Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies
Reload this Page >

Invalid airline ticket purchased from Expedia [AF not honoring ticket]

Invalid airline ticket purchased from Expedia [AF not honoring ticket]

Old Oct 31, 2017, 4:55 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2
Invalid airline ticket purchased from Expedia [AF not honoring ticket]

I've been struggling with getting reimbursement for an invalid ticket sold by Expedia. There is an ongoing investigation but so far all that's happened is that each party says it's someone else's fault. I'm looking for advice from forum members on how to proceed.

Several months back I bought a round trip ticket through Expedia, with an outbound flight from the US to London on Virgin Atlantic, and return from Paris back to US on Air France (actually a Delta flight operated by AF). Both flights were nonstop. The ticket number was through VA. I generally prefer to buy direct from airlines, but in this one case Expedia had a better deal (~$600 RT) and was more convenient because of the return from a different city. Or so I thought!

I confirmed the return flight online but could not check in the day before. That's not unusual with combo tickets but to be safe, I called AF. I was told no issue, but I would have to check in at the airport the next day. I arrived at the airport 4 hours in advance of departure, and was only then told that the ticket was invalid and they wouldn't allow me to fly on it. It turns out that Expedia paid the fare to VA but no money got to AF. I finally ended up having to buy a one-way ticket back home from AF, which cost about $3000 USD. Didn't have time to shop around, with 3 minutes until close of checkin on the last flight of the day :-).

That was a month ago. Right after I got home I contacted all three parties to request reimbursement of the $3000 extra ticket. I guess it's no surprise that the replies were all variations on the theme of "gee we're sorry about this, but no." I managed to get to Tier 3 customer service at Expedia by emailing executives. The resulting investigation has concluded that yes, something bad happened and I deserve to be reimbursed, but it's VA's fault. They were kind enough to file a "refund request" with them, that has of course gone unanswered. I also filed a DOT complaint against AF, which was referred to VA (again, no answer).

I'm a bit at a loss for what to do at this point and was hoping for some sage advice from the forum. Apologies for jumping in as a new poster with a long complicated tale, but I would really appreciate any help.
weary_traveler is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2017, 2:46 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: SFO, MIA
Programs: AA 2MillionMiler, BA ExecutiveClub, UA MileagePlus, AS MileagePlan
Posts: 449
File a complaint under EU 261. I'm not an expert, but I know that the EU has strict regulations that provide for penalties paid to the traveler. Again, I'm not an expert but I think you should at least look into this.
AAMillionaire is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2017, 2:49 pm
  #3  
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Australia
Programs: SQ & QF
Posts: 1,302
Have you tried involving your credit card company?
FN-GM is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2017, 4:45 pm
  #4  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,509
Weclome to FlyerTalk, and sorry it's not under better circumstances.

This should be up to Expedia to resolve. They're your travel agent, you paid them, and if it was VA's fault, Expedia should still reimburse you and then seek payment from VA. But that's what should happen; it sounds like you've already gotten as far with Expedia as you can.

A credit card complaint would almost certainly get a refund of part or all of the original $600 ticket that was not honored, but that's not going to make you whole. The $3000 ticket was flown as purchased, so I don't know if the card company would help with that - though it's certainly worth a call to ask.

And you've already done a DOT complaint.

My only other idea would be to reach out to a consumer travel advocate to see if they could get someone's attention. I'm not a fan of Chris Elliot in general, but this seems like the sort of case he likes.
aquamarinesteph likes this.
swag is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2017, 5:24 pm
  #5  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,371
Another option: contact the Ombudsman service at Cond Nast Traveler magazine. The risk of being shamed by an upscale travel magazine sometimes works wonders at cutting red tape.
aquamarinesteph likes this.
guv1976 is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2017, 6:51 pm
  #6  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,635
USD 3,000 to fly Europe-US! I know it was last minute, but did you inquire about the fare for a return flight? Most likely it would have been much cheaper than buying a o/w fare (and you could have ditched the return flight). No wonder none of the parties are keen on getting involved in this (and pick up the bill on this one)

Anyway, you need to deal with Exp about this. You have purchased your ticket from Exp and Exp should take this up with VA.

I doubt any EC Reg. 261/04 claims against AF will have any merits as apparently the ticket was never valid for the AF flight. Denied boarding under EC Reg. 261/04 requires a valid ticket on the day of departure.

Amending your DOT complaint to include Exp and VA? (sorry, but I'm not very familiar with DOT complaints).
SK AAR is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2017, 9:20 pm
  #7  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 2
Yes, I'm keeping Expedia's feet to the fire as best I can. They've been dragging this out and clearly are hoping I'll just give up and go away.

