Priceline cancelled flight without notice, we showed up and don't know what to do
Nov 17, 2016, 6:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 2
Priceline cancelled flight without notice, we showed up and don't know what to do
Hey FlyerTalk. I just came across this forum while researching what to do about my situation, and this seems like a great place to get some advice.
Early this year my girlfriend and I booked flights for the trip of a lifetime via Priceline. We are going to Japan, Thailand, and Singapore and we invited my parents too! In September we realized one of the dates for our flight was wrong and started to call Priceline to see if there was anything we could do. There were a lot of calls and a lot of expensive options proposed, but at the end of the day we decided to stick with the original flights. It is important here to note that during these calls we never approved or were notified of a cancellation or a refund. All of our call receipt emails said the issue was not resolved.
Three days ago we got a confirmation from Priceline that we had tickets for today. This had ticket numbers, the times we expected, and everything.
Then today we arrived at the airport after a long drive and were told that our flights had been cancelled and partially (approximately 300 of 1100 per ticket, I have no clue why...) refunded back in September but we didnt notice in our bank statements. Again, we never were notified of this cancellation and we even received a confirmation email from Priceline three days ago that our flights were still on. We have already booked hotels, restaurants, and train passes for our travels and this was an absolute shock.
After begging JAL we were able to get on the correct flight for about 4x the cost per person, so we are going to Japan, but the rest of our trip is up in the air now and we don't know what to do. We originally paid about 400 per person and are now looking at 3000 to 4000 per person for all the connecting flights because of this cancellation without notification or approval.
I am not sure what our options are here and would truly appreciate some advice. Even though we got a flight confirmation email three days ago, we are looking at enormous losses and probably spending a lot of our dream trip with my parents on the phone with Priceline customer support. This is a nightmare. Thank you!!
Also, sorry for any errors. I'm writing this from the plane.
Early this year my girlfriend and I booked flights for the trip of a lifetime via Priceline. We are going to Japan, Thailand, and Singapore and we invited my parents too! In September we realized one of the dates for our flight was wrong and started to call Priceline to see if there was anything we could do. There were a lot of calls and a lot of expensive options proposed, but at the end of the day we decided to stick with the original flights. It is important here to note that during these calls we never approved or were notified of a cancellation or a refund. All of our call receipt emails said the issue was not resolved.
Three days ago we got a confirmation from Priceline that we had tickets for today. This had ticket numbers, the times we expected, and everything.
Then today we arrived at the airport after a long drive and were told that our flights had been cancelled and partially (approximately 300 of 1100 per ticket, I have no clue why...) refunded back in September but we didnt notice in our bank statements. Again, we never were notified of this cancellation and we even received a confirmation email from Priceline three days ago that our flights were still on. We have already booked hotels, restaurants, and train passes for our travels and this was an absolute shock.
After begging JAL we were able to get on the correct flight for about 4x the cost per person, so we are going to Japan, but the rest of our trip is up in the air now and we don't know what to do. We originally paid about 400 per person and are now looking at 3000 to 4000 per person for all the connecting flights because of this cancellation without notification or approval.
I am not sure what our options are here and would truly appreciate some advice. Even though we got a flight confirmation email three days ago, we are looking at enormous losses and probably spending a lot of our dream trip with my parents on the phone with Priceline customer support. This is a nightmare. Thank you!!
Also, sorry for any errors. I'm writing this from the plane.
Last edited by mlgzh; Nov 18, 2016 at 3:30 am Reason: More details :)
Nov 17, 2016, 7:01 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,585
Hey FlyerTalk. I just came across this forum while researching what to do about my situation, and this seems like a great place to get some advice.
Early this year my girlfriend and I booked flights for the trip of a lifetime via Priceline. We are going to Japan, Thailand, and Singapore and we invited my parents too! In September we realized one of the dates for our flight was wrong and started to call Priceline to see if there was anything we could do. There were a lot of calls and a lot of expensive options proposed, but at the end of the day we decided to stick with the original flights. It is important here to note that during these calls we never approved or were notified of a cancellation or a refund.
