A few updates:
Thanks for giving me some pointers and sorry for the confusion: I did book through Amex Travel, not Expedia. I usually book through Expedia hence I mistyped in my OP; I have edited my post to reflect this.
That said, when I got back to China, I called the US office and was able to get the booking fare I bought with, and was told it is refundable, but I would need to call the issuing office which China. So I called the China office and was told again I was eligible, but as I booked through a TA I needed to call them.
On Friday I called Amex Travel and was told I need to call them back after 8:30 pm Central Time as they needed to contact the issuing office in China to request the refund. I imagine Amex Travel needs to call the China office which is only open from 9:30 am (China time). I'll call back on Monday to try again.
Originally Posted by
weero
Op also uses language such as "rebooked a later one way" ... sounds much more like an unhealthy mixture of "absolutely no idea how things work" and "a superior sense of entitlement".
You are right, I sometimes have absolutely no idea how thins work. I have never missed a flight before, so I did not know what to do. I was able book a later one-way flight to get my butt home since obviously staying in Indonesia wasn't very helpful.
Regardless to what you feel about the situation, I am unapologetic that I found it necessary to pay for an one-way fare when I needed to return home. Perhaps you are blessed with superior language skills or the ability to get in touch with someone who could have helped you in that situation, but some of us common folk can only communicate in one language and when encountering people who are not versed in said language, I had to muster up a solution I could think of. If you consider the ability to afford a last minute one-way fare to be some sort of entitlement, so be it.