Question: I’m trying to get a refund from United Vacations, but nothing seems to be working. I booked a car-and-air package from Denver to Lihue, Hawaii, through United Vacations recently. I registered my airfare through Yapta.com, which alerts you when the price of your flight drops.
A few weeks later, I received a notification that the price of my flight had fallen by $733. That amount of money is significant to me. I called United Vacations, but was told I couldn’t get a refund. Had I booked through United Airlines, I would have received a voucher.
Is there anything I can do to persuade United Vacations to change its mind? I will happily rebook another trip with United Vacations if this is rectified properly. — Mary McInnis-Efaw, Fort Collins, Colo.
Answer: You would think United Vacations — which is owned by United Airlines — would offer the same no-questions-asked refund when fares drop.
Not necessarily. When you booked your flight on United, you were entitled to a refund of the difference between the new, lower fare and the old fare, minus a $100 change fee. But if you buy a package through United Vacations, you’re subject to a more complex set of terms and conditions (you can read them online here) that don’t seem to offer any such guarantee.
Part of the reason is that United is selling tickets for other airlines, including Air Canada, US Airways, Hawaiian Air, and various regional airlines. All of the air carriers have different refund rules. Another part of the reason is that tour operators and travel agencies that offer package deals sell what are known as “consolidator” fares, or bulk fares that have more restrictions than the average ticket.
Still, I think it’s reasonable to assume when you’re dealing with a company owned by United Airlines, and you’re also flying on United, that you could qualify for the refund. And $733, as you point out, isn’t chump change.
United wasn’t the only airline that offered refunds when fares fall at the time you made your reservation. But I don’t think they should. In real life, I don’t run back to the department store three months after I buy a pair of shoes and demand the difference between the price I paid and the sale price. I think the only reason airlines feel they have to offer these refunds is because they play price games, offering a rock-bottom ticket price one minute and quadrupling the price the next.
Maybe if they stopped that nonsense, you wouldn’t feel ripped off when the price of your airline ticket fell.
Calling United Vacations was a good first step, but a quick, polite e-mail to the company, explaining why you felt a refund was in order, might have worked better. Often, call center agents are nothing more than script-reading drones that are incapable or unable to appreciate the nuances of your compelling arguments. A concise e-mail, however, is more difficult to dismiss and can easily be forwarded to a supervisor if you’re turned down.
I contacted United Vacations on your behalf. It sent you a voucher for $733. It also implemented a process to allow a credit to be issued on the airfare portion when a price has decreased.
(Photo: PhotoluluGuy/Flickr Creative Commons)
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I think the department store analogy is flawed. The shoes that were bought have already been used. The airline tickets have not. If you have not taken delivery/used/consumed an item and it falls in price, I think that most people would expect a refund of the difference. In fact, many stores offer a 30 day price protection guarantee.
I think part of the difficulty is that two people, purchasing the identical seat, can pay radically different prices. Although it can be justified, it doesn’t seem right.
The department store analogy doesn’t work because many stores will give you the difference if the item goes on sale within a specified period of time.
Carver,
Better yet and to build on your point. Not only would 3 months old shoes be used, one couldn’t return them except to the manufacturer in case of a flaw in workmanship. Even in that case, they would have to be pristine after such a long time, or it would just be assumed you wore them a lot. Furthermore, as you pointed out, you get a 30 day price guarantee. Most stores do that knowing that you could simple return the item anyway. Therefore, it is better to refund the difference than lose the sale of the whole purchase. Unfortunately, one does not have the same luxury with an airline ticket. Most tickets we tend to buy are nonrefundable due to the overwhelming cost of ones that offer such an amenity.
With all that said he deserves a voucher. One should not be stuck paying an exuberant price for a ticket that fell drastically. Sure, one can argue supply and demand. Yet, at the end of the day, people flying in the same plane should not be paying radically difference prices.
@Carver
If you bought an item in a department store that you intended to use in a different season (e.g. resort-wear bought in January for a cruise in June) and the price went down in the interim, what would you expect the store to do? Should they refund the difference in price, give you a store credit for that amount (presunably it’s too late to return the merchandise) or tell you that you’re stuck?
I feel that United was in error returning the money at all. It is a use it or lose it world in the airline world. I know when a ticket / package is out of line price wise. If a client insists on booking and paying now, then of course I book the package. If it goes up the client has been protected, if it goes down, then the client got what they payed for originally, and should have listened to the sage advise of their travel agent. I hate it when the airlines bend / break their own terms and conditions as it adds confusion to normal rules.