Instead of being charged the $150 agreed upon for my itinerary change for airline return date and time I was charged $450.99. Expedia.com refused to address the issue and I was informed that American Airlines would do nothing to resolve the issue to my satisfaction. The message below describes the situation.
Forget terrorists, no dinner, delays, missed connections and bad weather, flying to and fro can really cost you more that exasperation. I recently flew to a get-together to see my new grand-nephew and my failing parents along with other members of our far-flung family. I booked an itinerary through Expedia at a decent price and flew on American Airlines to Charlotte, NC from Omaha, NE and planned to return about four days later. Shortly after my arrival I learned that my dad was going to have minor surgery on his foot to determine what kind of infection had been plagueing him. He's 91 and recently fell, breaking a major bone in his neck. He's stuck with wearing a very uncomfortable neck brace until he dies since surgery really isn't an option at his age to repair the injury. Dad is now very frail and Mom isn't much better so we all knew this was probably the last time we'd all be together. I wanted to stay to find out what the prognosis would be concerning the infection so called Expedia to change my departure date by a few days. I knew that there would be a $150 fee to change flights but felt it was really important to spend a few more days with him and Mom who both reside at a nursing home near my brother's house where I was staying as a guest. The representative for Expedia was very helpful in finding a flight for me and verbally let me know that there was the stated fee for the change. I told her I was aware of it as it was printed with my itinerary and that I had no problem with it. She asked if I wanted it charged to the charge card I had used for my trip east and I told her it was fine. Upon completion of the reservation she again said that the additional $150 would be added to my account to which I again agreed. Imagine my surprise when my credit card bill arrived today when I saw that not only was I charged the original price for my trip but was also charged $450.99 for my flight home! Knowing that I had a written statement that a charge of $150 would be incurred for a flight change as long as I adhered to the standard flight rules indicated with my itinerary and that a representative had confirmed that charge I called Expedia to rectify the situation, having full expectations that my credit card bill would be corrected. Another surprise! They refused to take care of the extra charge saying that American Airlines had the right to charge for changing planes. So now my rather reasonable price of about $400 to fly to a family farewell ended up costing me over $1000 after paying for baggage fees. I told the representative I would make a big noise about it and contact American Airlines about this outrage, and that I also would never use Expedia's services again and certainly avoid American Airlines at all costs. He said I could do that but it probably wouldn't do any good and that he was sorry about the inconvenience.inconvenient! My father dying is inconvenient. What those two companies did is outrageous! So now I'm on a mission to let people know just how dangerous flying can really be. Just because a price is in print and is confirmed by a booking agent doesn't mean you won't pay more than twice what you expect. I think next time I'll drive.
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