Can this trip be saved? Do I have to pay Continental’s fee-on-a-fee?

When I wrote about “fees on top of fees” yesterday, several readers accused me of exaggerating. But Sergei Shevchuk wasn’t one of them. He’s been trying to recover an undisclosed reticketing fee of $25 he had to pay Continental Airlines for several months.

I’m not sure if he’ll ever get the refund, but his story is worth telling and I’d like also your feedback on it. Should I try to recover the surcharge on principle — or should Shevchuk let it go?

I think it’s also worth taking a moment to figure out if this fee thing has gone too far. Fees now account for a bulk of some airline profits, and many of the extras are imposed without adequate disclosure. Is it time for a fee moratorium?

Shevchuk had booked the nonrefundable Continental airline ticket through Expedia. Then his plans changed.

I retrieved the reservation on Continental.com and reviewed fare rules. It said, “Change fee $150 and cancel before scheduled flight or no value.” No other fees are mentioned.

I also phoned Continental and asked to confirm that I will be able to reuse the ticket in the future even if I don’t have immediate travel plans. I was informed by a continental agent, to whom I provided with my confirmation number, that I need to cancel my reservation before flight time, then I’ll have one year from the time of my original booking to re-use the ticket.

A few months later, he decided to use his credit.

When I called, I provided an agent with my unused ticket number and a flight information I wanted to book. The agent said your old ticket is $364.30, new ticket is $192.10. I will receive a voucher for $172.20 but she needs to collect $150 fee on a credit card and another $25 fee because my original ticket was booked through a travel agency.

This was first time $25 fee was communicated to me. I protested paying $25 in addition to $150 but was told I can’t exchange my old ticket without paying additional $25.

I filed a dispute with a credit card company later, but Continental said it was a service fee in conjunction with ticket exchange and my credit card sided with Continental.

What bothers me is the fee is not communicated in the fare rules or contract of carriage or anywhere else I could see. I am not disputing $150 fee, which is clearly communicated at the time of original ticket purchase.

Is there any hope $25 can be recovered from Continental?

I asked to see the paper trail leading up to this dispute. Here’s Continental’s response to his request to waive the $25 travel agency fee.

I regret you were notified regarding the $25.00 reissue fee for booking via our Reservations office.

We expect our agents to provide accurate information and disclose all fees involved.

Unfornately, the fee was applicable, therefore non-refundable. You would have needed to contact us when you received your email confirmation receipt.

I must respectfully decline your refund request.

We thank you for using Continental and we look forward to the opportunity to serve your travel needs again in the near future.

Well, “unfornately” that doesn’t explain the $25 reissue fee. Is that a phone reservation fee, or some surcharge tacked on to tickets booked through an online travel agency?

And why aren’t they disclosed somewhere, like on the airline site or through the online travel agency?

What do you think? Should I try to mediate Shevchuk’s case?

You say: yes.

  • Dan

    I would,, if anything, just to get an answer out of them about what the heck the fee is.

  • SirWired

    This isn’t even a close one: definitely mediate… I suspect this is a poorly-communicated phone reservation fee, but Continental isn’t doing anyone any favors with their useless response.

    On the plus side, at least Continental is issuing a voucher, instead of swallowing the fare difference into the great abyss like USAir.

  • OTC

    While I feel for him about the fee not being disclosed, it’s $25. Putting more than a few minutes of work into it, just isn’t worth it, yes there’s the principle of it, but why waste time and effort trying to recover a small amount of money.

  • David Emery

    This fee ‘fertilizer’ has gone way too far. People need to continue to highlight these abuses, and if the industry won’t fix it, then Congress should intervene. The total price needs to be disclosed up-front and be binding.

    In the same vein, any fare quoted on an ad should be subject to similar rules about complete disclosure on the ad, showing the bottom line “get you there and back” price. None of this “one way plus fees and taxes” effluent!

  • Ree

    Whether the $25 is recovered or not, it’s only fair that the an explanation should be provided by Continental. I fear that if we don’t demand explanations from airlines for undisclosed fees, we’ll end up paying much much more in the long run.

    The one question I do have is that since there aren’t paper tickets anymore, what’s the purpose of a $25 “reissue” fee?

