traveladdie

Hello

I have a group of high school kids heading to Europe through LHR in a week. We booked 13 seats on Expedia (non refundable). When I went to cut and paste the names with the confirmation number, I saw that 6 of the tickets were booked on a 7:25 AM flight (AMS) instead of the 4:00 PM flight. The tickets would never have been booked at an earlier time as they get in on AA at 6:55.

I called Expedia to explain something went horribly wrong. Naturally, they said I would have to change the tickets to the tune of $2,500. We are a school. Don't have that. They also said that since they could not prove it was their error nothing could be done from a good will standpoint.

I then called BA who told me that they had no control over it and if they students missed the outbound, they would cancel the entire itinerary.

I will be in London for a day and a half before the students get there. Can I try to do something while on the ground before they get there? Any advice on how to proceed? I feel royally screwed here.

Any idea what BA will do with 6 American high school students basically stranded in London (The other 7 are on the correct flight)? Should I keep calling both BA and Expedia until I get someone who will help me?

Smirnoff

Are they on one through ticket US-LHR-AMS-LHR-US?

Or did expedia issue separate tickets for USA-LHR-USA and LHR-AMS-LHR?

sunrisegirl

You will need to resolve this with Expedia as they're the ones who you made your booking with.

Who made the booking with Expedia? Do they have something in writing saying what they asked Expedia to book?

BA may help, but really this is down to Expedia and whoever made the booking incorrectly. You should try that route first.

pinkcat

I dont know if there is anything BA will do, as far as they are concerned, they ticketed the flight that you and Expedia requested. the students are not stranded, they have onward tickets the next morning, you just need to book accommodation overnight,

HIDDY

Very strange how 6 could end up on a different flight if it was a group booking. Someone cocked it up along the way.

Smirnoff

No, as I understand it, some of the group have been ticketed to arrive into T3 at 0655 and depart 30 mins later at 0725.

traveladdie

Thanks!

The students are flying AA into LHR. Arriving at 6:55 AM. Six of the tickets are leaving at 7:25 AM (this is the mistake they should be leaving at 4 PM with everyone else).

The first six will miss that first flight of the day and according to BA, their entire ticket will be cancelled, including the return from Berlin in a week.

Expedia refuses to take any responsibility. I have spoken to them many times. In fact, I was on the phone for four hours yesterday.

Sam Bee

Over 9 seats is a Group Booking.

I'm presuming you made 2 bookings to get around that - and the 2nd tranche have this 30 minute connection?

However, I cannot see how you can book a through ticket with 30 minutes connection time as it would be rejected at ticketing if not picked up before (and wouldn't show as an option?). If you did, it will be an error for expedia to sort out.

It might sound pedantic, but getting to the bottom of how this happened will help work out who is at fault, and how to get it resolved?

If you booked 2 separate tickets (i.e. US - LHR and then LHR - AMS) then it's quite probably your fault, and neither BA nor Expedia need to help.

However, did this happen today? You can get these tickets voided the same day (Expedia ticketing need to do this though).

If not, you are relying on good will of BA & Expedia to help.

Worst case scenario - need to shell out for 6 new tickets LHR-AMS. Probably best done in advance. Check BA & KLM from LHR.

traveladdie

Expedia only issued the inner Europe portion. So just the BA flight from LHR to AMS then the return from TXL to LHR a week or so later.

traveladdie

It did not happen today. I went to cut and paste the confirmations into a master itinerary yesterday and spotted the problem. We are a school and don't have several thousands of dollars. Man, this is stressing me out as they depart in a week.

Smirnoff

Ouch. In that case, you would need to prove to expedia that you asked for the 1600 flight, but they mistakenly booked the 0725 flight.

Was it booked over the phone or online?

I assume they would have emailed the itinerary at the time of booking. Do you have that - what times does it state the flight is?

traveladdie

The tickets were on three different PNR's and were made within moments of each other.

Sam Bee

OK, you're in the right place for a bit of help, so grab a mug of tea, and take some deep breaths....

So US-LHR-US was one ticket. LHR-AMS // TXL-LHR was the other, and this was the issue. You'll probably have a couple more questions to answer.

Did you make the booking online, or with a real person?
Did you do it as a group booking, or as two bookings?

traveladdie

This is where I know I was at fault. I didn't look at the email. I got the first one then just put the other two in the email file until I needed to do what I was doing yesterday in cutting and pasting for our master itinerary.

I booked it online.

Smirnoff

percocet?