Three days ago we got a confirmation from Priceline that we had tickets for today. This had ticket numbers, the times we expected, and everything.
Then today we arrived at the airport after a long drive and were told that our flights had been cancelled and refunded back in September but we didnt notice in our bank statements. Again, we never were notified of this cancellation and we even received a confirmation email from Priceline three days ago that our flights were still on. We have already booked hotels, restaurants, and train passes for our travels and this was an absolute shock.
After begging JAL we were able to get on the correct flight for about 4x the cost per person, so we are going to Japan, but the rest of our trip is up in the air now and we don't know what to do. We originally paid about 400 per person and are now looking at 3000 to 4000 per person for all the connecting flights because of this cancellation without notification or approval.
I am not sure what our options are here and would truly appreciate some advice. Even though we got a flight confirmation email three days ago, we are looking at enormous losses and probably spending a lot of our dream trip with my parents on the phone with Priceline customer support. This is a nightmare. Thank you.
Also, sorry for any errors. I'm writing this from the plane.
Early this year my girlfriend and I booked flights for the trip of a lifetime via Priceline. We are going to Japan, Thailand, and Singapore and we invited my parents too! In September we realized one of the dates for our flight was wrong and started to call Priceline to see if there was anything we could do. There were a lot of calls and a lot of expensive options proposed, but at the end of the day we decided to stick with the original flights. It is important here to note that during these calls we never approved or were notified of a cancellation or a refund.
Three days ago we got a confirmation from Priceline that we had tickets for today. This had ticket numbers, the times we expected, and everything.
Then today we arrived at the airport after a long drive and were told that our flights had been cancelled and refunded back in September but we didnt notice in our bank statements. Again, we never were notified of this cancellation and we even received a confirmation email from Priceline three days ago that our flights were still on. We have already booked hotels, restaurants, and train passes for our travels and this was an absolute shock.
After begging JAL we were able to get on the correct flight for about 4x the cost per person, so we are going to Japan, but the rest of our trip is up in the air now and we don't know what to do. We originally paid about 400 per person and are now looking at 3000 to 4000 per person for all the connecting flights because of this cancellation without notification or approval.
I am not sure what our options are here and would truly appreciate some advice. Even though we got a flight confirmation email three days ago, we are looking at enormous losses and probably spending a lot of our dream trip with my parents on the phone with Priceline customer support. This is a nightmare. Thank you.
Also, sorry for any errors. I'm writing this from the plane.
Nov 18, 2016, 4:45 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Ewing, NJ
Programs: OnePass, Delta
Posts: 244
Sounds like a real nightmare to be sure.
What about your travel insurance, they may be able to assist in this situation or at least get you re-imbursed to some degree.
Enjoy the balance of your trip, if possible.
bo1953
What about your travel insurance, they may be able to assist in this situation or at least get you re-imbursed to some degree.
Enjoy the balance of your trip, if possible.
bo1953
Nov 19, 2016, 8:09 pm
#6
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Posts: 50,262
Writing to a magazine ombudsman to help you with a current trip is like going on a low-fat diet while you are in cardiac arrest. Not gonna do much to help you right now.
1. Is this trip on one ticket and if so, what carrier's ticket stock was used?
2. That carrier, sounds like it may be JL, ought to be able to tell you who cancelled the ticket or part of it and on what date. If it was PL, there will be an agent code which won't mean anything to you, but will mean something to PL.
3. That information will be useful to you in calling PL as you can point to a specific date, time and employee (by #) and go from there.
4. Only one of you should be speaking with PL and that one person needs to be polite, but firm. Given the amount of money involved, this would be well worth pursuing in small claims court if PL does not make good and you should make it clear that you will. But, do not make idle threats.
As a caution to others, while you should not have to do this, you do. Always, always, always, check every segment of every itinerary with the operating carrier regularly and especially after any encounter in which changes are even remotely discussed. It doesn't matter what you are told by some opaque third-party such as PL, all that matters is what the operating carrier of each segment shows in their records.