  • Alice Miller

    Sounds like the $25 fee is for speaking with the agent to make the ticket change, although this definitely was not clearly communicated. I hate these ‘speaking with a real person’ fees, because there are some transactions that you simply cannot do yourself on a website.

  • Mike in NC

    I’m to the point that any action taken against Continental is good action.

  • Lou

    What exactly does “Unfornately, the fee was applicable, therefore non-refundable” mean? Whether a fee is applicable or not should have nothing to do with if it is refundable. I have heard this before from airlines … “we’ve decided this is not refundable so it is therefore not refundable (under any circumstances)” … what a bunch of doublespeak!

  • Teresa

    Absolutely mediate this one. This is the kind of case where your help is essential. It’s not in the OP’s financial interest to pursue the fee, since it’s only $25. But — it’s in all of our financial interest for somebody to call the airline on the carpet about this issue, because there are many more people than the OP who might get hit with this charge. If Continental cannot demonstrate that this charge was disclosed in the terms and conditions that the OP saw at purchase, they shouldn’t be allowed to keep the money.

  • http://www.thetravelinggiraffe.com Crissy

    I voted yes because, what the heck is the fee?? A fee for using an online travel agent???? And what does that have to do with reticketing?? Maybe something is missing from the story, and/or Continenetal is just making up fees to make money.

  • John

    I’m a CO elite. Everytime I call they run through the fees at the end of the conversation to include “Your phone reservation fee of $25 has been waived.” CO also tapes all of their calls so just get the tape and see if he missed it.

  • BucksterSF

    They can’t just tack on fees without explanation. That said, I am sure there is something in the T&Cs that says fee structures may change without notice.

    So maybe they can.

    Why are people still buying non-refundable tickets when their plans can change?

    And in this particular case, the new ticket was $172 and the change fee was $25 – why bother just buy the new ticket. The time-wasting stupidity is stunning.

  • Carver

    This is a no-brainer. Of course you should mediate. The amount in question is irrelevant.

    @OTC

    If Continental is allowed to get away without disclosing fees, next time it might not be $25, it might be $250. Besides $25 may not be alot to you, but it might be alot to the OP.

  • cjr

    “but why waste time and effort trying to recover a small amount of money.”

    Specifically because it’s the principle of the matter.

    Continental isn’t just doing this to one customer, they’re doing it to many. Which means they’re not just collecting an undisclosed and undeserved $25 once, but countless times. And that adds up to more profit in a hurry.

    It shouldn’t matter whether it’s $2.50, $25, or $250. It’s about the principle of Continental’s business practices, regardless.

  • WildBill

    Same thing just happened to me Sunday with Delta. For the sake of open disclosure, I am a Diamond Medallion (& Million Miler) member with Delta and usually get most fees waived. I had a number of Ecredits and Ecertificates banked with Delta. I attempted to use them to purchase a ticket online for a flight that day, with no luck.

    I called my “Diamond Line” and spoke with an agent, got the same price and agreed to the purchase. My online numbers and the agents numbers showed that I would have to pay $86 out of pocket. Then as I gave my credit card number she quoted $136! I stopped her and we went over the math again, both of us getting $86, then she states “Oh, the $144 Ecredit was on an unused ticket booked through Carlson (my travel agent) and that requires an ADDITIONAL $50 FEE! They had already deducted the $150 change fee, so apparently it’s REALLY a $200 Change fee……….

    They emailed me my receipt, but I can’t find any record of this extra $50 to report on my expense report. Now, after hearing this, I going to spend the rest of today tracking this down. Yeah, it’s only $50, but it’s MY $50.

  • Filip Khan

    This “external ticket handling” fee is not new. Delta has been charging it for almost a year. I’m not surprised others are charging it as well. This has been clearly outlined on Delta’s website, but you wouldn’t notice it unless you know to look for it. Here’s the link…see for yourself under CHANGE FEES.
    http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/ticket_changes_refunds/ticket_changes/index.jsp

  • Filip Khan

    I might add that Delta’s notification claims the $50 fee is waived if the change can be completed at delta.com. It never can, I’ve tried.

