Traveler's Aide: Two change fees add up to one frustrated flier
— -- Question:I am at an impasse with Orbitz.com, which charged me twice for changes made to airline tickets. I bought airline tickets for my father to visit me. His itinerary went from Helena, Mont., to Auckland, New Zealand, with stops in both Denver and Los Angeles. He was supposed to fly in April, but due to a passport problem, he was unable to make the trip.
I contacted Orbitz to change the ticket. I wanted to replicate my father's original itinerary, with later travel dates. A helpful agent rebooked my father with a May 31 departure from Helena. She asked me about the long layover in Los Angeles, about eight hours, and I told her that was fine. The penalties were $257, including the fare increase, change fee, and Orbitz's fee, which I happily paid.
However, when Orbitz e-mailed the new itinerary to me, I noticed that my father was booked with an overnight layover in Los Angeles on both ends of his trip. This was not what I had agreed to; no overnight stays had ever been discussed. I called Orbitz again, and was informed that I would need to pay another $200 penalty for the change, plus another $30 fee for Orbitz. I was also told that the previous agent had made notes on the rebooked reservation that I had been notified of this change.
After several phone calls, numerous e-mails and one snail mail letter unsuccessfully trying to resolve this, I asked Orbitz for a copy of the transaction's transcript so that I might see for myself that I agreed to have my father overnight twice in Los Angeles. Orbitz refused. Is there anything you can do to assist me?
— Sean Phelps, Auckland, New Zealand
Answer:It would take a court order to get a copy of a recorded call to Orbitz, or even a transcript of the conversation. The information is proprietary, and the travel site needs to protect the privacy of its employees as well as customers, according to Orbitz representative Brian Hoyt.
When customers call Orbitz to make itinerary changes, the site's agents enter copious notes into their reservations, says Hoyt. Phelps' file reflects the dates and times he had called, plus recaps of his conversations with the site's agents. Orbitz's notes and Phelps' position matched, up until the day after his father's new itinerary was issued.