1. Is this trip on one ticket and if so, what carrier's ticket stock was used?
2. That carrier, sounds like it may be JL, ought to be able to tell you who cancelled the ticket or part of it and on what date. If it was PL, there will be an agent code which won't mean anything to you, but will mean something to PL.
3. That information will be useful to you in calling PL as you can point to a specific date, time and employee (by #) and go from there.
4. Only one of you should be speaking with PL and that one person needs to be polite, but firm. Given the amount of money involved, this would be well worth pursuing in small claims court if PL does not make good and you should make it clear that you will. But, do not make idle threats.
As a caution to others, while you should not have to do this, you do. Always, always, always, check every segment of every itinerary with the operating carrier regularly and especially after any encounter in which changes are even remotely discussed. It doesn't matter what you are told by some opaque third-party such as PL, all that matters is what the operating carrier of each segment shows in their records.
Nov 19, 2016, 8:23 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2012
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It seems that Priceline may have somehow noticed this and cancelled your flights in September and refunded you. And you say they refunded $300-$1100 per ticket when they only cost $400 each to begin with? How is this even possible? Check your bank account - did you ever receive this refund and for how much? If indeed it was $300-$1100 on a $400 ticket, if it was the upper end, I would consider myslef lucky.
Nov 20, 2016, 7:47 pm
#8
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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"Writing to a magazine ombudsman to help you with a current trip is like going on a low-fat diet while you are in cardiac arrest. Not gonna do much to help you right now."
The OP has already paid substantial money out of pocket for just the first leg of this trip, which has already been flown. If he can get Priceline to reinstate the original itinerary, and reimburse for the difference between what was refunded and what the OP had to pay to board the first flight, that would be great. But I'd be very surprised if that were to occur -- and I suspect that you would be, too. So if the OP has to secure alternate travel to continue his journey and to return home, then he will be looking for reimbursement. He is welcome to pursue litigation, but the Ombudsman service might obviate the need for that.
The OP has already paid substantial money out of pocket for just the first leg of this trip, which has already been flown. If he can get Priceline to reinstate the original itinerary, and reimburse for the difference between what was refunded and what the OP had to pay to board the first flight, that would be great. But I'd be very surprised if that were to occur -- and I suspect that you would be, too. So if the OP has to secure alternate travel to continue his journey and to return home, then he will be looking for reimbursement. He is welcome to pursue litigation, but the Ombudsman service might obviate the need for that.
Last edited by guv1976; Nov 20, 2016 at 8:04 pm
Nov 22, 2016, 3:53 am
#9
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$400 dollar for a US-TYO-BKK//SIN-TYO-US flight with a stopover in Japan is not unheard of. Cheap yes, but does not need to be a mistake fare.
I guess the PL email received 3 days prior to departure was the autogenerated email that everyone with a PL itinerary receives. I suspect that this email may be sent out based on initial booking details without taking any subsequent changes into account. But yes, it certainly lead to an expectation that the pax were good to go/travel.
Refund: If JAL mentioned refund it would a refund to PL rather than the OP/pax. So it may be that JAL has cancelled and made a refund to PL but PL failed to notify the pax and to process the refund of the fare amounts paid.
In any case, you need to take this up with PL as PL is responsible OTA/party and needs to rectify this if a mistake has been made on their part. I doubt JAL unilaterally decided to cancel the tickets.
I guess the PL email received 3 days prior to departure was the autogenerated email that everyone with a PL itinerary receives. I suspect that this email may be sent out based on initial booking details without taking any subsequent changes into account. But yes, it certainly lead to an expectation that the pax were good to go/travel.
Refund: If JAL mentioned refund it would a refund to PL rather than the OP/pax. So it may be that JAL has cancelled and made a refund to PL but PL failed to notify the pax and to process the refund of the fare amounts paid.
In any case, you need to take this up with PL as PL is responsible OTA/party and needs to rectify this if a mistake has been made on their part. I doubt JAL unilaterally decided to cancel the tickets.
Nov 22, 2016, 3:57 am
#10
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I'm afraid that I share your views on this. I'm quite certain that it will be uphill to get PL to admit any mistakes let alone to get a refund of the fare difference.