Expedia didn't reticket so had to buy a new flight - any recourse?
 

I had a booking made with Expedia for a VS flight in March 2020, which I had to cancel due to Covid. I was issued with Airline credit through Expedia for the cost of the flight.

I had issues last year trying to use the credit voucher to make another VS booking - Expedia (numerous times both on the phone and web chat) kept directing me to Virgin, Virgin stated quite clearly that it was down to Expedia. I ended up emailing them both together, requesting a new booking to be made, suggesting that I may need to escalate further if things couldn't be resolved.

I then got an email from Expedia with the flight details, and was able to choose seats directly with VS, and even got flight time updates from Expedia, so I assumed all was good.

I wasn't able to check in online yesterday, and on getting to LHR, Virgin told me that although the reservation was there, it wasn't ticketed. I eventually got through to Expedia support via their web chat, but they said that they couldn't do anything to help. At this point I'd missed my flight. Having spoken again with the VS ticket staff, I ended up booking a new flight online.

Do I have any grounds for reimbursement from Expedia, or do I just put this down to a) me not checking that it was ticketed and b) Not trusting Expedia in the future with flight bookings ? I'll check the paperwork for my travel insurance too, though I doubt they would be able to help.

Thanks in advance...

Did you make the initial flight booking with a credit card?

If so, you should be able to request a charge back of the original cost. You'll probably need to provide details of the emails / phone calls, and also a copy of the amended flight booking that you got from Expedia.

Yes, I did. I'll put all that together once I get home, and see how far I get. Appreciate the suggestion - thanks @DYKWIA !

Chargeback against VISA/MC for the original ticket is not an option if the charge is more than 540 days old which it sounds like it is. AMEX probably have the same limitations as well.

This rule is set by VISA/MC itself so card member bank can either choose to eat the charge themselves or not open the chargeback at all.

I submitted a "complaint" via Expedia's website yesterday with all the relevant info. I'll post back any responses as I get them, in case anyone's interested (or if I need further advice!).

Did itinerary involve US? If so, file a US DoT complaint.