Payment Issue with Saudi Airlines (page 2 of 7)

Hi Céline,

To sum up, the issue is with Saudia regarding PayPal payments. It won’t move things forward, but still—if I may ask, why buy flight tickets with this payment method? 🤪 Is there an advantage?

Michel

I usually use PayPal when I don’t know the seller’s site, but this time it was just because I couldn’t be bothered to dig my card out of my bag! !

The main advantage of PayPal for big expenses is the 4-payment installment plan with no fees (well, when it actually works, haha).

Wouldn’t the simplest thing be to just make a new booking with another payment method once PayPal has properly canceled the payment?

Instead of trying to contact the airline hoping they’ll respond

Hi, after speaking with the airline on the phone and a friend in Jeddah, it seems that once electronic tickets are issued and confirmed—meaning they’ve definitely been **paid for**—only PayPal can request the money, not the airline. The problem lies between those two. The airline validates the tickets, but the payment is PayPal’s issue.

Hi,

For my part, I decided to cancel the flight tickets with Saudia because the payment authorization was canceled by PayPal after the 30-day deadline. I booked other tickets with Lufthansa, made a payment via PayPal, and the payment was confirmed right away! 😊

Yes, it’s definitely safer. My departure is in December, so I’ve got time to see if PayPal gets back to me. We’ll see how things go between now and then, because unfortunately, flight prices have doubled for Christmas, so we’ll see if I end up going or not by then.

Yes, you’ve got time! I hope everything gets sorted out quickly and you’ll be all set for your departure :)

So the tickets are definitely 100% valid, and we’re sure the airline can’t cancel them for payment default?

Because normally, if PayPal cancels the payment, I don’t see how they could ask us to pay afterward.

Hi, from what I understood, PayPal took responsibility for me, so only PayPal can get back to me. The airline issued unique e-tickets, and the payment isn’t linked to the tickets. In short, the issue is between the airline and PayPal. I’ll see if PayPal reaches out to me

Okay, thank you. Don’t hesitate to let us know if you get any other updates.

If the airline can cancel them if they aren’t paid for, I’ve already had tickets canceled that I got due to a pricing error—a huge discount. I still had valid tickets, though. And Saudia can still demand payment even if it was canceled because you can’t get a service you haven’t paid for.

Hi, Same thing happened to me with ANA on a big promo—tickets paid, issued, money taken, but when I tried to access my booking on the site, I couldn’t. A month later, I got suspicious and called the airline. They told me my tickets had been canceled due to a pricing error by their IT team. No email to let me know, and no refund at first. They eventually did refund me, though.

I think that by paying with PayPal, you're missing out on your bank card's insurance... right?

Not me, but probably those with a gold card or similar.

Hello,

I think that by paying with PayPal, you’re missing out on your bank card’s insurance... right?

It covers cancellation insurance if you can’t take the flight for medical reasons, or baggage insurance, but not the rest of the repatriation and medical assistance for this trip.

Michel

Hi there,

No, you don’t have to pay with your card to benefit from the insurance it offers, contrary to what some rumors suggest. Plus, when you pay via PayPal with your credit card, it’s your card that’s actually being used—PayPal is just an intermediary that processes the payment with your card.

Unfortunately, no—the terms and conditions of your card’s insurance must explicitly state that they cover payments made through this type of intermediary. Apparently, that’s pretty rare.

Hi there, How’s it going now? Was the payment canceled by PayPal? Any updates from Saudia?

Hi there How’s it going now? Did PayPal cancel the payment? Any updates from Saudia?