ArcaMax

After a scooter accident, Jim Hutslar cancels his British Airways flight. Expedia offers him a $1,987 ticket credit, but British Airways refuses the credit, claiming that he was a no-show for his flight. So, is the money lost?

Q: I recently had a scooter accident. I had a flight scheduled on British Airways that I had booked through Expedia. I asked Expedia to reschedule my flight, and it sent me an email saying they had canceled the trip and that I had a ticket credit of $1,987 on British Airways, which would need to be used within a year of my original booking.

I called Expedia last month to use the credit, and they said I had none with them and that I should call the airline. British Airways said I was a no-show for the first flight, so they ended up canceling the entire trip.

I went back to Expedia, and they said that I needed to ask British Airways about the refund. But British Airways won't give me my money back. Can you help me get Expedia to honor its ticket credit? -- Jim Hutslar, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

A: I am sorry about your scooter accident and hope you're on the road to recovery. Expedia should have honored your ticket credit request, whether British Airways considered you a no-show or not.

What is a no-show? It's when you fail to show up for your flight. An airline will cancel all the segments of your flight if you miss one segment. So, if you miss a flight from Miami to London with a connection, British Airways will also cancel the connection.

It gets worse. If you're a no-show, the airline keeps your money, and you get nothing. You have to let the airline know that you're canceling before the first segment of your flight leaves.

But Expedia should have done this when you contacted it after your scooter accident. As your travel agent, Expedia is the go-between for British Airways, so it is acting on the airline's behalf.

Getting a promise of a ticket credit in writing was brilliant. You had an email from Expedia promising you a $1,987 credit that was valid for one year from your initial booking. It doesn't matter if British Airways considered you a no-show. As your agent, Expedia is on the hook for this credit.

You should have leaned on Expedia to do the right thing. I list the names, numbers and email addresses of the Expedia executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. A brief, polite email to one of them might have fixed this.

As my advocacy team and I reviewed your paperwork, we concluded that Expedia most likely made a mistake in promising you a ticket credit. You were flying on a highly restricted ticket and were most likely only due a refund of your taxes. But we wanted to get Expedia's side of the story, so we contacted the online agency.

Expedia apologized to you. Instead of just refunding your taxes on your ticket, it gave back the entire $1,987. "I have taken note of this case and will share appropriate feedback with the relevant team to prevent such instances in future reservations," the representative added.

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Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.

(c) 2024 Christopher Elliott

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