DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: Final yr, I purchased roundtrip tickets via MyFlightSearch for my husband and me on Solar Nation from Minneapolis to Newark. MyFlightSearch charged us $477 for these tickets.
The night time earlier than our flight, we tried to print our boarding passes on the Solar Nation web site however obtained the response that we needed to examine in on the airport. After we obtained to the check-in desk, a consultant informed us our tickets weren't legitimate.
Solar Nation workers referred to as MyFlightSearch and discovered that that they had canceled our reservations. We needed to e book a brand new, costlier flight to Newark.
Neither Solar Nation nor MyFlightSearch had notified us of this cancellation. Whereas we had been on the check-in desk, somebody from MyFlightSearch referred to as me on my cellphone and informed me that he had emailed a discover to me. Nevertheless, once I informed him that there had been no emails or different contacts from MyFlightSearch after we acquired the e-tickets, he admitted that he had not, the truth is, notified me however that he “had tried to.” He mentioned that the quantity that I had been charged was refunded to my bank card account.
Neither Solar Nation nor MyFlightSearch was keen to take any accountability for canceling our tickets with out discover. Solar Nation charged us $1,279 in airfare when the unique value we paid for our roundtrip flights was $477. We additionally needed to fly into Hartford as an alternative of Newark and get further floor transportation from Hartford to Newark the identical day at our personal expense.
After I obtained dwelling, I checked my bank card statements and located that MyFlightSearch had paid Solar Nation a complete of $477 in two transactions — one for $40 and one for $437. I acquired solely the $437. I referred to as MyFlightSearch and requested for the $40 again, and it agreed to refund the cash in 7 to 10 days to my account. It’s been weeks and I haven’t acquired the refund. Are you able to assist?
— Donna Fredkove, Minnetonka, Minnesota
ANSWER: The $40 cost is a reserving charge related together with your reservation. You deserve a refund of each the charge and your fare. Really, it is best to get greater than that, however I’m getting forward of myself.
In fact, MyFlightSearch ought to have notified you when it canceled your flight. It ought to have owned the cancellation as an alternative of first telling you that it had notified you, then admitting it didn’t. It ought to have provided the “immediate private consideration to your travel-related queries and necessities” that it guarantees on its website.
These on-line businesses are extremely automated, so one thing didn’t work because it ought to have. You didn’t need to cancel your flight, so MyFlightSearch shouldn’t have canceled it.
The “examine with us on the counter” warning is a gigantic crimson flag. While you see that, it’s time to name the airline. It could be nothing. However in my expertise, it usually is an indication that one thing has gone terribly flawed.
You may need reached out to an government at Solar Nation to determine what occurred and to ask for some form of compensation. I publish the names, numbers and e-mail addresses of the Solar Nation executives on my shopper advocacy nonprofit website at www.elliott.org/company-contacts/sun-country-airlines/. I feel Solar Nation might have assisted you when your agent canceled your flight, serving to you get to Newark at an affordable value. Taking a look at your correspondence, it appears you paid a whole bunch of dollars further. It would think about refunding a part of that.
Finally, this was to your on-line journey company to repair. I feel it ought to repay your $40 reserving charge instantly and think about masking your further flight prices.
I contacted MyFlightSearch in your behalf. It refunded its reserving charge however wouldn't cowl your further prices. Possibly subsequent time it is best to think about reserving straight together with your airline — or utilizing a human journey agent.