Category: The Travel Troubleshooter

Donna Fredkove says her online travel agency, MyFlightSearch, canceled her Sun Country flight to Newark without notice. Now she wants help getting a refund for the new, more expensive tickets that this cancellation forced her to buy. Can we help?

Question

Last year, I bought roundtrip tickets through MyFlightSearch for my husband and me on Sun Country from Minneapolis to Newark. MyFlightSearch charged us charged $477 for these tickets.

The night before our outbound flight, we tried to print our boarding passes on the Sun Country website but got the response that we had to check in at the airport. When we got to the Sun Country check-in desk, a representative told us our tickets were not valid. Sun Country staff called MyFlightSearch and found out that the online travel agency had canceled our reservations. We had to book a new, more expensive flight to Newark.

When Kristen Nelson cancels her trip to Iceland in 2020, the refund for her rental car is frozen. The car rental company wants her to accept a credit. Can it do that?

Question

I’m trying to get a full refund from Iceland Car Rental for our trip to Iceland in August 2020 that was canceled because of COVID. At the time we booked the rental, in March 2020, they offered a “100 percent money back” guarantee. We notified them to cancel our reservation as soon as our flight was canceled, in July 2020. Can you help me get my $545 back? — Kristen Nelson, Minnetonka, Minn.

Steven Meisel paid Aurora Expeditions a $5,000 deposit for an Antarctic tour back in 2019, and he wants a refund. The reason? The pandemic forced the company to cancel and reschedule the trip multiple times. Can we help?

Question

In 2019, I booked a trip to Antarctica through Aurora Expeditions, an Australian company. I reserved the tour through Expedition Trips, a Seattle-based travel agency. I made a $5,000 deposit, and the trip was scheduled for late 2020.
Of course, the pandemic caused this trip to be canceled. Aurora rescheduled the trip for November 2021, and we agreed to accept the reschedule.

But since that time, Aurora has rescheduled the trip two more times. Now, they are departing from Chile instead of Argentina due to COVID restrictions. That, combined with some recent health issues, made the trip much less desirable.
I’ve been working with my travel agency, and Aurora has agreed to cancel our reservation and return our deposit.

After the pandemic outbreak, Norway closed for travelers, and Kent York was forced to cancel his planned tour. The hotel and Expedia easily granted him a future travel credit. But that was a year ago, and the expiration date of the credit is looming. York hopes we can convince Expedia to extend his voucher. Can we?

Question

I booked a hotel stay at the Opus XVI in Bergen, Norway, in 2020 through Expedia. The hotel was part of a package. I had to cancel the trip because of COVID.

Expedia refunded our airfare and issued a $1,875 credit for Opus XVI that expires in December 2021. Norway has been closed to U.S. travelers, so we have been unable to use the credit.

When Kim Josund cancels her trip to Iceland, she believes she’s entitled to a full refund. Why are her hotel and dive operator refusing?

Question

I had to cancel a trip to Iceland and I expected a full refund. Unfortunately, my fully vaccinated daughter and her boyfriend, who was supposed to travel with us, contracted COVID-19. So I canceled all the prepaid components of our trip, which required many emails and phone calls. I was within the cancellation window for all the components of our vacation.

Most refunds were prompt. But I’m having trouble with the Blue Lagoon, a resort hotel, and a snorkeling trip. The Blue Lagoon will not respond to any inquiries, even though I received confirmation of cancellation. I have not seen a refund from them.

Noreen O’Donnell says that when she booked a hotel stay at Legoland New York Theme Park & Resort, the company promised theme park tickets, too. So why is Legoland now asking her to pay extra to visit the park?

Question

I booked a visit to Legoland New York after receiving an offer from the theme park for its October Brick-or-Treat hotel and park tickets combo package.

After I paid the quoted price, they sent a follow-up email that I wasn’t charged for park tickets, and I had two options: pay up or cancel.

The bottom line, after multiple calls, is that Legoland does not intend to give me the tickets that it promised. You can’t speak to anyone beyond the customer service representative. I don’t see any way to escalate to management. But after two attempts, I’ve never gotten a reply.

Joe Herman believes Breeze Airways owes him a refund after he recently missed his flight. Not only that, he wants the airline to reimburse him for a car rental as well.

But is that something the airline is prepared to do?

Question

My wife and I flew our first flight with Breeze Airways from Hartford to Charleston, SC, recently. When we arrived at the Charleston airport for our return flight, the airport monitors and the Breeze app on my phone showed the flight delayed.  The gate wasn’t announced yet.  We went to Terminal B to get something to eat and I tried to contact the airline. I received an automatic reply saying Breeze Airways was “experiencing high call volumes.”

About half an hour later, I received a reply saying the flight had already departed and in fact left on time.

Our only options were to book the next Breeze flight back to Hartford three days later, fly to another city, or get back to Hartford at our own expense. We picked the least of those unattractive options and chose to fly Breeze to Providence and then rented a car to drive to Hartford.

Beth Tananbaum canceled her vacation to Hawaii at the height of the pandemic. She hoped for a refund, but Hotels com only offered her a voucher for her accommodations — and it’s about to expire. Can this trip be saved?

Question

I booked a family trip to Hawaii for May of 2020. Then COVID shut everything down. Everyone refunded my money fully except Hotels com, which issued vouchers for the three rooms I had booked.

The vouchers expired before Hawaii even reopened. Then I received an email that they were extending the vouchers to this December. Hawaii didn’t reopen fully until the end of July. I can’t get to Hawaii before December because some of my children are in college.

You must know, I never agreed to a voucher, and I didn’t cancel my trip by choice. I have spoken to the customer service reps at both Hotels com and Expedia (which owns Hotels com), who say the hotel denied my request for a refund because of its policy.

The hotel claims that its policy is to fully refund customers in this situation. I investigated, and it turns out that the hotel never even received the money from Hotels com. It only gets the money the day before I check in. Hotels com had my money.

I feel that Hotels com has stolen my money. Can you help me get my $4,000 back? — Beth Tananbaum, Plantsville, Conn.