I can’t get a refund from Priceline or American Airlines — or anyone

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When your airline cancels a flight because of weather, are you entitled to a full refund? Elizabeth Hearn wanted to know after she booked a flight from Norfolk, Va., to Shreveport, La. — a flight that was canceled because of a Nor’easter late last year. Neither her carrier, American Airlines, nor her online travel agency, Priceline, would give her back the $400 she had spent.

Can they just keep her money?

Of course not. American and Priceline sold her a product that they couldn’t deliver. That’s a slam-dunk for a credit card dispute under the The Fair Credit Billing Act, which covers “charges for goods and services you didn’t accept or weren’t delivered as agreed.”

But before we get too deep into the weeds on Hearn’s rights, let’s hear from her.

I bought a ticket through Priceline for a flight from Norfolk, Va., to Shreveport, La. My flight was on American Airlines and ended being canceled because of bad weather. The Nor’easter hit our area on Nov. 13 and my flight was canceled.

When I contacted Priceline, a customer service rep referred me back to American. The Priceline rep stated that since the flight was cancelled by American, American had taken control and would be issuing me my refund. I then contacted American. After several different service reps, a very nice lady let me know that I had purchased an opaque fare, which meant American did not know how much I paid and could not refund me. I would have to contact Priceline.

When I contacted Priceline, they insisted that American would refund me and not Priceline and if American would not refund me then — well, too bad.

American Airlines’ contract of carriage — the legal agreement between you and the carrier — is crystal-clear on this issue:

Involuntary Refunds
In the event the refund is required because of American’s failure to operate on schedule or refusal to transport, the following refund will be made directly to you if the ticket is totally unused, the full amount paid (with no service charge or refund penalty) …

This back-and-forth is unacceptable. Whether Hearn had an “opaque” fare (which means she didn’t know which airline the flight would be on until she booked it) or not, she didn’t get what she paid for. She’s entitled to an immediate refund.

I contacted Priceline on Hearn’s behalf. Here’s what I got back.

We were able to get through to the right people at American. The refund is being processed and we will notify Ms. Hearn today. Sorry about the delay.

Hearn is happy with the resolution, but I’m troubled by the little game of ping-pong that American Airlines and Priceline played with one of its customers.

Even with my intervention, it took nearly two months for the refund to process. It should have taken hours — if not minutes.

(Photo: Stuck in Customs/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • Carver

    That’s one of my biggest issues with third party travel providers. It seems that the minute something goes wrong, you’ve potentially wiped out all of the savings that you’ve received.

    These travel providers legitimately serve a segment of the population, but I just don’t want the drama.

  • deRuiter

    I agree with Carver. Having shown up in Greece with a confirmed booking for a room for $85. at a hotel, and being told no such booking existed, I was hit for $285. for the same room. So what if there was an $85. refund from Priceline? I won’t deal with third parties. Maybe I pay a little more some times (maybe not!) but I’m always dealing with the principals. If I book directly with Continental for my flight, and pay with their credit card, they carry my first bag for free. That’s a savings. Looking for a cheaper room rate? Contact the hotel you want by phone or their own website (not the chain website) and ask about better rates. You can sometimes negotiate a great deal this way.

  • mark

    deRuiter i use priceline all the time and i always confirm with the hotel. Both a day or so after the booking I also call a week or so prior to travel. The only issue i ever had was in Montreal when thay could not find my reservation under my name but as i have the conformation number they found they had miss spelled my name.

  • Robert Davis

    I only use third party sites to see a consolidated list of prices from multiple companies. There’s just too much to go wrong when dealing with an extra party to the transaction.

  • jabez

    Using Priceline for hotels or cars is generally a good deal, but planes never. Too many potential problems, connections, etc. for what’s generally a small savings.

  • http://www.air-savings.com sonny chatrath

    Let me run and get American to refund the price of a non-refundable safari, which my client could not make as American cancelled their flight. The client charged back, and the insurance carrier (Access America) said he did not qualify for a policy, even though he paid for it, and our E/O policy didn’t cover it. I love the stories you publish, they are real eye openers. That’s why I always tell my clients, the big travel sites don’t charge you a service fee, because they don’t provide any service.

  • Steven

    Yet another reason NOT to use these “opaque” booking sites. It’s bad enough dealing with either a travel agency or the airline directly. And, I bet, she didn’t save that much, anyway…. certainly not enough to have the hassle.

  • Peter Collins

    I should like to recount another tale on the same topic.

