CheapOair has an A+ from the BBB and a one-star customer average on the very same site. Both facts are real. Here's how to read them — and when the fares are worth it.
CheapOair is one of the oldest names in discount flight booking, and one of the most polarizing. The ratings tell a genuinely contradictory story, so let's untangle it properly.
Yes. CheapOair is a brand of Fareportal, a large New York-based travel technology company that has operated for years and processes enormous booking volumes. Tickets are real. And the split reputation is real too: the Better Business Bureau grades the company A+ — a measure of how it responds to complaints — while its customer review average on the same BBB profile sits around one star, with a large complaint volume. Trustpilot shows a much friendlier 4.2, heavily shaped by solicited post-booking reviews. When ratings disagree this much, the complaint patterns are more informative than the averages.
International fares. CheapOair's consolidator relationships mean it sometimes beats airline-direct pricing on international routes, and that's the legitimate reason to check it at all. On domestic fares the edge is usually small to nonexistent once fees enter the picture.
Three dominate. First, change and cancellation costs: agency fees stack on top of airline fare rules, and travelers report substantial charges to alter non-refundable tickets — plus cases where cancellations returned airline credit rather than money. Second, phone friction: booking or changing by phone can attract fees the website doesn't show, and the call-center experience draws heavy criticism. Third, upsell pressure: insurance, seats and "protection" products are pushed hard during and after checkout, and some protections cover less than buyers assumed.
Book on the website, never by phone. Decline every add-on you didn't come for, and if you want trip protection, read what it actually covers before paying — or buy a standalone policy. Screenshot the fare rules at purchase. Pay with a credit card. And treat the ticket as final: the fees model means CheapOair only makes sense for plans you won't touch.
A locked-in international itinerary where CheapOair's price beats the airline by a margin that survives the add-on gauntlet — that's the use case. If your dates might move, or the saving is $15, book direct and buy yourself flexibility instead.
Legitimate, occasionally genuinely cheaper, and unforgiving of changes. Use it like a non-refundable sale rack: fine when you're certain, expensive the moment you aren't.
Put these insights into action — compare prices from 100+ airlines:
CheapOair is a real Fareportal brand and its international fares are sometimes genuinely lower than booking direct. The costs concentrate around change fees, phone-booking charges, aggressive upsells and refund friction — which is why its BBB customer average and its A+ grade coexist.
Book online only, decline add-ons, pay by credit card, and use it strictly for plans that won't change.
Start with one strategy from this guide and apply it to your next booking using the search widget above. Once you see the results, layer in additional techniques over time — building better booking habits is a process, not a one-time event.
Yes — it's a brand of Fareportal, a large established New York travel company, and tickets booked through it are real. The risks are cost-shaped, not fraud-shaped: fees for changes, phone-booking charges and hard upselling.
Because they measure different things. The A+ grade reflects how the company responds to complaints filed with the BBB; the roughly one-star customer average reflects how customers rate the experience itself. Both are accurate — read the complaint patterns, not the letter grade.
Sometimes, mainly on international routes where its consolidator fares can beat airline-direct pricing. Compare the true total after seat, baggage and any service fees — and remember changes will cost more than they would direct.
Only within the fare rules of your ticket, and agency processing adds friction: travelers report credits instead of cash and long timelines. Assume non-refundable means exactly that, and pay by credit card so a chargeback remains a last resort.