their airport for 10 hours. As we tried to check in at Nadi to make the final leg of our flight, they informed us that we would have to pay another USD$150 from Nadi to Melbourne, Australia. I explained to them that I had already paid, and Nadi was just a layover. They didn’t care and didn’t want to hear it. The supervisor just smirked at us, even volunteered her name and basically told us there was nothing to be done but pay! So we ended up paying total of USD$300 for 1-23kg extra luggage from LA to Melbourne. Ridiculous. Will never do this again!
Ranjit
5.0
Today FJ461 was meant to leave at 8.30am as on my itinerary but sitting in line for an hour getting to check in desk they the flight leaves at 7.40am not st 8.30am. Shocking still sorting for another flight now. Cant believe the flight will be scheduled to leave an hour earlier with no notification given. This flight was from Nadi to Wellington today
Michael Cohen
1.0
My wife and I volunteered to give up our seats in Nadi. We were promised free round trip tickets to anywhere the airline goes. There was a hurricane coming. Plus, Fiji Airways claimed they had booked us on a connecting flight from Los Angeles to New York Kennedy at 3:30. They never booked us on any connecting flight. We were stranded in Los Angeles till 11:30 at night . We want compensation for that also.
We emailed all the proof twice. We emailed all the proof to a Miss Hill as well as to Fiji Airways.They refuse to cooperate
Cheryl Thornhill
1.0
Complaint # 1: June 2017 i was unable to travel to Fiji on Fiji Airways for my vacation due to the new passport laws which were not indicated to me when booking or even on the Fiji Airways website. I did not get this information until i got to the Fiji Airways ticket counter in Los Angeles. I traveled from Baltimore, MD (BWI) to Los Angeles to have to turn around and come back home because this info was not mentioned to me before hand. Complaint #2. When i returned home, i contacted Fiji Airways to see what my options were regarding my unused tickets and they informed me that i had to book before the expiration date but did not say i had to travel before the expiration date. The dates that were stated to me when i spoke to the Fiji Airways agent was May 24, 2018 for my domestic flight and June 17, 2018 for my international flight. I called today to confirm that these dates were accurate so that i can plan my travel back to Fiji and they inform me that my international ticket expired today March 27, 2018 and on my domestic flight, that i have to travel by May 24, 2018 which is impossible, so now i am out of a thousand + dollars because one of Fiji Airways agents gave me the wrong information. Very disappointed.
Kamla
1.0
Having a major issue with Fiji Airways. I booked my ticket from an Agent FlightHub for a trip to Fiji in July 2017. I paid $1,710.00. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it due to my husband’s health issues. I cancelled my booking with FlightHub way in advanced and paid $150.00 cancellation charges. flightHub gave me a Future Credit until this March, 2018.
Now I want to book my flight for this March before my ticket expires. Fiji Airways is not providing FlightHub in written what the current fare is now. FlightHub made numerous phone calls to Fiji Airways ticketing department to find out what the published fare is so they can issue me a ticket. Fiji Airways is not e-mailing FlightHub any information regarding the published fare.
I kept calling Fiji Airways from January 9th and what the ticketing department is telling me the Manager will call you back. Why can I not get a simple response. I’m willing to pay the difference in fare. It’s a nightmare so disappointing. I’m still waiting and no responses. So stupid, I have the itinerary for the dates I want to travel but no ticket.
Lesieli havili pulotu
5.0
Worst service ever…I requested a refund for almost a month now.kept calling them still they dont do anything. They advised my family of 6 to but a return tickets it’s their policy but My family told them they will never used those return tickets because they will live in the U.S still they advised them to buy it and when my family requested for a refund they said it’s non refundable…Call and email them they don’t respond..such disgusting service they have
Sharon s
5.0
Why Fiji link only take 15 kg from Suva airport to Nadi airport .They know very much that we fly from Nadi to SFO USA . Should be 23kg as they allowed in international flights. No wonder people taking taxi or car to Nadi. Fiji airways should look for this matter .Why should we have to pay extra 5 kg in airport.They make millions every year so sad ripping off for our own people.
Greta Yarvinen
1.0
I agree with previous review – nightmare and disappointment!!!!
I was supposed to fly with FIJI Airways August 31, 2017. I am from Houston, Texas.
Everyone knows what we are experiencing now.
Having been trapped in the house without power for 3 days because of terrible flood I was able to call Fiji Airways customer service to cancel my flight. Airports are closed, no way to get anywhere.
Even if they will be open soon the priority is people who were trapped here and have booked flights earlier then me.
But no way to avoid paying cancellation fee. No way to explain customer service representative that I can’t fly from Houston to San Francisco myself without a plane.