    For the past nine years I have been a frequent flyer with a middle eastern carrier ( which incidentally serves the US thru Dulles and JFK ) and I have always flown with them on trips from London to Asia even though this means changing planes in the middle east with the consequent much longer journey times.

    Last October I purchased a one way ticket from Manila to London for my Filipina partner ( who is my designated spouse on my frequent flyer account ) paying with some soon-to-expire air miles plus a $ 500 credit card payment. Due to visa delays concerning my fiancee within a month of the ticket purchase I had to cancel the initial booking and leave the e-ticket open.

    I now wish to avail of this ticket and make a booking in the coming weeks but the airline can not offer me a seat until mid March. This is unsuitable for my fiancee’s travel needs so I have requested a refund of the cash element only to be advised by the airline that under their frequent flyer rules no refunds or even name changes to reward tickets are permissible.

    As they are clearly unable to provide me with the service I have already paid for I have made several email requests for such refund and now my emails go unanswered.

    Am I alone in being surprised at this treatment of a loyal passenger with over a quarter million flyer miles under his belt ?

  • Johnny Triumph

    Always book directly, it’s worth the little extra you might have to pay. Use those other sites (expedia, travelocity, travelzoo, etc) to compare prices. Using the low fares from them, visit the supplier directly to book.

    And never, ever, use priceline. Way back in 2001 I bought a ticket from Denver to NYC for travel one day and return the next. Lousy priceline got me a great fare but had me arriving late the first day and leaving 6am the following morning. Luckily, at least back then, the airlines worked with me to get me standby on other flights, allowing me to fly a day earlier and return on a later flight. But I doubt they’d be that flexible today. I’ll never, ever use Priceline again.

  • http://www.labelindescript.com/ Justin

    I totally agree with Johnny Triumph–always book directly. I’ve booked directly for years (mostly flying Delta domestically) and have never really had much trouble getting refunds and reimbursements for delayed or canceled flights. My parents bought tickets through Travelocity (a similar story to Priceline) flying Delta, as well, but when their flight was canceled, both Delta and Travelocity refused to provide a refund, even though it fit into their weather related cancellation policy.

    If you’re just in it for the comparison shopping, also try Kayak, SideStep.com and other sites that do the searching for you to get the best rates and times, but in the end only book directly through the airline’s official website.

  • Alan Gore

    The moral of the story, as with many others on Elliott, is never, ever book travel through third parties.

  • Carver

    @Johnny Triumph

    I used priceline once for a flight in 2000 (I think). It was from SFO to Vegas. Normally that’s a one hour flight. On the return trip, Priceline routed me to Salt Lake City to get back to San Francisco. Crazy.

    Then, the flight was canceled, and they didn’t tell me. It was a nightmare.

  • Di

    Here’s my question: not everyone is lucky enough to have Chris go to bat for them (I think he would be beyond busy if that happened). What should she have done to get her refund? He said that it is a perfect charge to dispute. Should she have disputed it?

  • Steve

    “The moral of the story, as with many others on Elliott, is never, ever book travel through third parties.”

    I agree with trying to avoid doing so, but sometimes the discounts can be huge. I personally wouldn’t book airfare because I’ve always seen the price to be the same on the airline’s website (so why add another layer of complexity?); the hotel discounts can be incredible. My wife and I are going to Las Vegas next week and are getting our third night (the most expensive night of our stay) free for booking through Expedia; additionally, the price for the first two nights is lower than the price given on the hotel’s website. We’re saving close to $200 on a 3-night stay. I just looked at the hotel’s website again and now they’re offering a night free with a 3-night stay for the next couple of weeks…but it’s the cheapest night, so it would still be $100 more than what we’re paying.

    Am I concerned about something going wrong that would not have had we booked directly with the hotel? A little…but to save upwards of 40% on our hotel, I think it’s more than worth the gamble. (BTW, this great rate wasn’t even nonrefundable…I could cancel up to 72 hours beforehand with no penalty).

  • John

    The issue is not that AA refused to refund the money. Their policy on refunds for canceled flights is well documented. The issue is that it’s an opaque (name your own price) ticket, and as such, they can’t see how much was paid for the ticket and couldn’t do a standard refund. This is completely normal. Priceline needs to be the one to take care of this (even if it involves calling someone at American to resolve it) as they are the travel agent. Don’t blame AA; blame Priceline.

  • Carver

    @Steve

    You make a good point. If you are getting a killing from a third party website, then it might make sense to book accordingly. Although personally, I would call the hotel and try to get them to match the price.