I did reach out to the Elliott.org website. They have been helpful in fact. Just today they managed to get Expedia to take another look at the case. I also tried the local TV station and got immediate interest. Conde Nast = great idea.

I've also gone the credit card chargeback route for the original ticket. Not much but better than nothing. I'm also considering sending in a request for the trip cancellation insurance through my credit card (used to pay the original ticket). Long shot but worth a try.

AAR - I agree that the EC reg does not apply in this case, as it wasn't denied boarding due to an overbooked flight. However...before you get too excited about the price, realize that the ticket was purchased 3 minutes before close of check-in at the airport. Nothing can save you from a high priced ticket in that scenario. And staying in Paris is not cheap either, especially if you start considering things like lost work days.

Don't think you can amend a DOT or aim it at more than one company, so I filed another one and included the reference number for the original. That's two down (VA & AF), one to go (EXP). As far as I'm concerned they all deserve the ding for the shoddy way that this was handled. Why, for example, did AF not notify me (or Expedia, or VA) long before the flight that the ticket wasn't paid for? Or at least tell me this when I called the day before?
weary_traveler is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2017, 9:56 pm
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: MidSouth
Programs: AA; Delta GM
Posts: 728
Dear OP

Sorry to hear about your experience. I hope you will post here when you finally have a better resolution.
aquamarinesteph is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2017, 11:21 am
  #9  
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: NYC
Posts: 9,089
Send expedia a letter indicating you want resolution within 14 days or you will take it to small claims.
erik123 is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2017, 12:43 pm
  #10  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Send the letter only if you will file in SCC as soon as 24 hours ticks by.

Your action is solely against Expedia. If you were properly ticketed and AF denied boarding, Expedia can collect from AF (although you will in addition have an EC 261/2004 claim against AF for EUR 600 for IDB). If you were not properly ticketed, then AD properly denied boarding and Expedia still needs to make it right.

I would not make the EC 261/2004 claim until the Expedia claim is resolved as that may provide some visibility for you as to whether AF acted properly.

I would send a letter before action to Expedia giving it 10 days to make this right and then file in SCC on the 11th day. Providing 24 hours is a bit silly. Might as well just file now. But, since your goal is to prompt a refund of the $3K in the easiest & quickest form, make the demand.
Often1 is offline  
Old Nov 4, 2017, 9:15 pm
  #11  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Hilton Contributor BadgeIHG Contributor Badge
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,942
Welcome to Flyertalk @ weary_traveler. Please keep us posted on how this is resolved.
In the meantime, since this was booked online, please follow the redirect as we move your query.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk
beckoa is offline  
Old Nov 5, 2017, 9:46 pm
  #12  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,185
Originally Posted by weary_traveler
It turns out that Expedia paid the fare to VA but no money got to AF.
Pretty sure that's not how interline tickets work.

If the ticket was plated on VA ticket stock, VA collects the money and holds onto it. As each subsequent coupon is lifted, the operating carrier effectively "bills" the ticketing carrier for that segment, and funds are then transferred from the ticketing to the operating carrier (likely in an end-of-day batch settlement). No money is exchanged until the operating carrier lifts the coupon and flies the flight.

There likely was a problem with the ticket, but AF was not being honest (or competent) in their explanation of the problem.

Regardless, as your travel agent, Expedia was the one responsible to correct the issue and fix your ticket and/or rebook you. Your first call should have been to Expedia to ask them to either fix your ticket or rebook you on another flight.

You weren't very detailed about the sequence of events at the airport after you were notified of the problem. I would hope and assume you did try having Expedia fix it before going and buying a $3,000 ticket; if not, then booking a $3K ticket and presuming Expedia would simply reimburse you was probably pushing the envelope a bit too far. If, however, you put some time into getting Expedia to fix it before the fact and they either couldn't or refused to, then you might have a legitimate claim that booking a $3,000 ticket was your only recourse.

I am curious what the ultimate outcome is, though, so please do report back.
seawolf likes this.
jackal is offline  
Old Nov 6, 2017, 8:04 am
  #13  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,635
I can assure you, Exp is not going to reimburse USD 3k.

Anyone thinking that Exp is willing to pay out such amounts in capacity as TA needs a reality check. The OP failed to mitigate the expenses incurred and should have let Exp deal with this rather than purchasing a USD 3k ticket on his/her own.
SK AAR is offline  
Old Jan 5, 2018, 12:14 am
  #14  
 
Join Date: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,737
Take the airline AND Expedia to small claims court together. Then the judge will decide which one of them pays.
BigFlyer is offline  
Old Jan 10, 2018, 11:29 am
  #15  
Original Member
 
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,620
I don't think OP is coming back. OP posted on another forum and disappear from there as well since the initial post.
seawolf is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.