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Refused refund following flight cancellation

Refused refund following flight cancellation

Old Dec 9, 2017, 11:25 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by SgtRyan
If you are booking just a flight, to me, it does not make sense to use a travel agent/online travel agent etc. Just book with the airline direct. When this type of situation happens it's so much easier.
Except if, as the OP said, it is 100 cheaper! I'll take my chances in that case booking through Expedia!
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Old Dec 9, 2017, 11:36 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by SgtRyan
If you are booking just a flight, to me, it does not make sense to use a travel agent/online travel agent etc. Just book with the airline direct. When this type of situation happens it's so much easier.
Originally Posted by Bullswood
As a matter of interest, I'd be interested to know why on a simple return booking the OP, or indeed anyone, chooses to use Expedia and takes the risk of such complications if anything goes wrong?
Why do people make such pointless comments. The OP had already said:

Originally Posted by Amygdala28
I usually try and book direct with BA, but the flight was unavailable on BA.com
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 12:12 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Bullswood
Presumably the above final para by Often1 should read "yet another reason not to deal with third-parties such as Expedia". As a matter of interest, I'd be interested to know why on a simple return booking the OP, or indeed anyone, chooses to use Expedia and takes the risk of such complications if anything goes wrong?
Because it's often considerably cheaper. Isn't that blindingly obvious? Given in my life I've booked many flights with online travel agents, never had a problem, and saved a hell of a lot of money versus booking with the airline, it seems pretty reasonable to me.

Statisticaly only 1% of flights or something will have problems. Using an agent may save you easily more than 10-20% on the ticket. It makes sense. Remember, and apparently it needs explaining in this forum, 100 quid may be the difference between a flight being affordable or not.
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 12:27 am
  #19  
 
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Perhaps someone with T/A knowledge could explain why BA sells a ticket through Expedia for a flight which is not available on its own website & also undercuts the operating carrier's own best available fare by GBP 100 (which is a fair chunk on a short route like LON/ORK)?
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 12:47 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Bullswood
Perhaps someone with T/A knowledge could explain why BA sells a ticket through Expedia for a flight which is not available on its own website & also undercuts the operating carrier's own best available fare by GBP 100 (which is a fair chunk on a short route like LON/ORK)?
It's highly unlikely that the availability was not available on BA.com if it was on Expedia, that was probably a short term IT glitch. We've all had our BA.com experiences, usually leaving it an hour or two, or calling up, resolves that sort of thing. Expedia is looking at the same underlying GDS as BA, both companies just jump through different hoops to get there. Very, very occasionally a TA will sell a fare bucket which has actually sold out, due to latency issues on the systems - in that case BA and Expedia have a communication channel to resolve difficulties. Also occasionally, OTAs use different Points of Sales, that may make a particular fare a bit cheaper, but on simple fares such as LHR-ORK it's unlikely to make a difference. On complex fares it certainly can make a bigger difference, but complex fares are also the ones to go wrong, or just get rescheduled, and it's worth calling up to see if a skilled BA agent can find a way around it. They often can.

BA being cheaper than Aer Lingus, on the other hand, is no surprise, codeshares have different sales bucket and sometimes there are temporary but large glitches. For example an extended family may have just made a booking on Aer Lingus just before the OP and the system may over swing to bump up fares for the next purchaser. Aer Lingus also has its own IT infrastructure and revenue management issues. Usually Aer Lingus would be cheaper, but occasionally not.
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 1:55 am
  #21  
 
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I find that BA also adjust availability depending on point of sale more than some other airlines. I've often found prices less expensive on Expedia.co.uk than on Expedia.com - given seats are open in lower fare buckets - but not being UK-based makes these difficult to book online. I've directly called the UK call centre and booked at the lower price, but this isn't always intuitive.

OP, given that you've called Expedia a few times, I'd simply initiate the chargeback with American Express at this point. You've made best efforts and are clearly in the right here, so it should be a pretty simple process.
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 3:54 am
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by SgtRyan
I always was with the understanding that airlines don't pay commission to OTA's or agents. If that is the case, then why do they sell flights? Maybe someone with some knowledge can shed light?
You're taking commission to be a % of the ticket cost which is correct. Forget that terminlogy, it's old school. Why OTA's & Agents sell flights:

- They get nett fares (think 20 a ticket) cheaper than airlines sell direct, from the airline - why wouldn't they - they sell millions and millions of tickets on airlines
- They get kickbacks, which can be substantial (i.e. if they hit x00'ks worth of sales they will get an extra 20 per ticket, or a set figure, or marketing money)
- For Tour Op's (an industry I work closely with) they can book multi-centres with some airlines (i.e. BA) a hell of a lot easier than you, or him, or that bloke over there on Flyertalk who thinks they are all knowing as they have a $100 subscription to Expert Flyer
- They get the ancillary sales

For benefit of doubt, a huge OTA I used to work with customer service was horrendous (wasn't expedia), but the more niche Tour Op businesses I now work alongside would not let the above happen if they'd booked the ticket. Well, it would happen, but then they'd take over responsibility and get it sorted. Personally I can't stand the big OTA's, but needs must, and they are successful, but work with tiny margins (which is why you are dealing with someone on 4k a year normally working in Delhi/Bangalore/Manila).
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 5:09 am
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by makin'miles
Expedia is a disaster to deal with if anything goes wrong with your reservation.
Same experience with Expedia - I try to avoid, unless it's significantly cheaper/able to put a combo of a few different airlines on one ticket.

I'd process a chargeback, failing which pursue the small claims court route.
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 10:07 am
  #24  
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
It's highly unlikely that the availability was not available on BA.com if it was on Expedia, that was probably a short term IT glitch. We've all had our BA.com experiences, usually leaving it an hour or two, or calling up, resolves that sort of thing. Expedia is looking at the same underlying GDS as BA, both companies just jump through different hoops to get there. Very, very occasionally a TA will sell a fare bucket which has actually sold out, due to latency issues on the systems - in that case BA and Expedia have a communication channel to resolve difficulties. Also occasionally, OTAs use different Points of Sales, that may make a particular fare a bit cheaper, but on simple fares such as LHR-ORK it's unlikely to make a difference. On complex fares it certainly can make a bigger difference, but complex fares are also the ones to go wrong, or just get rescheduled, and it's worth calling up to see if a skilled BA agent can find a way around it. They often can.

BA being cheaper than Aer Lingus, on the other hand, is no surprise, codeshares have different sales bucket and sometimes there are temporary but large glitches. For example an extended family may have just made a booking on Aer Lingus just before the OP and the system may over swing to bump up fares for the next purchaser. Aer Lingus also has its own IT infrastructure and revenue management issues. Usually Aer Lingus would be cheaper, but occasionally not.
I don't know if it's still the case, but BA.com traditionally would not sell a point to point LHR-ORK on EI and would only sell the codeshare in conjunction with an onward BA flight.
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Old Dec 10, 2017, 10:37 am
  #25  
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Originally Posted by stifle
I don't know if it's still the case, but BA.com traditionally would not sell a point to point LHR-ORK on EI and would only sell the codeshare in conjunction with an onward BA flight.
ba.com does now sell standalone Ba marketed and EI operated flights between the UK and Ireland.
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