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Expedia - Air Travel

• Air travel • Hotels • Vacation packages --- News • Expedia Ordered to Reimburse Extra Tax Charged to Consumers

Michael D. Brooks of Rembert, SC June 15, 2006

Michael of Rembert SC (06/15/06)
After hours of research for the right flight I called expedia to ensure the process; this is when I was told there was only a few tickets. The lady on the phone was very nice and said; go ahead and register with expedia then start the process you will have to go through several screens. Once you select the flight you want as the screens come up get to the process as quick as you can so you will get one of the few flights remaining. We did exactly that and this is how we got a ticket that is the worst we could have every gotten, it was like this flight just vanished, here's why.

After completeing everything and ensuring our VISA was processed we were excited; we bought our first ticket on line and it was easy. Thursday afternoon we pulled the itinerary and low and behold we got the worst ticket possible. To make this worse I called expedia and was told by the customer service member and her manager Barbra that it is basically my fault and to fix the probly it would cost me another 130.00 dollars and I still could not get the flight I wanted. I got the vanishing act just as discribed in the Washington Post and expedia would not do anything to help and was told I did not know what I was doing when I processed the ticket.

This flight is costing me a night in a Motel at the Houstn Airport Money I just don't have, and one less day my family will be able to spend with my son who has been away from home 14 weeks and will be living in Florida after his short stay at home with his family.

Annette & Robert Watson of Denver, CO April 24, 2006

Annette of Denver CO (04/24/06)
While my husband and I were on vacation in Germany, my father died on March 30th. I called United Airlines first to get the next available flight out. The next flight was days out. The respresentative at United recommened that I call other airlines in order to get out sooner. With no results with United and other airlines, I call EXPEDIA and got 2 flights scheduled for the next day, March 31st.  Unfortunately, each ticket cost us 4,288.00 - total of 8,729.56 including taxes and booking fees. I was deeply depressed and at the moment, didn't care how much the tickets were. Sadly, we just wanted to get home.

On April 8th, I buried my father. But now I am wondering why our plane tickets cost as much as my father's casket? and why we didn't receive a bereavement fare? I called Expedia today, April 24th. I presented these questions to Angel. She stated that Expedia does not give bereavement fares and depending on the time of year, the tickets cost more and for last minute reservations, the tickets are more expensive. The airlines maybe within their legal rights to do this, but I'm so disgusted with how much my husband and I paid for a one way ticket to Denver, CO on a bereavement case. Because of vaction reservation, we now have unused RETURN tickets to Denver FROM Frankfurt, Germany through our reservations with United that we were unable to use because of short notice.

Rita & Austin Tobin of Chappaqua,, NY February 17, 2006

Rita of Chappaqua, NY (02/17/06)
We booked a trip to Florida for one adult and one teenager and paid 70.00 to ensure that costs of cancellation would be covered. We were forced to cancel, and then learned from Expedia that small print in the contract excluded our air fair from the insurance. In fact, the small print --several layers down in dense explanations and instructions -- stated that "published airfares" would be excluded from cancellation "insurance", but did not define what was meant by "published airfares."

We were lay-people, using a website intended for the general public, and did not realize that the gobbedly gook and undefined terms purported to render our cancellation "insurance" ineffective with respect to our 1341 airfare. Mr. Potsford offered my husband a "credit" -- big deal, we could obtain this from Delta, and don't want to use tickets that we don't need to take a vacation that we don't want -- and half our money back. We don't want half the money back; we want the refund that we had every reason to expect when we paid 70.00 to ensure a "worry free" (their words) reservation.

We understand that, in some cases, tickets are labeled "nonrefundable" -- that's why you buy insurance. No one would bother with insurance for items that would be refunded. We believe that the Expedia website is deliberately misleading, luring people into purchasing virtually worthless cancellation protection and obscuring through inpenetrable language, undefined terms, and a complicated layered website the fact that consumers will not obtain coverage regarding their airfares.

Thomas Byrne of Greene, ME January 27, 2006

Thomas of Greene ME (01/27/06)
On 1/25/06 I purchased airline tickets, on Expedia.com, from Boston to Managua, Nicaragua. Later that evening I found the flight for less on Expedia.com. I called customer service within two hours of my original pourchase and asked if they could help me get the lower price. The service rep verified thast I had found a lower prove. He told me that it would cost 130 a ticket and a 15 transaction fee if I wanted to do this. It turned out that after exchanging the tickets and paying the fees I would wind up paying about the same. So I decided to do nothing.

Two days later a friend told me that Expedia has a low price guarantee. So I called back and was told that I had to call within 24 hours so I was now out of luck. After hanging up I thought a little and I had called within 24 hours so I called back. I talked to a new rep and then to a supervisor. The super told me that it was "too late to do anything", that since I did not "specifically mention" that I wanted to take advantage of the low price gaurantee I was inelligible. She stated that Expedia had no obligation to honor my request for a lower fare because I didn't mention it. Further because I didn't send in a screen shot of the lower fare I could not get it.

I gave up but for only a short time. I read the price guarantee and it states "How do I take advantage of the Best Price Guarantee? That part is pretty simple, too. Just call 1-800-EXPEDIA (1-800-397-3342) within 24 hours of booking and tell our customer support representative where you found the lower price." - I did this." "If you find a lower rate on Expedia.com or on another US-based website within twenty-four (24) hours of your booking, and Expedia verifies that your request qualifies for the Best Price Guarantee, we will discount your balance to match that rate, or we will refund the difference if you have already paid in full. In addition, we will give you a 50 coupon good on a future booking of an Expedia Special Rate hotel or air plus hotel package on Expedia.com. " - I did this.

"All requests, including receipts, are subject to Expedia's verification. Expedia's decisions are final, and, by submitting a request, you fully and unconditionally agree that you are bound by them. Expedia will not accept screenshots or other purported evidence of a lower price. Nor will Expedia verify any request that it believes, in its sole discretion, is the result of a printing or other error or is made in bad faith. " - they don't allow screen shots as evidence. I am still trying to get a refund for the difference between the two fares in question. So far I have been on hold for 1 hour and 15 minutes trying to resolve this.

Florence Freedman of New York, NY January 27, 2006

Florence of New York NY (01/27/06)
After being granted a full refund for airline tickets on 11/10/05, I have yet to see this refund appear on my credit card. The tickets were returned to Expedia, as requested, on 11/14/05. I was told that it would take 1-2 billing cycles for the credit to issued. What follows are the E-mails which I sent to Expedia regarding the refund which has yet to be credited to my card.My last contact was with a supervisor, William, who told me that the airlines were not sent the tickets until 1/12/06. Expedia has not tried to correct their errors and expedite the refund as quickly as possible.

Their handling of this has been inept and unprofessional. Had I not been aggressive tracking down the status of my refund, it would still be buried underneath papers on someone's desk.

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