Such problem like natural disaster doesn’t exist for them.
We got warning today about mandatory evacuation but I need to book ticket (latest time tomorrow August 31) so that not to lose all the money that I paid for ticket.
Ashvin
5.0
Fiji airways have the worst customer service ever. I so disappointed my iPad has made error and add my name instead of my son name. I have politely ask them to update the child name. They want to charge me $120 AUD. it just name change on child it was simple error. I have called the customer service team supervisor refuse speak with me or even listen to me.
Cary Chambers
5.0
I had a nightmare of an ordeal back in January and have sent several emails and a phone call and have yet to have anyone at the airlines acknowledge my complaint. The complaint involves a cancelled flight, a hotel they booked on our behalf unable to accommodate us , a 6 hour delay just getting us to the overbooked hotel and arriving at our destination an entire day later. Why can I not get a response? What about customer service don’t they understand?
Karen
1.0
Very difficult to find the Fiji Airways reservation desk at the airport.
John
2.0
Recently traveled with Fiji Airways. Loved the overall experience, but however found the fares on the website more costlier than elsewhere. Wonder if it is manual or automatic?
I regret to report the absolutely appalling and negligent service and experience I recently received on a Fiji Airways flight from LA to Sydney, with a layover in Nadi
Firstly, under the US Transportation Passenger Bill Rights, I request to be compensated for a tarmac delay of over 3hrs in Nadi. The delays caused significant issues, including missing an extremely important meeting at a Government agency in Australia on the Friday. This had a huge professional and financial cost.
I also am reporting the extremely poor service from the Flight Staff on the 22.5hr journey. my request for a gluten free meal was apparently not received from the booking agent so I was unable to eat anything on the first 15hr leg of the journey. I wasn’t offered anything else to eat. One staff member attempted to get me a crew meal, however they completely ignored my strict dietary requests. i could not eat it as I have a severe allergy and coeliac disease and it is completely unsafe for staff to be unaware of these severe allergies and not to cater for them.
On the second leg of the journey, after sitting on the tarmac for 3.5hrs, there was still no food provided. The staff said that they did not have “anything” on the plane to offer me. Not even a piece of fruit. It is unsafe to allow a customer to go 7.5hrs without a single thing to eat. Especially after it was the same staff from the initial leg of the trip, so they knew I hadn’t eaten anything for the 16hrs prior either.
They also ignored my request multiple times to please fill my drink bottle with water; with three staff saying yes they would fill it but never returned. It took over 1hr to get water and eventually I went to fill it myself. Similarly, I requested from 4 different attendants for a cup of tea. Each of them forgot, never returning with a tea for over two hours. Despite the attendants on the opposite aisle doing multiple laps up and down bringing customers sodas, tea and snacks. The attendant on my side of the row, rarely came by and when he did he was almost blatantly ignored me (avoiding eyecontact), despite trying to get his attention. I finally got the attention of another staff member and asked for tea and tried to explain the situation and his response was that I should have come to the back of the plane to get it myself. This is completely unprofessional.
It is appalling service and negligent to allow a customer to go over 22hrs without anything to eat and similarly over multiple hours without water. Despite the staff knowing that I had not eaten anything for over 16hrs, they never returned to check if I was ok, or to offer me anything. After finally getting their attention (they said they would return with something for me to eat from business class, two hours went by and they didn’t say anything) the attendants response was “sorry we have nothing for you”. He just was going to ignore me and not say anything had I not asked him.
Upon arrival in Sydney I was extremely ill; suffering from the lack of food and water for the extremely long journey (including the significant delays).
I have posted this complaint publicly online on your Facebook account
I request to be compensated for the delays under the US Transportation Passenger Bill Rights.
I also request to be compensated for the appalling, unsafe and negligent service. I do not wish to travel with Fiji Airways ever again. I have a return flight leg of this trip from Sydney to LA on December 2nd however do not wish to be treated with such negligence again. I am eager to speak with a customer service representative to be upgraded to Business or First Class where you can ensure that this poor level of service will never happen again.
I will be following this up on your Facebook account and on the consumer boards public feed to ensure that it is seen to effectively
Dear Sir/Madam
I purchased a ticket to Fiji, departing from Christchurch on the 12th December because I was informed that I needed an onwards ticket from New Zealand to a place other than Australia and that I could not obtain an Australian visa from New Zealand. Unfortunately I was incorrectly advised and I have successfully obtained an Australian visa whilst being in New Zealand. Therefore I can still go to Sydney as planned on the 11th December with the ticket I purchased a few months ago.
