bmotts

Hi, I booked a fare from Expedia that I checked, double checked, and triple checked was a “comfort” fare. It was listed as “cancellation included” and cost more, I skipped past the basic and flex fares that were cheaper. Expedia sent me an invoice after the fact that says fare K.

I now need to cancel it but they are saying it is non refundable and unless I show them a screenshot of what I ordered, I’m out of luck. I didn’t think I would need to screenshot it so I didn’t.

I have elite 50k status with air Canada so I understand the fares and what includes what. I knew there was going to be a chance I had to cancel so I made absolutely sure the fare I selected was refundable, I selected Comfort and Expedia said it was refundable and Air Canada lists Comfort as refundable. My invoice just says I have a “K” fare so I don’t know what they delivered to me but I know what I purchased with them.

Has anyone else had this experience with Expedia?

172pilot

Enter your PNR in the Cowtool to see exactly what your fare is. If the fare says K*****CO then it is a comfort fare.

bmotts

Yep, it starts with K and ends with CO

zorn

Expedia does not generally have a good reputation among knowledgeable frequent travelers.

Travel agents can be great, but only when the agent is a human being.

In most circumstances there is no value for a knowledgeable traveler to use Expedia (not a human being) as a travel agent, because then you are stuck dealing with them no matter what. It is almost always better to use the airline / hotel / car rental website directly. If there is a small cost saving to be had at Expedia, eventually you will pay the price in aggravation.

zkzkz

If you call AC they will refuse to actually process the refund however they can confirm it's refundable and if you push them they might even annotate the file to advise Expedia that it's refundable.

If you argue with Expedia long enough and insist that they call the airline to check they will eventually call the airline -- they have a help desk number for questions they have -- and that will get them straightened out.

bmotts

I have learned my lesson, I book my personal travel through them because it’s usually cheaper than going direct. But I just cancelled everything I had booked with them and will not give them another dime.

I will try that. I wasn’t even being rude and the escalation manager just hung up on me. He said “ill give you half back, take it or leave it” and hung up when I said no

Stranger

Should not be cheaper. If anything, there *could* occasionally be cheaper fares on aircanada.com.

And in the event it shows a cheaper fare, AC will match.

Document your case and have your credit card deal with it and refund. But be prepared never to deal with expedia again.

One should *never* use this sort of outfit. They are just plain parasites.

RangerNS

That is fundamentally impossible.

songsc

I doubt that’s the case with Expedia, but some smaller travel agencies, tour operators, etc, can get special promos from airlines, offering lower price but with tons of restrictions.

Stranger

Air Canada guarantees their web prices are the lowest.
(Consolidator fares seem to be a thing of the past. And even then, it was mostly on exotic international routes.)

bmotts

When including the hotel, the total cost of travel was less than booking both separate.

audio-nut

A glaring omission on your part. The fare you bought might not even be a published fare so normal fare logic might not apply

keitherson

Not at all.

Many airlines and hotels charge a premium for booking direct, in addition to pocketing the commission. This partially offsets extra costs like elite benefits and having to provide customer service directly.

keitherson

OP already confirmed it's a published comfort fare. The fare is refundable. The hotel was likely heavily discounted as part of his flight purchase, but that doesn't impact the flight portion. These are typical package rates these days.

However, the refund has to be processed by Expedia, especially if it was charged as a consolidated purchase. Just needs a knowledgeable agent.

Stranger

They might have a deal with the hotel, with that part not being refundable?

Do they specify refundability conditions for the full package?