I have in the past, occasionally used online air travel booking agencies. This current note describes my attempts at securing a refund based on an unexpected medical emergency. This note focuses mainly on my interactions with CheapOair (henceforth, COA) . In October of 2013, my wife and I flew, round trip, from Spokane. WA to Silver City, NM. The flight reservation was made through COA. During the trip my wife's mother experienced a medical emergency and has now moved from the hospital, to a local rehabilitation facility, and finally to our home. This forced us to shorten our trip and return on Thursday, October 17, 2013 rather than on the originally scheduled Tuesday, October 22. To make this change we again contacted COA, speaking with their representative Merlin Nasa. The net cost of the original round trip flight was $1202.60. The net cost of the
one-way changed flight was an
incredibly exorbitant $1394.80. When queried about the high cost, Mr. Nasa indicated that it was a complicated process and the flights were nearly full. [Subsequently we found that the first leg of the return trip was on a flight less than half full and that the second and final leg had 30 available seats left.] COA gave us a $100 refund in light of the medical emergency, bringing our new out-of-pocket expense to
$1294.80. COA indicated that we should contact the airline directly for any further relief.
I then contacted US Airways, provided proof of the medical emergency, and a refund of $200 per ticket was granted i.e.
$400 total refund). The refund email announcement was dated October 31, 2013. At this point I was confused because that announcement indicated that the refund was to a credit card other than mine. US Airways would not respond to my questions attempting to clear my confusion. However, after some prodding provided by a complaint to the US DOT, US Airways indicated that the refund was applied to the COA credit card, not mine. US Airways also provided the bank transaction numbers for each of the $200 refunds. A Us Airways representative told me verbally that US Airways charged COA $359.01 for each of the replacement flights for a total of
$718.02, so COA seems to be profiting handsomely.
Let's follow the money:
- my cost for the original round trip $ 1202.60 which I paid
- my cost for the 2 replacement tickets $ 1394.80 which I paid
- COA' s initial refund $ 100.00 which I received
- Airline refund $ 400.00 still held by COA
My most recent interaction with COA was with Clara Jensen on Jan. 20, 2014. In her email she stated that "... we have forward [si] your concern to our waivers team department. However, we request you to allow us some time for some resolution."
Questions abound e.g.
- is the ongoing delay, from Oct. 31, 2013 to the present, a feature of COA's business practices?
- do people seeking refunds for family emergencies eventually give up?
- when COA delays and holds refunds already distributed by an airline, does COA or the customer earn interest on those funds?
The bottom line is that I am still awaiting my
$400, currently held by COA. The credit card I used for the aforementioned transactions has since been replaced by the credit card vendor, after a hacking incident compromising many credit cards. I have informed COA of this complication.
In fairness, I will email a link for the above discussion to Clara Jensen at COA, who may offer useful information that makes COA look less like a predator. I would also appreciate advice from the experienced users of this forum.