Why you shouldn't buy tickets from Expedia
I love buying tickets online, mainly because exploring fare options is so easy. However, when it comes to actually purchasing the ticket buy directly from the airline, don't buy through an agent like Expedia.
In addition to the fact that buying a ticket from Expedia almost always makes your fare less flexible, or reduces it frequent flyer value with the airline, correcting a mistake with them is incredibly difficult.
Recently I bought a roundtrip ticket from DFW to SFO, and realized I made the mistake of returning on Saturday, not on Sunday. There cute little calendar uses the label S for both Saturday and Sunday. Well upon the realization I had fouled up, Mari called to pay the change fee and I went to class. A few minutes later she called me and said, "Expedia canceled the old ticket for free and issued a correct one since it was within 24 hours." Great I thought since I had just got a speeding ticket for doing 43 in a 30.
So fast-forward a month and Mari is calling in to make sure she was meal listed as Vegetarian, only to find she has no plane ticket. Mister Nice Guy at Expedia had canceled our reservation, but did not make a new reservation. This is when I find out she was told by Mister Nice Guy that the confirmation number was the same as the old one, which in hindsight made zero sense. So here it is two days before the flight with two Magnetic Fields tickets, a non-refundable booking at a boutique hotel, and no plane tickets.
It should be no surprise that Expedia didn't step up and solve the problem, after several levels of management, we got a $200 coupon towards a new $1100 flight. The two original tickets were $450 together. So twice the original airfare when it would have been more cost effective to pay the change fee in the first place.
I usually search for tickets on sites like Expedia, but buy plane tickets through the airlines website because the change restrictions are usually slightly more flexible. The age of the travel agent is over, and I should have remembered, the most you get by buying a ticket through an agent is another level of incompetent customer service.
In addition to the fact that buying a ticket from Expedia almost always makes your fare less flexible, or reduces it frequent flyer value with the airline, correcting a mistake with them is incredibly difficult.
Recently I bought a roundtrip ticket from DFW to SFO, and realized I made the mistake of returning on Saturday, not on Sunday. There cute little calendar uses the label S for both Saturday and Sunday. Well upon the realization I had fouled up, Mari called to pay the change fee and I went to class. A few minutes later she called me and said, "Expedia canceled the old ticket for free and issued a correct one since it was within 24 hours." Great I thought since I had just got a speeding ticket for doing 43 in a 30.
So fast-forward a month and Mari is calling in to make sure she was meal listed as Vegetarian, only to find she has no plane ticket. Mister Nice Guy at Expedia had canceled our reservation, but did not make a new reservation. This is when I find out she was told by Mister Nice Guy that the confirmation number was the same as the old one, which in hindsight made zero sense. So here it is two days before the flight with two Magnetic Fields tickets, a non-refundable booking at a boutique hotel, and no plane tickets.
It should be no surprise that Expedia didn't step up and solve the problem, after several levels of management, we got a $200 coupon towards a new $1100 flight. The two original tickets were $450 together. So twice the original airfare when it would have been more cost effective to pay the change fee in the first place.
I usually search for tickets on sites like Expedia, but buy plane tickets through the airlines website because the change restrictions are usually slightly more flexible. The age of the travel agent is over, and I should have remembered, the most you get by buying a ticket through an agent is another level of incompetent customer service.
posted by CameronPalmer at
10:46 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home