Amygdala28

I would be grateful for advice on how to proceed.
I purchased a BA issued ticket from Expedia for BA5927 LHR-ORK operated by Aer Lingus for 16th October. Due to hurricane Ophelia the flight was cancelled at short notice that morning. I have requested a full refund of the ticket due to trip in vain, but have had no luck with either Aer Lingus or Expedia, who pass responsibility to each other. Here is the latest email from Expedia:I have responded requesting a full refund (not compensation) under EC261, but would like clarity if I should pursue this with Exepdia (my impression as I entered a contract with them) or Aer Lingus (which appear to have the responsibility under EC261, which does not mention travel agents).

Thanks in advance

Filthy Monkey

I suggest you contact Expedia on the number provided and advise them of their legal obligations under EU261.

makin'miles

Expedia is a disaster to deal with if anything goes wrong with your reservation.

If you can at all avoid it in the future, book elsewhere. Earlier this year, it took hours on the phone to get them to issue a receipt for a flight change and additional fare collection (which I needed to file and expense report)... as an e-commerce firm, they were wholly unable to issue it!

In your shoes, I'd try to avoid a call, as you'll almost certainly end up speaking with someone who either has no idea what they are doing, or is not empowered to do anything. Instead, I'd reply back to the email and indicate that:
1) under the provisions of EU261, when a flight is cancelled, passengers have the right to reimbursement, rerouting or return. As you were not rerouted, and you had not yet left on the trip (and therefore did not need to return), you are claiming reimbursement of the ticket price. Perhaps link here: https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizen...m#apr-problems
2) as the cancellation is due to weather, you are not claiming any EU compensation;
3) Expedia has a responsibility, as the ticketing agent, to process this refund on behalf of the airline; and
4) Failing confirmation that the flight will be refunded within one week, you will contact your credit card company and initiate a chargeback.

I'm constantly surprised how Expedia is able to boggle situations so badly, particularly situations faced by their customers every single day.

harryhv

No need. If you paid with a credit card you're in luck - there's no need to put up with the run-around from these crooked airlines and the dreadful back-office at expedia.

Just make a chargeback on your credit-card. Either call them or in many cases you can do it online now. The credit-card company will ask if you have tried to solve this with the merchant without success, and the answer is obviously yes. You'll get an immediate credit on your statement and then its the merchant who will have to jump through hoops and ultimately cop a well-deserved surcharge while you get your money back in full - including any exchange-rate losses and booking-fees which the airlines would never have refunded.

corporate-wage-slave

Let me complicate matters somewhat.

Under EC261 the operating airline - Aer Lingus - would be ultimately be responsible for a refund. However internally, between airlines, it is the Marketing Airline that physically makes the repayment, Expedia's arrangement is with BA. BA's conditions of carriage are aligned with EC261 and would normally allow for a refund if there was a cancellation, so had you booked this via BA.com then a phone call to BA would have been OK. On the other hand if you had wanted to rebook the service, well, either airline could have handled it. So if Expedia contacted Aer Lingus then it wouldn't surprise me if they said "sure, we can rebook the flight" but would have had trouble doing a refund: it wasn't their ticket. So I wonder if asking Expedia to approach BA would be more fruitful. The email from Expedia doesn't make it totally clear which airline they contacted.

I think the chargeback answer is a good option in due course, but if Expedia objected to the credit card company's action it may get a bit messy. So mindful of any deadlines in this area I would leave that until other options get blocked off. You can also pursue - well - Aer Lingus in court (MCOL) or BA via CEDR as other options, but I think Expedia would be a better place to start.

We get a lot of negative stories about Expedia in this forum.

Amygdala28

Thank you for all your responses.
I usually try and book direct with BA, but the flight was unavailable on BA.com and ~£100 more expensive on AerLingus than Expedia.
I've already had several frustrating phone calls with Expedia and see no point in having further. My second phone call was in fact to the BA gold line, where a very empathetic and friendly lady directed me to Aer Lingus.
I have now sent my final reply to Expedia quoting EC261 and the option of MCOL if no success within 10 working days. I have to say that I've spend too much time on this already and have no appetite for legal proceedings - a call to Amex is very likely the next step.

The experience dealing with Expedia has not been a pleasant one. I've booked a couple of TP holidays in the recent QR sale with priceline for next year. Now I've gone a bit off online TAs and hope I won't regret this.

Johnnieboy

I was caught up with a last minute cancellation that day too on an online travel agent ticket (not Expedia). Before going down the legal route, I would try calling BA, explaining that you bought the ticket issued by them but the flight did not operate, you're having trouble getting the ticket refunded and can they mark the booking as cancelled by the airline. It worked for me, although the travel agent said they had to confirm the right to refund with the ticket issuer, and then took a month to refund me. I was already airside when the flight was cancelled though and was able to speak directly with the ticketing staff in the lounge. Good luck!

EDIT - I see you have already called BA. The CC route might be you're best next step then

Dave Noble

I would also suggest disputing the charge with the card company; it is going to be very quick and easy that way
This is simply a case that the supplier failed to provide the servces paid for and the supplier will not be able to show otherwise - going to court would also work, but be a lot more effort

Often1

This is an easy credit card dispute. It's not for you to worry about who holds the funds as between Expedia, BA and EI. The three of them can work it out as they do every day.

Under EC 261/2004 and the COC you were entitled to cancel the ticket for a full refund because it was cancelled. As the operating carrier of the cancelled flight, your claim, if you wished to pursue it, would be to EI and it would be for EI to track down BA or Expedia and make certain that the refund is made or to make the refund and then deal with Expedia/BA itself. Again, not your problem.

But, why bother making claims which will take forever when the CC dispute is easy and fast. Whoever the merchant vendor was will receive the chargeback notification from your card issuer and it will be for that vendor to figure out where the funds have gone, but it will be out the funds in the meantime.

As a rule of thumb, make the request, give it 7 business days and then initiate a charge back on the 8th day, noting that your request to the carrier has not been satisfied.

All of this aside, yet another reason not to deal with third-parties such as Expedia. In the end, unless you work at poverty level wages, this ticket will not have been cheaper, it will simply have cost less direct funds.

FlyerTalker7654

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.

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?

FlyerTalker7654

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?

erik123

Maybe reading what the OP said about this would help?

FlyerTalker688786

Somebody else may have a better answer to your question. But for what I understand, many large airlines now pay 0 commission to OTA and TA. That means OTA/TA does not get any commission for selling the ticket. However, there is bulk deals that can be negotiated between bigger OTA/TA and the airline directly based on sales performance. So the smaller OTA/TA could not get anything out from the deal as their sales are small. This is really a process for big airlines to eliminate small TAs and not well funded OTA start ups. Large OTA like Expedia or TA like flightcentre still get something from selling ticket based on direct contract and volume of sales.

It is really peanuts per ticket for OTA/TA to get. However, OTA/TA benefits from ticket changing fees. As many ticket changes would require passengers to call their OTA/TA instead of dealing with airlines.

Not only that, large OTA/TA needs to sell airline ticket in order to sell more profitable hotel rooms and experiences. Larger sales also could help big OTA/TA to negotiate with credit card companies for a favourable fees.

However, it is unclear to me about the credit card fees. OTAs like Expedia impose a credit card fee like BA and is based on BA's charges. I have no idea who actually get the money.

simons1

Simple CC issue in this case. CC company will refund you as the service was not delivered. They will reclaim from whoever collected the money from your card.

At that point the other parties can argue it between themselves whilst you get on with your life.