Could I please request a refund of this ticket as I had no intention of visiting Fiji and was under duress to buy this ticket so I could board my flight to New Zealand. The ticket reference number is 7748173929. Your cooperation in this matter is kindly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Leraj
Worse day of my life got a buddy pass off my friend but got treated like an idiot, was suppose to catch a flight to Melbourne on Sunday 2/09/18, got in early to make check-in on standby under staff, they made me wait and wait, told me to come at 5.30, so I went and they took my passport and told me to wait till 6, like are they serious, around 6.10 a guy called me casually with no respect, said you can check in now all good, got my boarding pass and happy went through customs and everything was processed, then came running a ground staff in departure lounge, said to me, you are of loaded due to some revenue customs guy just came in and he got priority, like what the hell, my passport has been processed and shit, so he made me go upstairs, downstairs running around like a headless chook to cancel my customs processing thing, everyone looking at me like i am a criminal, how said Fiji airways, treating a customer like this, they told me iam the only staff on stand by and they had 13 empty seats, why the hell i got ofloaded if they gave someone else the seat, 12 seats were still left, worse to worse i had to book my flight to VIRGIN, and when i went through customes again, they said your passport is not recoginsed, yes it wont be coz some idiot processed it and didnt cancel, so had to stuff around fixing that, thanks for all these FIJI AIRWAYS who has big fake smile with no customer service, i choose not to fly with you guys again and will let all my friends and families know not to use this stupid airline who has no value for customers
We are booked on Fiji airways from the State’s to Tonga. They have cancelled our flight from Suva to Tonga so we have to sit for 16 hours to catch the next flight!
I have called several times and I am 100% sure that Fiji Airways has the worst customer service I have ever encountered.
They won’t do a thing to accommodate us except tell us to leave a day early! It’s too late to change our itinerary so we are wasting a day at the airport.
I would never fly this airline again and have already informed several people that are planning a vacation not to fly this airline.
Clearly from reading the reviews I am not alone. What a despicable company!
Fiji Airways is a nightmare to deal with!! What is their standard timeframes for responding to emails? I’ve sent multiple emails re: previous major complaint In Jan 2017 (following a visit to Fiji for a funeral) in which the airline has agreed to provide Business Class upgrades the next time I chose to travel with them. Over 1.5 years later, when I finally contact them about taking up the offer (emails dated 28/05, 30/05 & today 13/06) as my husband and I are now travelling for our honeymoon – I get NO response! The only reason I paid MORE to book with this airline was take up this offer but Fiji Airways continues to fail miserably with no regard for it’s customers.
I usually don’t spend time writing any complaints but now I do so others can be aware of it. I thought I found a “good” cheaper deal with the airline to fly to LA from Sydney but not really. Be careful of reading the baggage policies, meanwhile all other companies give 2 free check in pieces for intercontinental flights this airline doesn’t just one and if you want to access to overweight, upgrade or buy another baggage prices are outrageous. Plus I had a special requirement for a medical condition that occurred after buying the ticket and no ground, on board staff really cared about giving any help. Totally disappointed now even can’t get any helpful solution for any of my inquires at reasonable prices. Better should’ve chosen another airline with a hundred dolars more and avoid all the stress. I’m sorry but feedback maybe would help this to change
I am a regular customer and spend around $6000 on average every year since 2010 (you can check that). I noticed this year that our booking is monitored and just before I can make a cheaper fare booking…specially local..they change it on the spot and make it look as if only that many seats are there. This is utterly disgusting and unfair.
Worse customer service. We had flights booked for LA to Melbourne, Australia. At LAX, we paid for 1 overweight luggage of USD$150- we were told by the people there that it would cover luggage all the way to Australia. We had a lay over in Nadi, and they required us to take our luggage out and we sat in their airport for 10 hours. As we tried to check in at Nadi to make the final leg of our flight, they informed us that we would have to pay another USD$150 from Nadi to Melbourne, Australia. I explained to them that I had already paid, and Nadi was just a layover. They didn’t care and didn’t want to hear it. The supervisor just smirked at us, even volunteered her name and basically told us there was nothing to be done but pay! So we ended up paying total of USD$300 for 1-23kg extra luggage from LA to Melbourne. Ridiculous. Will never do this again!
Today FJ461 was meant to leave at 8.30am as on my itinerary but sitting in line for an hour getting to check in desk they the flight leaves at 7.40am not st 8.30am. Shocking still sorting for another flight now. Cant believe the flight will be scheduled to leave an hour earlier with no notification given. This flight was from Nadi to Wellington today
My wife and I volunteered to give up our seats in Nadi. We were promised free round trip tickets to anywhere the airline goes. There was a hurricane coming. Plus, Fiji Airways claimed they had booked us on a connecting flight from Los Angeles to New York Kennedy at 3:30. They never booked us on any connecting flight. We were stranded in Los Angeles till 11:30 at night . We want compensation for that also.