    My personal experiences haven’t borne out that third party websites are generally any cheaper, but each person’s experience will differ

  • Eric

    I would never use Hotwire or Priceline for either a flight or a hotel. That’s like going into a men’s store with $100, and telling the clerk to pick a suit out for you. Sure, he might give you something nice, but it’s more likely he’ll come back with that lime-green leisure suit they’ve had in the back room for 30 years.

    I’d be OK using Hotwire for a rental car. A car is a car. As long as it’s a major chain, I’m pretty sure I won’t be in a rolling death-trap.

  • Di

    I’ve never used Hotwire or Priceline because I always felt there was a catch. How can they offer such low prices for nothing? Now reading Chris’ blog, I can see what the catch is: buying through them may be cheaper, but seems to offer less protection. I am very picky with where I stay and who I fly with. This is why I’ve never used them.

  • Victor Ozols

    I don’t have any comment on the story itself, but that photo is pretty awesome. I wish I could take pictures that looked like that.

  • Steve

    Carver–true, it wouldn’t have hurt to try calling the hotel to see if that deal was available directly through them. And this was the first time I’ve seen a deal through a third-party website that was significantly cheaper.

    I’ve also never and probably will never use an opaque sit like Hotwire or Priceline. Not so much because I distrust them, but because I’m a control freak when booking travel and I want to choose everything for myself…

  • Carver

    @Steve

    lol. A kindred spirit.

    But you’re right. I admit that I micromanage every aspect of my travel, finding the sweet spot between getting a good deal, and spending too much time chasing the last dollar.

    And I am super picky about which hotel I stay in. Don’t care about cars that much, but as a President’s Circle member of Hertz, its always cheaper to rent a full sized car and get the guaranteed upgrade then renting a premium or luxury car through any other means.

  • Sarah (now going to post as Sarah Di to avoid confusion)

    I need too much control over flight times when booking people for work and for myself so I won’t use name your own price for that. But I have used it for hotels for work and saved a ton of money with good deals. The key for me is to do the research and find out what is in the area. If there is a particular hotel in the area that I absolutely would not want people to stay, I won’t do it. I also price check everywhere else first. I have won very nice hotels for as little as 40 or 50 dollars depending on the location and typically using the highest star rating will net me a good hotel for little money. For my own upcoming vacation, I have booked directly with the hotel because I know exactly where I want to stay and am willing to pay for that.

    I have had very good experiences using expedia for flights, even when there has been trouble with weather and cancelled flights. If I can get it there for a better price than direct through the airline, I won’t hesitate to book with them.

    Most of the time, I book flights directly though just for ease and comfort and I always book my cruises direct with the cruiseline!

  • Bob

    I work as a travel agent for a very well known online travel website, one who has a contractual agreement with a prestigious credit card. I know firsthand how difficult it is dealing with the airlines in these situations. In some cases, all we can do is contact the airline, and are at their mercy. We have no control over the rules and fees the airlines impose, and we are obligated to disclose all of this at the time of booking. Those same rules and fees are also disclosed when a customer books online themselves to save the $25 booking fee, but most of them don’t read it and click right past it. It’s all there for them to read. But in all sincerity, I have total sympathy for the customers, but when dealing with a third party online booking agent, when it comes to reservations, we really are at the sellers(airline/hotel) mercy.

  • Barry Graham

    This is the price of getting a great deal. Usually you get a fantastic price and it all works out, but occasionally things go wrong and it’s hard to sort them out. I think that if she had been persistent or gone to the right people right away she would have got her money back without having to involve you.

  • http://www.allentrottier.com Allen Trottier

    Wouldn’t it be as simple as doing a chargeback on your credit card? Services not rendered.

    I would assume that the majority of the time there are no issues. The total savings for a frequent flyer would be worth the small incidents once in a while. A quick call to your credit card provider and you have your money back (as long as you have a solid case, like above).

    Just my two cents.

  • Alice B

    I am a Travel Agent and I had a party of 14 going from New York to Puerto Rico, I called Delta and since they could not fly my clients they received a full refund. Did you pay cash to the Agency, because if you did they received the refund from American. If you paid be credit card dispute it, you were not able to fly because they cancelled not because you did.

  • Orca713

    Priceline is a rip-off!! I’m done with them. Liars, and ping pong is their specialty. I wouldn’t use them again for anything.

  • Jodeb571

    priceline is a total rip off…..never use them again never can get a live person concerning a refund…..