Originally Posted by
edcli
Has anyone had a situation where a refundable fare is non-refundable?
I've been on the phone with PTS for over 2 hours trying to get a refund; however they are saying that the fare is non-refundable.
However I paid extra for a refundable fare. Furthermore my email confirmation reads:
"Your tickets are refundable. Please review your itinerary on My Trips for additional details on specific refundability and penalty policies. Changes to your tickets may incur a non-refundable American Express fee per ticket of up to US$59. If you cancel your airline tickets through an American Express Travel Consultant via phone, you may incur a non-refundable American Express fee per ticket of up to US$59. Once a ticket is issued, the name on the ticket cannot be changed. Airline rules & restrictions apply."
Do I actually have to create a dispute with AMEX against Amex Travel?!
Again, it's worth distinguishing between Platinum Travel Service and the phone lines for AmexTravel.com which are NOT Platinum Travel Service, they're just white labeled phone reps for Expedia. If you call the number for Amex Travel listed in the benefits section of your Amex account that goes to Expedia NOT PTS. Amex does not make it easy to know who you're talking to, but if you ask the rep they will tell you whether they are PTS or AmexTravel.com reps.
I actually had this happen to me with a bona fide Platinum Travel Service booked ticket. My email didn't contain the language you mention above, however, so I think it might be that you booked with AmexTravel.com (aka Expedia) not PTS. But anyway, in my case what happened is the fare rules the agent first saw said "nonrefundable" but when she looked into it this was some sort of Delta glitch and she confirmed with PTS support that my tickets were indeed refundable. But that's partly because she was a real travel agent who knew what she was doing, unlike the Expedia reps.
But in any case, sometimes the airlines (Delta?) are coding things in a confusing/inaccurate way but if you dig into the fare terms you can find that the fare is in fact refundable.