EugeneNY

Hi,

In early August I purchased a round-trip ticket JFK-VIE-JFK (9/29-10/8) on Expedia. I paid more $ to flight direct and to leave at the most convenient time. The flight to Europe was on Austian Airlines and the flight back on United. The ticket was confirmed immediately. Yesterday I went to Expedia's website to print my itinerary and noticed that the status of my flights has changed. I called Expedia and was told that the return flight was cancelled by United (or, rather, Lufthansa, which operated that flight). Expedia contacted United and I was offered a seat on Lufthansa's flight that leaves 3 hours earlier than my original flight and connects in Frankfurt. Now, this isn't a major disaster but I'm still a bit frustrated that I'm being given an inferior product (that I could've originally purchased for less). Expedia actually gave me $100 credit towards my next trip but United told me I wasn't entitled to any form of compensation (they did offer to give me a full refund...right...with 2 days to go before my vacation). Any ideas? Should I try to get something out of United? Thanks in advance.

rkkwan

You already got $100 from Expedia. That's $100 more than most people will ever get out of this situation.

What you <b>could do</b>, however, is check other airlines now, and if you find a last minute deal that's actually cheaper or more convenient, then just cancel your original and get a full refund.

rkkwan

BTW, the only airline that offers VIE-JFK non-stop on its own metal is Austrian. Neither UA or LH ever has that non-stop.

EugeneNY

rkkwan,

Thanks for your response. At this point nothing reasonable is available in terms of the price. I know, what happened is not a huge deal...still, though, sounds add that they can charge more for more convenient flights, then cancel those flights and give you a cheaper ticket without any compensation.

rkkwan

Okay, I searched around a little on the schedules, and found that OZ87 is operating on 10/8. There are business class seats left still on sale.

This is a complicated issue, as your return flight was booked as a UA flight, and it seems like UA/OZ for whatever reason, decides to bump you off.

Now, this is a little different from just the airline cancelling the flight, as the actual airline flying the plane (Austrian) has not cancelled. I think you may want to call UA again, ask for a supervisor, and question what happened to your reservations.

Anyways, these are some of the reasons I tell people, if possible, to:

1) book directly with the airline, not through an agent;
2) book the flight with the operating airline's flight number, not codeshare.

EugeneNY

rkkwan,
Again, thanks for taking your time to respond. My original flight wasn't OZ87...it was 9494 on United, departing at 5:20 p.m. OZ leaves at 11:30. As my Lufthansa flight doesn't leave until after 2p.m. I would rather have a few extra hours in Vienna.

ms_go

Interestingly, looking at Austrian's timetable, it appears there is a 5:20pm flight that operates part of the year, but it is phased out before October 8 (only operating a couple of times this week). Perhaps it <b>has</b> been cancelled for that date since you purchased.

rkkwan

I see. Well, you just have to count it as bad luck. It's always a risk when you pay more for something, and that &quot;something&quot; is not guaranteed. Your ticket only brings you from Point A to Point B. Doesn't specify it has to be non-stop or whatever.

EugeneNY

Yep, that's life. I still plan to write a letter to United, with a copy to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

rkkwan

In my humble opinion, you're wasting your time (and the ink and stamps). But if that makes you feel better, go ahead. UA may also give you a few hundred MileagePlus miles as a result.

ms_go

Schedule changes happen on all airlines, and this is probably a good reminder that the Contract of Carriage, which you accept when you buy the ticket (and which is available on the website), spells out the airline's obligations in the event of a schedule change. From a quick skim, it appears that those obligations were met -- but obviously I don't have all the details here.

I think the thing I'd be complaining about is the fact that no one (Expedia ??) notified you of the change.

Have a nice trip.