Think twice about using Expedia
Nov 4, 2011, 4:01 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Near an airport
Programs: FB, EB, Delta, AC, PC, HH.
Posts: 1,991
Think twice about using Expedia
Book ticket 2.14 am on oct 29.
6.12 am on oct 29, Lufthansa's automatic system pings Expedia with a request for a ticket number and that it has to be with Lufthansa no later than 6.30 am nov 1.
Lufthansa does not receive the ticket number so at 7.16 am on nov 1, they cancel the ticket. I find out when I try to check in on line via Expedias service and I instantly call them only to be told that I should call Lufthansa to release the hold on the funds. The agent there starts spitting aircraftcarriers in my direction of how incompetent Expedia are and that this is not unusual. I'm told Expedia has to release the hold of the funds.
12.37 PM nov 1 Lufthansa receives requests to reinstate the ticket. On the phone Expedia tell me they are booking me a new ticket and that they are issuing a refund of the first ticket.
12.43 PM nov 1, Expedia confirms the ticket with lufthansa and lufthansa issues the ticket back to Expedia so they can send it to me.
1.36 pm nov 1, Expedia attempts to call me. I don't get to the phone in time.
1.39 pm nov 1, Expedia calls me again and get through to me. The agent who had rebooked me calls me to inform me that she was double checking my reservation and it had failed again. Now blaming my creditcard issuer. I request to have ALL moneys charged and on reserve to be instantly refunded to me and to have email confirmation.
7.30 am nov 2, SK419 departs Stockholm to Copenhagen where I should have changed to AC883 to Toronto.
8.04 am nov 2, Lufthansa puts me in the system as a "no show" making my ticket null and void and also non refundable by them.
Morning nov 3, the booking fees expedia charged me had been refunded but the ticket fee was still on hold.
Afternoon nov 3, the ticket fees clear my account and are handed over to Lufthansa. (although noted as cleared already nov 1).
It's because I see that the funds had cleared my card which had me call Lufthansa and thanks to the very helpful person there, I received the timestamps. I am yet again informed that this is not unusual with bookings made through Expedia and as Expedia confirmed the ticket with Lufthansa and told me the opposite, the fault is with Expedia and they have to refund me the ticket.
Several people, travelers and airline workers have told me that this kind of thing is not at all unusual to happen. I even found out there are people I know who are still fighting expedia for tickets that had been cancelled due to their system.
You might want to think twice about using them again.
6.12 am on oct 29, Lufthansa's automatic system pings Expedia with a request for a ticket number and that it has to be with Lufthansa no later than 6.30 am nov 1.
Lufthansa does not receive the ticket number so at 7.16 am on nov 1, they cancel the ticket. I find out when I try to check in on line via Expedias service and I instantly call them only to be told that I should call Lufthansa to release the hold on the funds. The agent there starts spitting aircraftcarriers in my direction of how incompetent Expedia are and that this is not unusual. I'm told Expedia has to release the hold of the funds.
12.37 PM nov 1 Lufthansa receives requests to reinstate the ticket. On the phone Expedia tell me they are booking me a new ticket and that they are issuing a refund of the first ticket.
12.43 PM nov 1, Expedia confirms the ticket with lufthansa and lufthansa issues the ticket back to Expedia so they can send it to me.
1.36 pm nov 1, Expedia attempts to call me. I don't get to the phone in time.
1.39 pm nov 1, Expedia calls me again and get through to me. The agent who had rebooked me calls me to inform me that she was double checking my reservation and it had failed again. Now blaming my creditcard issuer. I request to have ALL moneys charged and on reserve to be instantly refunded to me and to have email confirmation.
7.30 am nov 2, SK419 departs Stockholm to Copenhagen where I should have changed to AC883 to Toronto.
8.04 am nov 2, Lufthansa puts me in the system as a "no show" making my ticket null and void and also non refundable by them.
Morning nov 3, the booking fees expedia charged me had been refunded but the ticket fee was still on hold.
Afternoon nov 3, the ticket fees clear my account and are handed over to Lufthansa. (although noted as cleared already nov 1).
It's because I see that the funds had cleared my card which had me call Lufthansa and thanks to the very helpful person there, I received the timestamps. I am yet again informed that this is not unusual with bookings made through Expedia and as Expedia confirmed the ticket with Lufthansa and told me the opposite, the fault is with Expedia and they have to refund me the ticket.
Several people, travelers and airline workers have told me that this kind of thing is not at all unusual to happen. I even found out there are people I know who are still fighting expedia for tickets that had been cancelled due to their system.
You might want to think twice about using them again.
Nov 4, 2011, 5:43 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 13,573
I use Expedia from time to time, and I always make sure I get the second email from them with the airlines confirmation code (as opposed to your Expedia confirmation). Booked with them last week, BA flight confirmation number didn't come through within 24 hours so I called them and now have the BA booking reference email (so you can go on BA website, see your flights etc).
Nov 4, 2011, 9:02 am
#3
Senior Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA Plat/2MM [23-yr. 1K, now emeritus] clawing way back to WN-A List; MR LT Titanium; HY Whateverist.
Posts: 12,397
Please follow in our Online Travel Booking/Bidding forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.
