travelocity Crooks
 

I booked a flight had to cancel. Got a 513.00 dollar credit. Called customer service and tried to use my flight credit. Almost non-speaking english representative. I did make out a few words here and there. Booked my flight with my credit. Rep explained the 200.00 dollar charge for the airline. Flight was 194.00. Total 394.00 right? Wrong Travelocity charged 200.00 to my credit card and wiped out my travel credit.Said airline policy charged them 200.00. So I had a 513.00 credit. Called them another none fluent english speaking person told me that was their policy. So 194.00 flight just cost me 713.00. NEVER EVER USE THEM AGAIN. How can they do this? I wish United would stop doing business with these criminals.

Welcome to Flyertalk.

So, this is a pure Travelocity complaint?
In that case it is posted to the wrong forum.

barzondo Welcome to FT. Hope you stay for more than 1 post

It was your choice to use an on-line travel agent OTA.

Many airlines have a change fee and fare booking class price change. The OTA may have an additional fee.
If you are going to change a flight do not use an OTA

Be assured 10 of thousand's of people will continue to use Travelocity & their parent Expedia OTA.

Why is this a United issue? OP chose to purchase through an opaque third-party vendor and learned the hard way that he is subject to UA's fees as well as whatever the vendor adds.

More importantly, how was OP able to communicate with a NON-SPEAKING, English agent? And how did he know he was English if he was non-speaking?

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

If I've pieced through the details properly, you had a $513 credit from a cancellation on a non-refundable United flight. You called and paid a $200 change fee to move to a new flight, which cost $194.

I think you expected the $200 to be deducted from your credit, but that isn't the way United works. United change fees must be paid in "new money," and then the entire amount of the original charge is made available as a credit. For most fares, the residual value is provided to the traveler for future use with no additional fees required. Barring something to the contrary in your fare rules, your original flight should have a $507 $319 credit attached to it, which can be used for a future United flight. (Edit: corrected the amount -- sorry about that).

In theory, your travel agent is supposed to let you know about this and provide you with a way to access the credit. If you're not able to find someone at Travelocity who can help, try calling United. Provide them your original confirmation number and ask if there is still flight credit attached to the reservation.

Good luck!

OTA are good when purchasing error fares. For non-US airlines, OTA allows 24h free cancellation. They can also at least have some say for you before the airline decides to unilaterally cancels tickets. Even if tickets get canceled, some OTA will offer other alternatives or throw in some goodwill (certs, vouchers, etc.).

I think jsloan's answer is really close. For United or most any airline, the $200 comes from "new money" to paid. The OP's $513 residual value should have ideally been used on a ticket costing $513 or more. For a $513 new ticket, the OP pays $200 out of pocket + the residual value.

OP bought a new $194 ticket out of the residual and paid an additional $200 change fee! OP is right to feel cheated. I think an airline agent would have told him or her, "Honey, you are better off just buying a new ticket." The OTA appears to have followed the ticket change rules, but was too stupid to tell the OP not to go that route.

Even if things had gone the way you expected them to go, why would you pay a $200 change fee to use a residual credit for a $194 flight? Even if you had kept the residual credit, why not pay $194 now for the $194 flight, instead of $200 now, and keep the entire $513 for some other flight? What you did makes no sense even before you ran into the Travelocity residual credit problem.

And then people wonder why new members who come here to seek assistance and advice never return and become one post wonders. Truly the best of FT coming out here...

Couple reasons why you may want to use an (O)TA:

1. Sometimes their fares are cheaper than booking direct with the airline
2. The cost of airfare can vary greatly depending on which edition of the site you purchase from. However, UA and others block people using a different site other than their "home" country - OTAs are a way around that restriction
3. Certain promotions require booking through an OTA (i.e. AmEx travels quarterly travel credit deals in Canada)
4. You can get free E+ seating in Economy Basic on UA as a Premier due to the lag between booking and ticketing
5. You get the expertise of a human agent who knows the ins and outs of international travel and can provide assistance when things go sideways

Note : The 5th point is moot if you book via OTA but I know people who use physical grey haired TAs who know a thing or two about booking complex international travel. It will be a shame when they retire and we're just left with whippersnappers whose knowledge is informed by bloggers and other "influencers".

Safe Travels,

James

I disagree, assuming the credit can be worked out properly.

The change fee was going to have to be paid anyway in order to unlock any of the value. The OP's next $513 worth of flights was going to cost $200, no matter how the pieces are broken up. The extra $6 paid isn't lost -- it's reflected in the amount of the travel credit the should still be attached to the original ticket.

This is a different situation than paying the change fee when the original ticket cost less than fee. That never makes sense. This, on the other hand, is perfectly reasonable. Maybe OP doesn't have that much more UA travel to do before the expiration of the ticket.

(bolding mine)

I re-read the OP, and fail to see where and how assistance and advice is sought.

I find it nearly impossible to believe that they charged $200 (in new money) to your credit card in the absence of your consent, but if they did, it should be easy to dispute.

I realize there is a bias against OTAs on FT, but I almost always book my intra-China flights via ctrip because they help me out when things go wrong.