Travelocity Emotional Trauma and Complete RipOff Going Home for a Death Internet

Seems like the way to deal with this on future occasions is to purchase travel insurance beforehand...

When you book a round trip ticket and do not show for the outbound leg, the entire ticket is cancelled. There was no way that you could have used your one way ticket that you purchased and expect to use the return ticket of the round trip. What Travelocity should have done is cancelled your round trip, charged you the change fee (usually $100) and rebooked another round trip.

I have had problems with "discount" air booking sites in the past when I had to change a reservation and now only book through the airline web site, checking a discount site first to get an idea what the fare should be. I rarely save any appreciable amount of money by going to one of the discount sites to book a ticket.

I USE MAJOR DISCOUNT SITES FOR TRAVEL, ORBITZ, TRAVELOCITY. I BUY INSURANCE EVERY TIME, NOT EXPENSIVE AT ALL. IT WOULD HAVE HELPED.

I also had a similar situation with Travelocity in 2002. Sounds like their policies haven't changed much since.
I had purchased 3 tickets for my sister and her 2 children to visit our family for a week. However, three days before leaving, her husband was taken to the hospital, taken to surgery, and placed on life support measures for 6 days. His recovery was much longer, but he eventually returned to his home.
I had phoned, written, e-mailed Travelocity that since I had already paid for the tickets in full using my MasterCard, that I wasn't asking for a refund, only to be issued flight-vouchers that may be used for the same destination for my sister and her two children. I was told this wasn't possible, as the tickets were nonrefundable, nonexchangable, and that life support measures did not constitute an acceptable agreement to miss a flight. After three months and receiving no contact from Travelocity after the admitting hospital confirmed his stay, I gave up.
My only resolution was to use word of mouth. As of this date, I believe I've convinced ten individuals not to use this service. I'm sure that Travelocity is not the only discount travel service that holds these policies. But, in our case, they've shown their stance regarding their profit vs human life.

Thanks for listening,
AC
Petersburg, MI

First off I am sorry about your grand mother's passing, losing a loved one is always hard.

I am a bit confused? First you say,

"I called the Travelocity customer service hotline in order to discuss my options with one of the customer service representatives. She informed me that I could change my flight for a fee."

Then say,

"I told the representative that I would like to consult some more options and would call back."

You were informed that a fee was to be charged. When she told you there would be a fee and you discussed flights, had you chosen one then she could have told you the exact amount AT THAT TIME.

You also say,

"Suffice it to say that when I did finally call customer service about two weeks later to ask about crediting my unused ticket, I was extremely suprised to find out that my round-trip ticket had been cancelled entirely. The fact that Travelocity wanted to charge me an additional fee to re-book a ticket that I had already booked was just insult on top of injury. Of course, even that wouldn't have made me as angry as it did if I had been told that immediately." (Fact is it SHOULD have been the same fee they quoted in the begining or close to it depending on avail and flights)


These are some of the many pitfalls of travel. Things have really changed in the last few years. I am not saying you, but many people have taken advantage of the air industry thinking they have big bucks and can afford a few free tickets. Airlines are hurting and can no longer to afford to "make people happy" because they assume they still have the money. There is a fee for EVERYTHING. The plain and simple matter is we pay for the seat if we use it or not, because the airlines are in the air travel business to make money.

Places like Travelocity are not the airline and are only given a few seats at different prices, (DISCOUNT TICKETS)(Yes it is always best to book direct.)which means the tickets are not the same price as a full fare. They are bound by what they can do and ahve special rules suck as non-refundable or Saturday night stay, and black-out dates. And all airlines alike have one hard fast rule, call before the plane leaves or they are not OBLIGATED to do anything. But they are not heartless. They have what we refer to as a flat tire rule. Meaning if you contact them within a certain amount of time (usually 2 hours maybe 3) after a flight you are still covered. We dont always read the fine print as its small and usually a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo, but it is all there on the sites, and on the ticket jackets our tickets are in. Again understandable in your case but two weeks is a long time for them to assume it was a flat tire, One thing that may have hurt is the fact you called prior and did not change or cancel then, and unfortunatly it was most likely noted in your record. That is how the travel industry covers there bums. The agent (if she was good) notated that she said there would be a fee, and pax(passenger) will call back. I know its not exactly what you wanted to hear but sadly true. While I am not defending the company, the fact she kept you on hold and was asking questions was a good sign. First off when a reservation (res) cancels it is purged out of the system after a vertain amount of time. That could have meant she was most likely looking for the res, and possibly trying to find loop holes to find a way to help. (Trust me I have gotten in plenty of hot water finding those loop holes.) But ultimately they are not the airline and are very limited on what they can do.

I wish I would have found this sooner, because there might be a recourse. I said above they are not OBLIGATED to do anything, nor are they heartless (most times.) (This may even still work now if you still have the ticket.) If in fact your grand mother passed very shortly after the phone call and purchase of a new ticket, (within a day or two) and you can provide a death certificate, try calling Travelocity Corp office. Explain this all to them and see what happens. Even try contacting the airline directly. Im not saying the will give you a free ticket, and again they are bound by what the actual airline will say. But they may be willing to let you retain the amount of the ticket, pay the change fee and additional fare cost for the same trip. ( but if you play it right it should not be much more than the orig ticket price and all you would have is the change fee.) I know its not much but keep in mind, money is money but a happy customer means more money to them. I hope that helps a tad.

No I am not an employee of Travelocity but I am an ex Supervisor for an airline. Not all employees of the industry are jaded and nasty. Again I am sorry to hear about your grandmother and hope your family is doing well.