Consumer Law, Warranties Airplane ticket rebooking fees more than cost of ticket

[davidsh]

Jurisdiction

New Jersey

I booked an airplane ticket with one of those online ticketing companies. I had to cancel the reservation because of a family issue that arose. I was told that I could get a full refund for the airplane tickets as an airline credit and they could be used against the purchase of any new ticket. Since it wasn't long after I bought the tickets, it seemed like I was getting a reasonable return even though I wanted the refund. When I went to use my credit I was told by the airline that I was going to be charged a rebooking fee that cost more than the entire refund for the airplane tickets that I purchased! Nobody told me about this but they said it is their policy. But it doesn't make sense if they are giving me a refund that they would charge me a fee to rebook tickets when I would just be booking tickets. It is not a change although they say it is. This doesn't seem to be right and I was wondering if it is legal. If the airlines are all doing it like they say, then I guess it is but it is very misleading!

 

[army judge]

Read the terms of their flight ticket issuance, rebooking, and cancellation hidden somewhere on their website.

I've read those onerous terms on many such websites.

I've learned to NOT book any flight that appears to be cheap, but is much more expensive than a flight that offers easy, cancellation free fee rebooking.

In your case, it would have been cheaper to just forget the original fee paid, because upon rebooking that original cost doubled.

 

[davidsh]

Thank you army judge. It wasn't even the rebooked flight price that was a problem. We were booked on a round trip ticket with two airlines. It wasn't so cheap but reasonable. But the tremendous rebooking fee applied to each ticket. And if you are talking about $120-150 per airplane ticket then that is almost $300 in fees!

Reading the terms is impossible. It's like a big wall of stuff thrown together in a way that I can't believe anyone is expected to read it and understand the important parts that really apply to purchasers most of the time.

Now here is why I think this is fraud by the airlines and the industry. Why are they offering purchasers a full refund for airline credit? Obviously they are doing this to get people like me to cancel our tickets quickly so they can rebook the flight again. If I don't, then they don't know I won't show up for the flight until the flight time and they can't rebook the airplane ticket. There should be a law that they cannot offer a full refund as airline credit if they know they will be charging fees that are greater than the cost of the refund! It is complete fraud! Only somebody who is fooled like me would make such a deal. It always pays for the flier to wait until the very last minute not to take the flight and still have that option instead of letting the airline rebook the ticket and make more money by fooling the customer!

 

[army judge]

It always pays for the flier to wait until the very last minute not to take the flight and still have that option instead of letting the airline rebook the ticket and make more money by fooling the customer!


Yes, mate, that's the way you beat those crooks.

 

[ElleMD]

I'm not sure what you hope to gain by waiting until the last minute. There is never a guarantee the airline will rebook the "seat", and often when they do, it is highly discounted as a last minute fare. Read those terms, at least the ones pertaining to cancellation. You may have fewer options for refunds or exchanges the longer you wait. You are almost always better off booking through the airline (or hotel) directly, rather than through one of the travel sites. You and they have more leverage and options when you are the direct customer and there is no middle man. Those sites tend to have cheaper fares because they offer the highly restricted left over tickets, and or the agreement between the reseller and airline often limits your recourse and what the reseller can offer.

 

[adjusterjack]

Now here is why I think this is fraud by the airlines and the industry.

No, it's not fraud. All the policies were available for you to read and understand before you ever bought the ticket.