Travelocity cautionary tale

hughelen

My husband and I booked flights for Christmas to visit family in America back in April (2009) because we found a price that we didn't think we would beat. Over the following couple of months, I received an email nearly every two weeks informing me that the airline had changed one or another departure time, the final email informing me that our domestic departure on our return journey had been moved forward by 7 hours, meaning that we would need to leave our accomodation at 3 a.m. Given how drastic this change was, we were offered a full refund.

After investigating alternatives, we decided to take the refund and re-booked onto a flight that was marginally cheaper. Less than two weeks later, the international departure was moved forward by nearly 2 hours, leaving us only 70 minutes (below the minimum connection time) to connect from our domestic to international flight. We were informed that the only option available to us was a full refund but were not given any alternative flight options.

In the meantime, the price of flights had gone up £50 per person. Travelocity informed us that they could reroute our change but that we would have to pay the fare difference, at £100 per person. After arguing with Travelocity for 40 minutes on a premium-rate number, the only options we were given were still to take the refund and book separately or pay the full fare difference.

I contacted the airline directly and was told that, had we booked with them rather than through a travel agent, they would have moved us onto a different flight with no charge. However, because we booked through a travel agent, there was nothing they could do to help us.

After investigating the options, we contacted Travelocity again yesterday in defeat, saying we would accept the refund that they had offered us, nevermind that we were still going to have to pay £50 extra per person to rebook. Now we have received a reply saying that a full refund is not possible and that we would only receive a portion of the airport taxes, totaling around £50 per person (on £400 tickets).

I have been incredibly unhappy with the customer service from Travelocity as well as the intense stress and monetary strain all this has placed upon us. Both my husband and I are full-time students, so even getting together the money to visit my family once a year is a huge challenge. I would advise anyone considering making a booking with Travelocity to think again. It has been a horrible experience.

We are trying to find out how we can pursue them through CABs and legal advice, given the amount of money concerned.

Firefox1975

Good look OP, I think you deserve your money back.