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Ticket refund on “hold” while travel agency squabbles with airline

March 9, 2010

Patience is a virtue. Particularly if you’re waiting for an airline ticket refund.

Lakia Harcum knows. She asked her online travel agency, Travelocity, for a refund after one leg of her recent flight was canceled. But the money wasn’t showing up in her account.


She explains,

My initial flight was cancelled due to the weather, so I was placed on a second flight that was also cancelled. I ended up paying $794 to fly to from Baltimore to Dallas on United Airlines. United managed to get me to Dallas without any issues.

Now, I am requesting a refund for the unused portion of my flight. I sent American Airlines an email and they told me that it was Travelocity’s responsibility to refund the money for my unused ticket. Now, Travelocity is arguing with American Airlines and I am just frustrated.

A review of American Airlines’ contract of carriage — the legal agreement between you and the airline — makes no mention of checking with a travel agent before issuing a refund. “If the ticket is partially used,” it says, “the refund will be the difference between the fare paid and the fare for the transportation actually used as determined by the applicable rules.”

Harcum was entitled to an immediate refund for her unused flight, but she might have been more successful invoking American’s contract and contacting someone at a higher level at both American and Travelocity.

Lengthy refunds are one of my pet peeves. The only winners during an intramural squabble like the one between Harcum’s agency and airline are the agency and the airline, who get to keep her money while they fight it out.

A credit card dispute or a trip to small claims court would just slow down the process. So I contacted Travelocity on her behalf. A few days later, she offered the following update:

I heard from Travelocity. They are refunding the money for the unused portion of my flight. Thank you for help, I know this wouldn’t have happened without you!

Another happy ending. Thanks, Travelocity.

(Photo: mgrenner57/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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8 comments

  • Jillian

    Exactly the type of thing that drove me away from Travelocity two years ago!

  • Chicky

    Geez, Louise! I just can’t seem to get my brain wrapped around these kinds of issues. I’m a pragmatist, and I know that it’s much cheaper in the long run to go ahead and PAY UP on claims like these, rather than spend the man hours denying and rejecting legitimate claims. Why not just pay what they owe to start with?
    I guess they’re hoping that, after getting the runaround, most people will drop it and the company will be rid of the problem. And, I suppose that tactic works a lot.
    Chris, once more, thanks for being willing to take on these issues.

  • Wrona

    Chris, why did she have to buy a new ticket on United? Why didn’t Travelocity help reroute her in the first place?

  • Josh

    I agree that a trip to court would be premature, but a credit card dispute is a perfectly valid tool. I’ve even had the credit card company recommend doing so when I had an airline double-bill issue (airline took a few weeks to process, credit card co removed the charge from my account immediately, and automatically cancelled the dispute when the actual refund appeared).

    Contact the airline and Travelocity, give them each a chance to expedite the refund (a day or two is sufficient; there’s no reason it can’t be processed instantly), then contact the credit card company with copies of the relevant rules/documentation.

    Even if it slows the total process, you’ll be out of it — the bank has the leverage to charge back on Travelocity, and let them fight it out with the airline on their own time.

  • Phil

    Another example of using a faceless oneline travel agency. Next time either buy the ticket directly from the airline, or go into a travel agency where you can speak and book your travel with an actual person, avoid online travel agencies.

  • SandyC

    “Another happy ending. Thanks, Travelocity” – Why in the world are you thanking Travelocity? Because they finally did what they should have done in the first place? It should have never gotten to this point. It was their responsibility all along to refund the unused portion of the ticket. They are owed no thanks, not even had they issued the refund in a timely fashion the way they should have. That’s their job! If they take your money for services received, they should also refund your money for services not received. Please, don’t thank anyone for finally doing under pressure what they should have done in the first place.

  • http://ancientegyptholidays.com Egypt Holidays

    I was looking for useful site like yours and finally I found it

  • Don

    In April 2010 I bought a business class ticket for a trip
    to Singapore on Japan Airlines using Egencia. We sold the company
    in June just before the trip was to be taken, so we called and
    asked for a refund. We were told the ticket was non-refundable, but
    the credit could be used until March 31, 2011. This information
    was, and still is, posted on the Egencia website attached to the
    ticket/itinerary details. When I attempted to book a flight on JAL
    last week, the Egencia site confirmed I could apply the unused
    ticket value. A phone conversation with an Egencia supervisor also
    confirmed this. Based upon this, I purchased another business class
    ticket for my companion, two round trip tickets from Reno to LA to
    catch the flight, and a 3rd ticket for someone to stay at our house
    while we were gone. When I called Egencia to finalize the
    reservation and apply the JAL credit, I was told that JAL had
    decided that the ticket must have been used within 90 days of the
    original departure date, so was no longer valid. Confusingly, they
    have offered to refund the money to the bank that held the credit
    card, but the company we sold no longer uses this bank, and these
    cards no longer exist. They will not refund the money directly to
    me. Frankly, I doubt that the refund will be forthcoming in any
    case, as JAL has changed their story twice regarding this ticket.
    My old company will not turn over the money to me, although it’s
    value was not included in the purchase price of the company based
    upon Egencia’s original statement that the ticket was
    non-refundable, but could be used by me for future travel. How can
    we get either JAL or Egencia to honor their written and published
    statement that this ticket was valid until March 31, 2011? JAL’s
    last comment was “so sorry, the clerk that told you it could be
    used has been reprimanded”. Of course, the ticket was bought via
    Egencia, and it was their posted details showing validity through
    March 2011 that led me to wait until now to use it.

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