We emailed all the proof twice. We emailed all the proof to a Miss Hill as well as to Fiji Airways.They refuse to cooperate
Complaint # 1: June 2017 i was unable to travel to Fiji on Fiji Airways for my vacation due to the new passport laws which were not indicated to me when booking or even on the Fiji Airways website. I did not get this information until i got to the Fiji Airways ticket counter in Los Angeles. I traveled from Baltimore, MD (BWI) to Los Angeles to have to turn around and come back home because this info was not mentioned to me before hand. Complaint #2. When i returned home, i contacted Fiji Airways to see what my options were regarding my unused tickets and they informed me that i had to book before the expiration date but did not say i had to travel before the expiration date. The dates that were stated to me when i spoke to the Fiji Airways agent was May 24, 2018 for my domestic flight and June 17, 2018 for my international flight. I called today to confirm that these dates were accurate so that i can plan my travel back to Fiji and they inform me that my international ticket expired today March 27, 2018 and on my domestic flight, that i have to travel by May 24, 2018 which is impossible, so now i am out of a thousand + dollars because one of Fiji Airways agents gave me the wrong information. Very disappointed.
Having a major issue with Fiji Airways. I booked my ticket from an Agent FlightHub for a trip to Fiji in July 2017. I paid $1,710.00. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it due to my husband’s health issues. I cancelled my booking with FlightHub way in advanced and paid $150.00 cancellation charges. flightHub gave me a Future Credit until this March, 2018.
Now I want to book my flight for this March before my ticket expires. Fiji Airways is not providing FlightHub in written what the current fare is now. FlightHub made numerous phone calls to Fiji Airways ticketing department to find out what the published fare is so they can issue me a ticket. Fiji Airways is not e-mailing FlightHub any information regarding the published fare.
I kept calling Fiji Airways from January 9th and what the ticketing department is telling me the Manager will call you back. Why can I not get a simple response. I’m willing to pay the difference in fare. It’s a nightmare so disappointing. I’m still waiting and no responses. So stupid, I have the itinerary for the dates I want to travel but no ticket.
Worst service ever…I requested a refund for almost a month now.kept calling them still they dont do anything. They advised my family of 6 to but a return tickets it’s their policy but My family told them they will never used those return tickets because they will live in the U.S still they advised them to buy it and when my family requested for a refund they said it’s non refundable…Call and email them they don’t respond..such disgusting service they have
Why Fiji link only take 15 kg from Suva airport to Nadi airport .They know very much that we fly from Nadi to SFO USA . Should be 23kg as they allowed in international flights. No wonder people taking taxi or car to Nadi. Fiji airways should look for this matter .Why should we have to pay extra 5 kg in airport.They make millions every year so sad ripping off for our own people.
I agree with previous review – nightmare and disappointment!!!!
I was supposed to fly with FIJI Airways August 31, 2017. I am from Houston, Texas.
Everyone knows what we are experiencing now.
Having been trapped in the house without power for 3 days because of terrible flood I was able to call Fiji Airways customer service to cancel my flight. Airports are closed, no way to get anywhere.
Even if they will be open soon the priority is people who were trapped here and have booked flights earlier then me.
But no way to avoid paying cancellation fee. No way to explain customer service representative that I can’t fly from Houston to San Francisco myself without a plane.
Such problem like natural disaster doesn’t exist for them.
We got warning today about mandatory evacuation but I need to book ticket (latest time tomorrow August 31) so that not to lose all the money that I paid for ticket.
Fiji airways have the worst customer service ever. I so disappointed my iPad has made error and add my name instead of my son name. I have politely ask them to update the child name. They want to charge me $120 AUD. it just name change on child it was simple error. I have called the customer service team supervisor refuse speak with me or even listen to me.
I had a nightmare of an ordeal back in January and have sent several emails and a phone call and have yet to have anyone at the airlines acknowledge my complaint. The complaint involves a cancelled flight, a hotel they booked on our behalf unable to accommodate us , a 6 hour delay just getting us to the overbooked hotel and arriving at our destination an entire day later. Why can I not get a response? What about customer service don’t they understand?
Very difficult to find the Fiji Airways reservation desk at the airport.
Recently traveled with Fiji Airways. Loved the overall experience, but however found the fares on the website more costlier than elsewhere. Wonder if it is manual or automatic?