TK refuses to honor 24 hour reservation policy
 

Last month I took advantage of TK's Black Friday sale ex-USA and purchased a Business Class ticket LAX-AMM-LAX for travel in April. While booking on their web site, I looked and did not see an option to hold the reservation, the only option was to pay now with credit card (I took a screenshot of this). Based on this, I was led to believe they had a 24 hour cancellation policy as with any other airline (except AA), so went ahead and booked another Business ticket for LAX-CAI-LAX also for April thinking I had 24 hours to decide and cancel the tickets for full refund. Lessons learned: Never assume anything. Always verify the airline's cancellation or hold policy and take screenshots!

The next day I called TK to cancel both tickets. The agent informed me that they do not have a 24 hour cancellation policy, instead they offer a hold option and insisted it was there, and therefore I would be liable for $400 penalty per ticket to cancel. I argued to no avail, and the agent advised that I email TK customer care. Afterwards I did a test booking on their web site and was surprised to see a "hold now, pay later" option appear just below the "pay now" option. Maybe there was a technical issue, or they intentionally de-activated the hold option on Black Friday, either way I had the screenshot to show this.

I emailed TK with my request for cancellation for full refund and attached the screenshot and also a copy of the DOT Guidelines for 24 Hour Reservations Requirement. Finally heard back from them after more than a month with a denial of my request on the basis that "for same fare of classes we are not able to give reservation option."

TK is violating DOT regulations and, to my shock, even seem to be admitting to it in their response. I have already logged a formal complaint with the DOT and am now awaiting TK's response. Any advice on how to proceed to get my money back? Thanks in advance.

Filing a dispute with your credit card company may be a good avenue to follow. Be sure to file within the appropriate time frame in order preserve your dispute rights.

TK offers the "reservation on hold"-option rather than the 24 hour cancellation period. This is in line with the DOT requirements - mind you, airlines are not required to offer a 24 hour cancellation period under DOT regulation.

You missed/didn't see the "reservation on hold" rather than "pay now"-option? IMO it seems rather unlikely that this was not offered to you when you made the bookings = the responses you have received from TK to your cancellation requests seem correct.

Booking multiple tickets assuming that all airlines would offer a 24h cancellation option without actually getting this confirmed online or calling the airline if no information is found online, seems careless/your own fault - sorry, but I doubt you will get very far on this one. Be happy that except for the fee, you will get your money back - you could easily have forfeited the entire amounts.

It would be prudent to read the post you are replying to. Neither a "reservation on hold" or 24h cancellation was offered. DOT requires one.

It would seem quite the deliberate DOT rule violation if the airline's website was designed to mask the hold option on some such tickets when no 24-hour cancellation policy is applicable. That or the airline may claim the customer missed the hold option on the site by not paying close enough attention and thus there was no DOT violation in this regard.

Yes, this is a very likely response.

I'm sorry, but if you're pulling stunt like this with TK you're asking for trouble. You might be right, but now you will spend months communicating with TK. They will stone wall you, they will redirect you to different departments, they will answer different questions than you asked. Eventually you will wish you never started this process, even if you get your money back.

I wouldn't say that "TK refuses to honor 24 hour reservation policy" since there is no such policy to refuse to being with. They offer the hold option that apparently was either missed by the OP or not being available (due to technical error or deliberate action). Either way the OP purchased the ticket and in my opinion has no claim against TK. It is not TK's fault that the OP did not check the terms & conditions when buying on the site, so OP should pay the cancellation fee per the fare rules.

I disagree. if the hold wasn't offered, for whatever reason, and TK refuses to permit the 24 hour refund, it violates the DOT regulation. TK isn't free to offer the hold or not on various tickets that are subject to USA regulatory policies.

The question is more likely if some low paid call center worker in Istanbul worker cares about DOT policies. My guess will be no and they will not steer away from their own policies regardless of how wrong they are.

I have myself noticed that the pay later option is at times missing from the website, as is so many other things like the multi-city search tool or the ability to pay with a credit card.

My advise to OP would be to give them a call and ask for Customers Relations and explain the situation to them. If you get a sympathetic agent he will type up the case for you, if not then hang up and try again until you get someone who is. I wouldn't threaten with DOT as it will get you nowhere. I my opinion.

As was mention further up as well, you are most likely to be sucessulf with your credit card company though.

I did not miss the hold option, it was not offered and this is proof. Also, per response from TK customer service, apparently they do not offer the hold option on some fares.

I will contact my credit card company. Thanks for everyone's input.

The OP should complain to the US DOT and see how it goes from there.

I would be surprised if, in its defense, TK doesn't raise a claim that it offers a courtesy hold option. But with proof that TK was/is not always offering a hold option or 24-hour cancel option, the US DOT ought to get this resolved.

Whether this is a deliberate violation of DOT rules or a technical glitch is irrelevant from OP's perspective. Note that it is not a "courtesy hold".

OP should immediately file a DOT complaint and include the screenshot which demonstrates the lack of the hold feature. He should also note that he attempted to cancel within 24 hours and that had the hold feature been properly displayed, that he would have placed the ticket on hold and then let them expire had he had the opportunity.

At the same time, OP should keep careful track of the time. Presuming that he used a US credit card, he has 60 days to dispute the charge. While some issuers will permit a dispute at a later date, there is no guarantee of that and TK is a foreign corporation and may choose to be a stickler with its merchant processor. At 55 days, OP should dispute the charge and include the same paperwork and a copy of the DOT rule, highlighting the "hold" requirement. He should also include a copy of his DOT complaint and the DOT response (which at that point will likely be "we are investigating."

Update: TK responded to my DOT complaint and admitted to a technical glitch on the day of Black Friday which resulted in the hold option not being available. They are offering full refund. Thanks to everyone for your feedback.

Great, I'm happy and surprised by TK's response!