On November 14th afternoon I booked a ticket for me, my husband and my daughter with CheapOair for $1540.50 total (Portland to Orlando) Dec. 24 to Dec. 29 (immediately confirmed by CheapOAir at 2:15pm).
The next morning as I wanted to select the seats I realized that for some reason the return was booked on January 29th instead of December 29th. I immediately called CheapOAir; the best option they offered was to change the return date at an additional cost of $798!! To cover the air penalty charged by US Airways and AirTran and the difference in fare. The agent was urging me to accept because the prices were rising fast… I had no more option than to accept this. He also told me that I would receive a credit by AirTran because I was changing the date within 24 hours. I am still waiting for this credit…
This additional cost results to be even higher than the full fare on the same destination that was proposed the same day by CheapOAir. I had clearly the impression to be fooled.
This same day I decided to consult the cancellation policy of both air companies:
• US Airways allows you to cancel any ticket (refundable or non-refundable) for a full refund (and no change fees and/or difference in fare) for up to 24 hours after purchase.
• All AirTran Airways fares are non-refundable (except Business Class) and a $75 fee per person applies to any change made after purchase, plus any applicable increase in airfare. Customers not sure of which flight they may want also have the option of placing unused airfare in a credit file for one year from the date of the original itinerary booking, for a fee of $75.
1) We asked to change the date of our return within 24 hours.
2) The first fare we paid was not refunded or either used for the second fare. We had to pay full price twice. And at 798$ we are far from the AirTran $225 ($75 fee multiplied by 3).
3) The difference in fares is void as shown on CheapOAir website for the same date and same destination.
We cannot accept to pay twice the fare in these conditions.
We already posted a complain and had no answer so far. We also called CheapOAir and were told that our case had been transferred to the “escalation department” and as such was no longer in the hands of the customer care dept. The agent said that all we had to do was wait a few days for a communication from escalation. 2 weeks passed.
As a result, not only we have not been refunded of any fees or fares but now our case is no longer accessible and we have nowhere to go or nobody to speak to. Is this called Customer Care?
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