Here is my story:
Several months ago, I purchased a roundtrip ticket from Spanair through Expedia: EWR-BCN-TLV-BCN-MAD-EWR. About a month ago, Spanair changed the schedule for the TLV-BCN segment. This change means that I would arrive at BCN after the scheduled departure to MAD and miss my connecting flight. As a result, I am currently holding an UNUSABLE ticket. I called expedia and told them about the situation, the agent contacted Spanair and told me that Spanair will either offer me an alternate return routing or give me a refund on my ticket. The alternate routing they suggested had a total duration of 38 hours (!!!) so I refused their offer and asked to leave the ticket as it is until I examine my options. I located Spanair's rules of carriage online, they state that if the airline changes the schedule, three options will be available to the passenger at the PASSENGER'S DISCRETION:
(1) re-route using Spanair flights at the earliest opportunity
(2) re-route using other carriers within a reasonable time.
(3) refund the ticket
Here is a link to Spanair's rules of carriage:
http://www.spanair.com/web/en-gb/General-conditions/
Essentially, Spanair offered options (1) and (3) but completely disregarded option (2). I wrote an official looking, concise letter to Spanair explaining the situation and requested that they follow their rules of carriage and resolve the problem using option (2) if necessary and get me to my destination within reasonable time. I mentioned that the alternative they offered would get me to my destination 24 hours after my scheduled arrival and that this is not reasonable. I then faxed the letter to their customer service department. It took Spanair 16 days (!!!) to finally get back to me by email. What they sent me looks like a copy-paste answer and, if I understand it correctly, basically says:
1. We offered an alternative
2. The reservations agent (expedia) is responsible for offering you those alternatives
3. If you don't like it, you can ask for a refund.
Here is their actual answer:
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We sincerely apologise for the schedule change and for any inconvenience this might have caused you. Due to the particular activity on Commercial Aviation Industry, on occasions schedules are subject to change. In these cases, Airlines provide alternative flights for their customers. These changes are automatically notified through the international reservations system to Travel Agencies and Sales Points. They so, are responsible for contacting customers and confirm with them the alternatives.
If the passenger does not agree with the alternative offered, he may cancel the booking and be refunded the ticket without any penalty, however once the passenger has accepted the travel plan, no compensation is stipulated.
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So now my questions are:
how should I continue to deal with them? Do they have no direct responsibility for the ticket they sold me through Expedia? Should I handle this through Expedia? Should I threaten them with a lawsuit? Do US courts even have jurisdiction over a European airline?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.