Expedia won’t refund a canceled leg of my flight
A: When an airline cancels any portion of your flight and you don’t accept a new flight, it must refund the fare. Your travel agent, Expedia, would handle that. It’s all spelled out in SAA’s Conditions of Carriage, the legal agreement between you and the airline: www.flysaa.com /documents/51855150 /126723733/Conditions +of+Carriage. Check out 10.2.2.3, which promises a refund for a canceled flight.
I’m surprised the executive contact didn’t respond. I list the names, numbers and emails for the executives at Expedia and SAA onmy consumer-advocacy site: www.elliott.org /company-contacts
I bought a ticket on South African Airways using Expedia. SAA canceled one leg ofmy flight (I have a letter fromSAA confirming its cancellation). Since I had an international connection and therewere no other SAA flights, I ended up having to buy a new domestic ticket on a different airline.
I amnowtrying to get a refund for the canceled leg. While I can see on my credit card bill that SAA received payment for the ticket (Expedia got a small commission), SAA is refusing to refund me. I’ve contacted Expedia twice, with no response at all. I’ve also tried appealing to an Expedia executive, whose contact information I got through yourwebsite. I have no idea howto resolve this issue.
What is the responsibility of Expedia, and who is benefiting frommy canceled flight? I have towonder how many other travelers get screwed in thisway.
— Susan Long, Boxford, Mass. /expedia/ andwww .elliott.org/company -contacts/south -african-airways/.
After you sent me your paperwork, your casewas a slam dunk. You sent me a screenshot that shows that SAA had already authorized the refund with Expedia. You’d think sharing that screenshot with Expediawould do the trick, but it didn’t for you, and it didn’t for me, either. Iwent back and forth with the company, and it refused to initiate a refund. It took one ofmy senior staff advocates to explain the codes to someone at Expedia before the online agency turned its “no” into a “yes.”
Air travel shouldn’t be
complicated, but like every other profession, the industry loves jargon.
Had SAA simply said, “We’ll refund the ticket” in writing, thenwe wouldn’t be here. But no, it had to use terminology most nontravelers don’t understand. Expedia processed your refund, and you received your money. Expedia also sent you a $50 voucher for the trouble— a nice touch. Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman forNational Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of “How to Be theWorld’s Smartest Traveler.” You can read more travel tips on his blog, or email him at
elliott.org, chris@elliott.org.