Nov 4, 2011, 9:27 am
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Why did OP use Expedia
Unless Expedia has a deal which is far below a carrier's published rate, I use third-party sites such as Expedia solely for research and comparison. I then book directly with the carrier, usually online.
Every intermediary adds risk to every transaction and I can't conceive of taking risk unless it's for a very very substantial amount of money.
Every intermediary adds risk to every transaction and I can't conceive of taking risk unless it's for a very very substantial amount of money.
Nov 4, 2011, 11:07 am
#5
In Memoriam
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Easton, CT, USA
Programs: ua prem exec, Former hilton diamond
Posts: 31,801
When ever you book anything through a third party, you need to confirm and reconfirm it with the airline, hotel, rental car company, whatever. It won't keep the problems from happening, but it will give you a bit more time to resolve them.
Granted you did not have that much time from ticket purchase to departure, but within 24 hours (which would have been Saturday Morning) you should have had your LH ticket number from Expedia, and should have been able to confirm it with LH. If you didn't, you could have started hassling expedia.
One company I was with switched to one of the big online agents for all travel, meaning everything had to be booked through them, hotels, cars, air, and rail. It was not at all uncommon for stuff like this to happen, the only thing we could do was keep on top of it and try to identify it early and resolve it early.
When things work out, which is probably the vast majority of the time, everything is fine. When things get messed up like in your case, having an extra layer or two to go through can be a nightmare.
Granted you did not have that much time from ticket purchase to departure, but within 24 hours (which would have been Saturday Morning) you should have had your LH ticket number from Expedia, and should have been able to confirm it with LH. If you didn't, you could have started hassling expedia.
One company I was with switched to one of the big online agents for all travel, meaning everything had to be booked through them, hotels, cars, air, and rail. It was not at all uncommon for stuff like this to happen, the only thing we could do was keep on top of it and try to identify it early and resolve it early.
When things work out, which is probably the vast majority of the time, everything is fine. When things get messed up like in your case, having an extra layer or two to go through can be a nightmare.
Nov 4, 2011, 9:38 pm
#6
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: LGA/JFK
Programs: DL Silver (aka, Delta AmEx PLUS), Starbucks Gold :)
Posts: 463
I agree. I learned my lesson the hard way when I booked an Expedia round-trip ticket with 2 different carriers: UA outbound, DL inbound. UA gets severely delayed and pushes my ticket to US on the outbound. For some reason, that act cancelled my return on DL.
I've since only used them for research and booked the fares on the carrier's website.
Nov 4, 2011, 10:09 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Near an airport
Programs: FB, EB, Delta, AC, PC, HH.
Posts: 1,991
I did actually look up the ticket on lufthansa and found it there, shortly after it was booked. Talking about ticket number one.
Ticket number two I never had a chance to check.
Oh, and today I was told that xpedia had cleared the ping to Lufthansa to start charging me for the second ticket.
Expedia in Sweden have now bumped up my issue to management level tto deal with.
Ticket number two I never had a chance to check.
Oh, and today I was told that xpedia had cleared the ping to Lufthansa to start charging me for the second ticket.
Expedia in Sweden have now bumped up my issue to management level tto deal with.
Nov 28, 2011, 12:35 pm
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Near an airport
Programs: FB, EB, Delta, AC, PC, HH.
Posts: 1,991
Just thought I'd update on this.
When Expedia told me that they had cleared the payment for second ticket with Lufthansa I panicked, called the CC company who advised me to max out the card. blocking the card would not guarantee the payment to bounce as my balance would cover it. So there was me running to ATMs and banks doing cash withdrawals and incurring charges for such. The weekend passed and nothing from the manager. I did have an email from to agents saying they were looking at this but it could take 28 days before I'd hear anything.
Tuesday I called again and finally got to talk to the manager who said that the agent who told me my card would be charged for ticket number two was wrong. Later one of the guys who emailed me called and said they had issued the refund and it could take up to ten days. Now, they would only partially refund me. The rest is up to lufthansa and apparently that can take 12 weeks! Thankfully the bulk was to come from Expedia and it did register less than a week later. Now I'm just waiting for the part from Lufthansa.
Even though they actually did fix this rather swiftly, in the end, I will not ever book via them again. Only via airline websites from now on.
When Expedia told me that they had cleared the payment for second ticket with Lufthansa I panicked, called the CC company who advised me to max out the card. blocking the card would not guarantee the payment to bounce as my balance would cover it. So there was me running to ATMs and banks doing cash withdrawals and incurring charges for such. The weekend passed and nothing from the manager. I did have an email from to agents saying they were looking at this but it could take 28 days before I'd hear anything.
Tuesday I called again and finally got to talk to the manager who said that the agent who told me my card would be charged for ticket number two was wrong. Later one of the guys who emailed me called and said they had issued the refund and it could take up to ten days. Now, they would only partially refund me. The rest is up to lufthansa and apparently that can take 12 weeks! Thankfully the bulk was to come from Expedia and it did register less than a week later. Now I'm just waiting for the part from Lufthansa.
Even though they actually did fix this rather swiftly, in the end, I will not ever book via them again. Only via airline websites from now on.