When Dimple Kelley used a service called Bill Me Later to book a Continental Airlines ticket for her son, Brian, she never imagined she’d be fighting with the payment company’s collection department half a year later. But then, no one can see a nightmare ending like this coming until it’s too late.
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Patience is a virtue. Particularly if you’re waiting for an airline ticket refund.
Air travelers seem to delight in poking fun of people who ride the bus, but as someone who has driven coast-to-coast on Greyhound a time or two, I can tell you it was safe, efficient and inexpensive. Oh, and really long.
If you’ve ever wondered how we ended up here, with sub-standard airline service, angry passengers and disgruntled employees, here’s something to consider. It’s a receipt for a Trans World Airlines flight from Paris to New York — in 1953.
When Tim Milller tried to cash in a travel certificate to buy a Continental Airlines ticket, the system didn’t accept his PIN number. But instead of working with him to fix the problem, the airline charged him for the full amount of the ticket and told him he was out of luck.
And they were not tears of joy at having found a bargain. Elizabeth Hutton’s mother, Mary Ellyn, bought a round trip ticket from Cincinnati to Tallinn, Estonia, with stopovers in Newark and Stockholm. But something was wrong with the reservation, and she had to pay for another flight.
Llouellynde Orahood’s flight from Los Angeles to Dallas has all the makings of a trip from hell, including weather delays, cancellations and almost-missed flights. What could be worse? Having to pay again for the same tickets. Now, neither the airlines nor her online travel agency is willing to help her recover the money she should have never had to spend. Is there any hope for a refund?
Rob Gerlach’s bus was late. Really late.
Christa Southworth’s husband spent part of last year embedded in Iraq as part of the Army’s Human Terrain System, a program that pairs anthropologists and other social scientists with combat brigades to help tacticians in the field understand local cultures. He booked a United Airlines flight home last spring for the birth of his second [...]
The travel industry wants you back.
But before you say “yes,” listen to Laura Salisbury, a teacher from San Jose, Calif. She mistakenly typed the wrong return date when she booked a vacation for her and her mother through Expedia.
“All I wanted to do was give my mom a trip of a lifetime to celebrate the [...]
Tom Brollini had to cancel a recent American Airlines flight because of health problems. He was left with the impression that he had until mid-October to rebook the flight — a common misunderstanding, as I’ve noted in the past.
In fact, Brollini’s ticket credit had expired. Was he out of luck?
If I had to call it, [...]
When Eileen Mather lands in Mexico City on her way to Tapachula, Mexico, she learns her airline ticket isn’t valid. Her airline forces her to buy a new one. Mather asks her online agency, Cheapoair.com, for a refund, but more than six months later, she’s still out $879. Is she also out of options?
Jamie Tuttle’s roommate books tickets from Bahrain to Atlanta through Travelocity. But they never arrive, and when she’s forced to pay for a second set of tickets, neither her online agency nor her airline seem willing to refund the first pair she couldn’t use. After her credit card steps in and helps her recover the money, Travelocity sends her another bill. What now?
It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: Your 11-year-old son is scheduled to fly home on his own, but on the eve of his departure, the airline tells him his ticket is no good. Specifically, he has no ticket. It happened to Meera Gopalan this weekend.
United Airlines and US Airways lead the pack, according to the Transportation Department, charging their customers $78 million and $66 million, respectively. (The figures on the chart are for the first quarter of 2009, and are in millions.)
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