help with ticket refund
 

OK here's the deal. (I'm sure that there are some biz travelers who have had the same thing happen to them before.) My company bought me a ticket for a DL flight ATL-RIC on August 16th and return on the 18th. Yesterday, I accepted another job and put in my notice that my last day will be the 12th. When I called the travel agent they said that if they cancel the ticket then only I could use the remaining credit after the change fee (I think DL is $100). My company cannot get any refund, and since I won't be flying anywhere else with them, they have to eat the price of the ticket. So is my current company screwed? I'd like to find some way for them to get their $120 ($220 ticket minus $100 change fee) back since they are a non-profit and have seen revenues drop significantly with the stock market woes.
Thanks for any help.

yorock

It depends a lot what type of ticket you have.
Best case, if it is a full refundable ticket: Your company get’s the full amount back.
Worst case: You your company get’s nothing back.

Try discussing it with your new employer. If you can use it as a credit towards future business travel, they may be willing to pay your past employer for the amount of the credit. They ought to appreciate your willingness to let your prior employer get some refund of what they paid. YOu could also use it for personal travel and reimburse your old employer.

I had a very similar situation.

I bought a ticket for a co-worker on my credit card for a trip we were taking togehter.

As a result of having to change airlines before we left (the trip is recounted in this classic thread ), I was left with two non-refundable United International E-Tickets.

My co-worker left the company soon afterward, and the details of the e-ticket went into my file drawer. As the one-year anniversary of the aborted trip approached, I went to a United CTO. They changed both tickets into paper tickets (the only reason they let me change my co-worker's ticket was because it was originally bought on my credit card).

I wrote a nice letter on company letterhead to United, plopped the ticket in, and mailed it.

Some weeks later, there was a charge reversal on my Diners Club card. It was the ticket price, minus some fee ($150 or so, I can't remember). Anyway, it was better than nothing.

I still have my ticket, which I'll apply to a future flight whenever I get a chance to take a high-priced United flight.



[This message has been edited by opus17 (edited 07-30-2002).]

Let sleeping dogs lie.

I think I will have to say, don't tell the old company about the unused ticket voluntarily on your last day of work, let them say the first word (i.e. let them ask). Otherwise you will open up a can of worms and you don't want that in the hectic time between ending one job and starting another.

Don't get the new company involved, this is also a can of worms, violation of the KISS principle, lots of back and forth, confusion, telephone tag, etc.

If the old company does ask, just say you will send the ticket itself back to them if they wish; don't elaborate and don't send them money instead.

Avoid buying tickets for business trips yourself, let the company book them. This way, if dates change, the company can and should arrange for modifying the tickets. This strategy won't work if you want to take your spouse and/or family and/or a vacationing co-worker along for their pleasure while you are on business.

Since your old company is a non-profit, if you want to give them back the value, wait a few months and make a tax deductible gift.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm



[This message has been edited by AllanJ (edited 08-04-2002).]