  • Thomas

    Normally, I would say no, but I voted yes on this one. $25 is a waste of time to recover, but as others have said, it’s the principle. I don’t fly CO, but if they’re doing this, so are the rest of them. It’s time for regulation. The airlines are sounding more like a bank, with all their fees, rather than an airline. DL always waives the fees for me, but that is due to my status, I’m sure.

  • atlmom

    @David: Congress would only make it worse and more expensive. Sometimes the free market needs to work. If people are educated, they won’t fly XYZ airline. They will fly airlines like southwest (altho I just paid $300 in change fees on airtran, southwest can’t get to Atlanta soon enough!). Seriously – we all have choices, and creating another government agency to ‘deal with this’ is crazy, will only cost a lot of money and do pretty much nothing.

  • Karen P

    Yes mediate. It’s $25 but like others have said it’s the
    principal of the matter. I’ve stood in line at retailers because I
    was overcharged by $1 or less. Was it a waste of time? Maybe but it
    was MY money not theirs. Plus I likely wasn’t the only customer
    getting overcharged, .50 cents x 1000 customers is a good chunk of
    money, money that the retailer was taking in which they shouldn’t
    have been. I’d fight tooth and nail for that $25.

  • Mike Z

    I recall reading about this a few months back and may have
    commented on it in one of the posts here. I couldn’t remember at
    the time which airline it was, but one of them announced that any
    reservations booked through an agent will incur a $25 fee. I agree
    with the others who said you should mediate. It is not the amount,
    it is the principle. Also, if the fee was not disclosed in the CoC
    the Op should go back to his credit card company and point this out
    to them. Fees need to be disclosed or they aren’t valid. the
    airline telling the CC company that we have this fee, so he needs
    to pay it is not a valid reason for the CCC to side with the
    airline.

  • travelgal

    @OTC: “While I feel for him about the fee not being
    disclosed, it’s $25. Putting more than a few minutes of work into
    it, just isn’t worth it, yes there’s the principle of it, but why
    waste time and effort trying to recover a small amount of money.”
    How many ticket changes do you think Continental does in a day, a
    week, a month? If everyone who gets hit with an unexplained fee
    just decides it’s not worth their time to investigate and demand at
    least a comprehensive explanation – then how much extra money do
    you think that airline is pocketing? And then how long before they
    decide to add additional fees to existing fees?

  • John

    The reservation fee is disclosed on the CO website. In his
    own words, he agreed to pay the fee to CO so the credit card
    company correctly sided with CO. Sorry but they didn’t tell him
    about a baggage fee. Will he complain about this next?

  • Raven

    Ah, another airline scam. Let’s hold your credit hostage
    for another $25!! I bet if our Congressmen had to fly coach, on the
    cheapest tickets, and paid for all of their own travel there would
    laws against Big Airline’s Scams!

  • Linda Snow

    @BucksterSF says: “Why are people still buying
    non-refundable tickets when their plans can change?” Because
    refundable tickets can cost 3 times as much or more, so people
    gamble. Actually a decent strategy might be to always purchase
    cancel-for-any-reason trip insurance. If you’re only insuring an
    air ticket costing a few hundred bucks, the insurance can cost
    significantly less than a potential $150 change fee, with or
    without undisclosed tack-on fees.

  • John

    Also the fee is in the CoC. Rule 27 E (2) Second sentence
    from the bottom. 2) Application of Unused Ticket toward Future
    Ticket Purchase – CO may allow a portion of the non-refundable fare
    paid for an unused and unexpired non-refundable CO Ticket to be
    applied towards the purchase of future travel on CO, provided it is
    done in accordance with the applicable fare rule in place at the
    time of such request. Change fees and other administrative charges
    may apply. Any portion not so applied will not be refunded in any
    form.

  • Carver

    @John I think you misread the article as well as all of the
    posts. The OP is fine with the $150 change fee as that was
    adequately disclosed. Its this mystery $25.00 fee that the OP is
    upset about, and rightfully so as it was not disclosed at the time
    of purchase.

  • Roberto

    Continental ought to be able to be able to point you to
    where this fee was disclosed. If it can’t, then it should issue a
    refund. If Continental can point to where this fee was disclosed,
    then it’s up to Expedia. Did Expedia disclose this fee? If not, I
    think Expedia should eat it. How was the traveler supposed to know
    about the fee if Expedia didn’t disclose it?

