EXPEDIA

The Travel Troubleshooter: Airline won’t refund my ticket after my husband dies

Question: I bought a pair of tickets through Expedia for my husband and myself. We planned to visit Germany this fall for as part of a retirement trip. Shortly after that, my husband passed away very suddenly.

I contacted Expedia about a refund, but was advised to get in touch with our airline, Lufthansa, directly. Lufthansa told me my husband’s ticket was nonrefundable. I asked if they would resell his seat, since he couldn’t make the flight, and they admitted they would.

When I said that it appeared that Lufthansa would profit from the death of my husband, they admitted that that was the case. This really offended me. I tried to send an email to Lufthansa’s president, but they have turned me down. What would you advise?
– Ursula Maul, Wynnewood, Pa.

Answer: My condolences on your loss. Most airlines refund tickets – even nonrefundable ones – when a passenger dies. What’s more, it’s highly unusual for a representative to “admit” that the airline will profit from the death of a passenger. Maybe the representative you reached was having a bad day. I certainly hope so.
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80 comments

Can this trip be saved? Hotwire didn’t have the best hotel — or the best deal

Hotwire’s low-price guarantee says you can be “sure they’re the lowest prices you’ll find.” But that’s not what Carol McCoy discovered when she booked a hotel in Rehoboth Beach, Del., on a recent holiday weekend.

She paid $140 a night for a two-star hotel, which seemed a little high to her. (Hotwire doesn’t reveal the name of the property until you’ve paid for it.)

The hotel wasn’t what she had hoped for.
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47 comments

The Travel Troubleshooter: Dead passengers can’t use a flight credit

Question: I recently booked a flight on Expedia from Dallas to Midland, Texas, with my wife. She died before we could make the trip. I canceled her ticket and applied for a refund through Expedia, the online agency through which I had booked the ticket.

I furnished all the requested documentation, including the death certificate. After not hearing anything from either Expedia or American Airlines, I called Expedia this week and was told that American had refused the refund.

The reason given was that all American could do was issue a credit for a future flight. But since my wife wouldn’t be able to use the credit, they weren’t even going to do that.

Now, the amount involved isn’t going to break me, nor would it break American Airlines, but the bizarre reasoning for the refusal just smacks of lousy customer relations. On top of American’s poor attitude, Expedia never informed me of the refusal of the refund until I initiated the call.

Sure I’d like a refund but you can bet your bottom dollar I will never darken the door of either American or Expedia again. — David Walters, Plano, Texas

Answer: My condolences on the loss of your wife. Airlines routinely offer a full refund when a passenger dies, and your online travel agency should have been able to return your money when you sent it proof of your spouse’s passing.

The death of a passenger is one of the most common exceptions to the nonrefundability rule on airline tickets (the other is military orders). Once Expedia and American were informed of the event, the refund should have been more or less automatic.
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35 comments

The Travel Troubleshooter: Hey, what happened to my ticket refund?

Question: My wife and I planned a trip to Antigua this summer and purchased round-trip flights, hotel room and a kayak excursion through Expedia in December.

Everything was a “go” until we received a call one day in early April from an Expedia representative informing us of a change to our American Airlines flights. American had apparently changed quite a few flights to the island and, unfortunately, none of the changes worked for us.

The Expedia rep said that if we chose not to accept the changes for the flights that we could expect to see a full refund due to an “unacceptable” involuntary schedule change by the airline. After getting the rep to verify that we could cancel the hotel, excursion and flights at no charge, I authorized them to go ahead and cancel the trip completely.

The rep was able to instantly provide a refund for the hotel and kayak trip, but advised that the refund for the flights would take between four to six weeks to go through.

Six weeks later, having received no refund, I checked with Expedia. It informed me that it had already given me a refund, but it turns out it only was referring to the first refund. I emailed Expedia back to let it know that it got the wrong refund, but have not received a response yet. It concerns me that no one can seem to tell us when we will ever get the refund or why it has been held up for so long.

I am at my wits’ end with Expedia, Chris. Can you please help me get this resolved? My wife and I would be so grateful. — Dan Lachapelle, Sudbury, Canada

Answer: I wouldn’t be so quick to blame Expedia. Airlines are known to drag their feet when it comes to refunds, and my initial reading of your problem suggests American might have something to do with the delay, too.

This is a common problem. You buy your tickets through an agency, and the agency takes your money. But if you want a refund — or something else, like a name change — then the agency defers to the airline.
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65 comments

Case dismissed: They downgraded Dad and now they’re ignoring me

Sriram Singa paid $929 for a business class ticket from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysia Airlines.

It’s not that Singa demands first-class treatment. The ticket was for his father, who suffers from back problems, and on the 1,615-mile flight, he needed the room.

But he didn’t get it.

“On the return leg, my father was downgraded to economy due to an equipment change,” says Singa. “The agent at the airport wouldn’t give my father a refund or any compensation for the downgrade, instead telling him to contact his travel agent.”

That would be Expedia.
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148 comments

The Travel Troubleshooter: Why do I have to pay twice for the same ticket?

Question: I am hoping that you can help me with a current problem that I’m experiencing. My wife, 13-year-old stepson and 5-year-old daughter are taking our first big family vacation together to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

We booked the trip through Expedia a few months ago, but last week, when we reviewed our itinerary, we discovered that Expedia messed up my stepson’s last name (his is “Nielsen” while the rest of us are “Slain”).

We have contacted both Expedia and our airline, Mexicana, but the answer is the same: Because the ticket is nontransferable, they can’t make the change. Well, we’re not trying to transfer the ticket; we’re trying to correct a mistake. Every other piece of information that we entered about Bailey, including his middle name and date of birth, matches up. We simply want him to be able to use the seat that we bought for him.

Some friends that we have talked to say that this shouldn’t be an issue because my wife and I can use our IDs to check in, get boarding passes issued, and go through TSA without ever having to show our children’s passports. When we get to customs, they will check the passports but not the tickets we used to fly. What is your take on this? – Jared Slain, Mattawan, Mich.

Answer: I wouldn’t risk it. It’s true that kids’ IDs aren’t checked as thoroughly as adults’ — I just experienced that this morning while traveling with my family — but that doesn’t apply to international flights. While it’s possible your airline or TSA might let this slide, I wouldn’t bet on it.

Is this Expedia’s fault? I don’t think so. Since you booked the flights through its website, you would have had to type in all of the passenger names. You goofed.
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58 comments

Orbitz vs. American Airlines: The traveler is the loser

Maybe you’ve heard about the little dust-up between American Airlines and several online travel agencies, including Orbitz and Expedia.

Maybe you’ve noticed that when you go fare-shopping on those travel sites, you aren’t offered any American flights.

Maybe you’ve said to yourself, “So what?”

“It’s really an inside baseball kind of story,” admits William Swelbar, a research engineer in MIT’s International Center for Air Transportation.

But not so fast. Yes, the intramural spat between airlines and travel agencies may seem irrelevant, but there’s a lot at stake. The future of how you buy airline tickets could hang in the balance.
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17 comments