In light of what happened to one of our Forum members recently, here's another story of fraud by a fake airline site. Personally, I think it's important to start using Apps for the airlines so you can be sure you're dealing with who you think you are.
He thought he was calling Air Canada
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/air-canada-refund-1.7559180
I agree, Allan. I either use apps or the chat feature on the website. I never call even if I'm positive the number belongs to whatever airline I'm using (usually Delta). Not only is it risky, as shown, but it's much slower. Plus with chat and online apps, you have some kind of documentation showing what's going on.
Do Ads show up in those Apps? Can't travel (yet) so haven't looked at them. But I expect they'll be in there, sooner or later.
The only ads on airline apps are promotions from the airline itself.
"The only ads on airline apps are promotions from the airline itself. "
First stage of ads.
My credit union added those about 8 months ago. Just to promote/explain services to its members.
Then they started making them "jump" on screen...
Don't think a credit union will move on to renting the ad space. But I've been wrong in those matters before.
edit: By "jump" I mean the ad is a small block interposed in between the small blocks of text on the screen which is where the various banking details are presented. That is the block with the movement among all the other static text.
I agree with Allan and Mardee.
Same goes for booking hotels using their apps! I will add that I got messed up on a hotel reservation a few months ago. I thought I was booking from the official hotel site (a chain) and knew it was fully refundable and I would not be charged until check in. When I noted I was charged immediately and had an extra huge charge I cancelled immediately and got fully refunded. I let it lie for a few days then booked directly thru the hotel app with no issues.
So....airline AND hotel apps for me!! (Plus official train apps, hahaha)
Right now Apps are the way to go. I would expect that to change in the future but at the moment, with Google bombing and such, Apps are the best choice. I would expect that the in-App promotions to eventually extend to their route pardners (if they are not doing that now). And so on. But that's fine for a lot of people.
Do Ads show up in those Apps?
That's a good question and point. This would be concerning if airlines and hotels started pop-ups that could confuse the trust we have with legitimate apps. I'd hate to ask in case I don't like the answer, is the airline more concerned with our trust or their profits?
As I mentioned, I wouldn't expect the bigger airlines to add more than their partners in route sharing to their in-app Ads, for now. But I could see some of the budget airlines, Spirit, Ryanair, etc. renting ad space in their Apps. As soon as someone gets the idea.
edit: "...if airlines and hotels started pop-ups"
Not pop-ups (for a while). More like the ads you see at web pages you visit. And the even more concern (to me) is the airlines selling your data and hooking it up with "special offers" in these ads from data passed in the background. Something to worry about for the future, they're not there yet.
Well, maybe Apps aren't safe either. This just popped up in my newsfeed. WestJet is Canada's 2nd largest and my airline of choice. WestJet is warning people to be careful about sharing sensitive information.
WestJet dealing with 'cybersec...
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/westjet-cybersecurity-incident-1.7561474
Oh, they're definitely not safe in several ways. The biggest, as you saw here, if they get hacked all your interactions could potentially be stolen by them. And if they do it quick enough, could fire off a fraud interaction with you before the word got out.
Personally, I'd keep the phone and apps as an isolated environment as much as possible. I'd consider taking a cheap "travel phone" with apps and not do anything sensitive on it.
I just checked the Delta app and the only ads in there are those offering flight perks, destination offers, etc. None of them are pop-up ads, or anything annoying. But there are good things there as well; like a link to the AMS airport map, so I can see where I'll be during my 4 hour layover, and a baggage calculator.
It's true there are no ads when you call an airline, but given the inherent risks involved (and the long delays even if you get the right company), I'll take the app any day.
So....airline AND hotel apps for me!! (Plus official train apps, hahaha)
@Pam, yes, definitely hotel and train apps, too!!!
Update
Remember me, the one with the drama.
I did get a $450 Merchant Refund from the fraudster. Citi allowed me to reopen my dispute so I am hoping to be able to recover the remaining $300 plus.
I reported the crooks to several agencies including my local police. Victim Services from my police department called me back to see how I was doing and did I need any resources. I did not but they sent me. a link to the FBI so I could report the fraud to a specific FBI agency that investigates consumer fraud
Too much of this type of thing is happening. Horror stories are all over the internet.
If these crooks do not ever get shut down, investigated, indicted or arrested, why should they stop?
I wish the airlines and hotels had a victim service department like my local police. When I called American to tell them what had happened to me, I wish they had.victim service personnel who could have counseled me and guided me as well as took information to report to the various agencies.
And then I would have opened a dispute with Citi.
I have said that American has put a password on my flight so hopefully the crooks can not break in and change or cancel my flight. But I had to give American my password and I put. a question mark in my password. American told me something about not being quite up there with their technology and I had to remove the question mark. No special symbols in the password just letters and numbers.
Between Pissed Off Consumer and Trust Pilot, there are about 40 horror stories of other consumers being bilked by the same company that I was.
And the stories are recent like since the beginning of 2025.
I can not get one story out of mind. I m going to see if I can find it and copy and paste.
EDIT. Found the story. I so feel for this family
They are scammers, my family of 11 people is stuck at islamabad airport. We bought tickets of etihad airline from them Family travelled from Washington to Islamabad without any trouble. Today they are going back and found at airport counter that tickets are suspended. No one from PCM is responding nor providing the card which was used by them to pay airline
Date of experience: August 21, 2024