  • John

    @carver From his story When I called, I provided an agent
    with my unused ticket number and a flight information I wanted to
    book. The agent said your old ticket is $364.30, new ticket is
    $192.10. I will receive a voucher for $172.20 but she needs to
    collect $150 fee on a credit card and another $25 fee because my
    original ticket was booked through a travel agency. This was first
    time $25 fee was communicated to me. I protested paying $25 in
    addition to $150 but was told I can’t exchange my old ticket
    without paying additional $25. So he admits that they told him
    about charging his card the additional $25 BEFORE they made the
    credit card charge. At that point he had the option of saying no
    but instead authorized the charge. If he wanted to protest the
    additional amount, that’s the time to do it not after they charged
    the card and play games with the credit card company He also states
    that the fee is not communicated in either the CoC or on the
    website both of which are incorrect as I have posted (and both took
    me a total of 5 minutes to find). By his own admission, he knew
    that they were going to charge him an additional $25 before they
    charged his card. He then knowing authorized that charge. After the
    fact, he attempted to have the credit card company negate his
    authorization or the contract he agreed to. When they declined, he
    came running to Chris. If CO had charged his card without
    authorization, I would fully agree with everyone but that isn’t the
    case. They told him they would charge the fee before they did it
    and he ok’ed it. Now he doesn’t like it. I’m not sure what Chris is
    mediating since he agreed to the fee before they charged
    it.

  • bodega

    As per Chris’ comment: And why aren’t they disclosed
    somewhere, like on the airline site or through the online travel
    agency? First, Expedia isn’t going to post a fee that they are not
    responsible for. Second, the fee IS disclosed on Continental’s
    website. If you purchase a ticket, including mileage award tickets
    by phone, there is a $25 fee. Since he purchased his ticket through
    a company other than the carrier, I am sure the agent assumed that
    he would go back to the point of purchase. Some airlines have even
    stated that they would charge an additional fee if the ticket was
    purchased elsewhere and they were asked to handle an exchange or
    refund as passengers were trying to by pass fees from their point
    of purchase.

  • Carver

    @John

    I respectfully disagree with your analysis.

    The issue is not what was told AFTER the ticket was purchased but what was disclosed AT the time the ORIGINAL ticket was purchased

    When he purchased the original ticket he knew that if he wanted to change the ticket he would have to pay $150. The OP is fine with that.

    However, then we went to actually change the ticket and buy a new ticket they wanted an additional $25 fee which, unlike the $150 change fee, was not disclosed at the time that he purchased the ticket.

    As far as the OP is concerned, and I concur, CO unilaterally changed the terms of the contract, and held his credit hostage, effectively extorting an additional $25.00 from the OP.

    Now, had that been adequately disclosed to the OP when he purchased the original ticket we’d be in agreement.

  • Mindy

    So there is a $150 change fee, but the ticket cannot be changed unless he pays an additional $25 travel agency fee. So, in reality, you cannot change your ticket without paying $175 in fees. It is impossible to do so.

    Total BS. I’m tired of the airlines getting away with these shenanigans.

  • bodega

    Carver@the OP didn’t purchase the ticket from CO, but from Expedia. If he went back to Expedia, CO would not be charging him the $25 fee. He made the decision to do his ticket exchange directly with the airline, by phone, not online, and therefore the airline charges this fee, as clearly stated on their website. CO did not change the terms of the contract or hold his credit hostage. It is a lesson learned for $25!

    The question to ask is, why didn’t he go back to Expedia for the ticket exchange?

  • Carver

    @bodega

    That’s a fair question. I don’t use third party booking sites so I don’t know why he tried to do his refund through CO rather than Expedia.

  • MeanMeosh

    Delta has been doing this for a long time, except they charge $50. I ran into this problem when I tried to use a credit from a Travelocity-issued ticket. At least in that case, the Delta rep was nice enough to tell me I could avoid the $50 fee by using the credit online, and even explained how to do it.

    I guess I am a little curious if CO allows credits to be processed online, and if so, why Mr. Shevchuk didn’t try that. But in any event, if the fee wasn’t disclosed at the time he canceled the ticket, he shouldn’t have to pay.

  • David Z

    The question to ask is, why didn’t he go back to Expedia for the ticket exchange?

    I was going to ask the same thing. Chances are, that $25 charge won’t happen if the OP rebooked it with Expedia directly.

  • Brooklyn

    One more reason not to book through a travel agent….

  • WildBill

    @Filip Khan, Thanks, you were right! I checked Delta’s website and sure enough, If you buy your ticket anywhere BUT Delta the change fee is $150 + $50. I see that the commenters show the same is true for CO.

    One additional tidbit Delta had told me, when making the exchange for the old ticket, in addition to the, now $200 change fee, the NEW ticket is NON-CHANGEABLE. PERIOD. WORTHLESS if changed, canceled or even spit upon. Even though, in my case, if the amount of Ecredit was only $94 out of a $630 ticket, because it involves a ticket exchange, it is now locked, with no further value.

    Seeing as I was booking Sunday morning for a flight within 4 hours, I wasn’t TOO worried, oh, yeah, but that whole, 6″ of snow expected in ATL, that night kinda had me thinking……..

    So, they gladly take our money originally, when something changes they will gladly, sorta, exchange our ticket (- $175-$200 in fees) ONCE. Hey, how much does it REALLY cost to make a reservation change on a ELECTRONIC TICKET anyway???

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    The $ 25 fee was disclosed to the OP by the CO when he was ready to use his credit. The fee was for rebooking with CO reservations offices as stated in CO repsonse: “I regret you were notified regarding the $25.00 reissue fee for booking via our Reservations office.”

    The OP issue shouldn’t be with CO but with Expedia. Expedia should have disclosed every possible fees when he purchased his ticket FROM Expedia.

    Did the OP contacted to Expedia to rebook his ticket?

    For work, I had to book an airline ticket through Egencia (Expedia division for corporate travel) on United Airlines. My plans changed so I had a credit with United. When I was ready to use the credit, I contacted United and they wanted to charge $ 25. I contacted Egencia and booked my new flight without paying the $ 25.

    If he contacted Expedia, he might not ended up paying the $ 25.

  • Mike Z

    @ Arizona. Sorry, but the possible fees should have been
    disclosed when he purchased the opriginal ticket, not when he
    needed to make the change and the airline already had his money.
    Would it be legal for me to walk into an auto parts store with no
    signage indicating their return policy and purchase an item for
    $100 only then to be told later that they charge a 50% refund fee?
    Their argument would be the same. We told you about the fee. In
    reality they never told you about the fee and kept the amount
    hidden.

  • bodega

    MikeZ@that would be correct if he was going back to
    Expedia. However, he by passed his original place of purchase, so
    there is no way Expedia would be responsible for telling him what
    CO would charge if he went to them later and purchased over the
    phone. Expedia is responsible for informing the purchaser of fees
    when purchased through them and when exchanges are done through
    them with tickets issued by them.

  • Mary Graham

    I think you should definitely intervene. This has all gone
    too far!

  • Jeffrey

    Silly question, but why didn’t he make the change through the travel agent? It was the travel agent’s responsibility to advise him of the potential change fees that would be imposed by the airline when he originally booked the ticket.

    When he heard of the 25 dollar fee, why not call his travel agent? Oh, right, because nearly every travel agent will charge him to reissue a ticket.

  • bodega

    Jeffrey@does your car dealership advise you what it would cost to have your neighborhood mechanic work on your car instead of bringing it back to the dealership’s shop? Does Macy’s advise you of what a tailor would charge to hem your pants instead of having them do it?

    The OP didn’t go back to the point of purchase. Why? Did he think he was going to by pass Expedia’s fee (do they charge one? I don’t book online to know). Bet there is more to this story and he got stuck paying a fee he doesn’t want to pay but it is in the rules of the carrier. Cowboy up!

  • http://courseworks.info/ adrian

    at least Continental is issuing a voucher, instead of swallowing the fare difference into the great abyss

  • Cutie00700

    the same thing happened to me. I booked through expedia and got refunded by the hotel but only got credit for airline. when i called to use my credit with expedia they also wanted to charge 150 for “accessing” your previous itinerary. such bs!!!