Advice on cancelling Expedia.com.au booking with Virgin

[paultiffen]

Hi,

I saw this on Expedia which made me very interested as I wanted to use up my complimentary upgrades as VA plat.



NB Shows booking into class Y. I thought that I would have a go and Expedia could cancel if any issues as it did also say Saver Lite. It ended up booking into S class rather than Y class.

It turns out that it goes directly with Virgin and they want to charge a 100 dollar cancellation fee. Expedia said that there was nothing they could do on their end as it was booked with a "low cost carrier". Virgin also don't have a grace period even though I rang up within an hour they won't cancel for free! I will try to negotiate for Virgin to just waive the change fee and forget about it however will need to wait till Monday. If that does not work should I then email expedia explaining that it is their mistake?

I'm also VA plat and this seems to not help at all.

Any advice would be appreciated and hopefully others don't fall into the same trap.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[basso]

The fact that is says Saver Lite at the top probably doesn't help your case!

 

[trooper]

"Y" in that form (IME) simply designates which cabin...

NOT any specific booking class...

Much the same as on this forum, where we all routinely use Y for Economy, J (or C) for Business etc... or on Boarding Passes where those same designators are often used...

As pointed out, the description "Saver Lite" was prominently displayed... so...Good Luck.. but I think you have a problem there...

 

[MEL_Traveller]

beside the 'saver lite' at the top of the screen it looks like an icon to a pop out box with the fare rules? is that the case and what does it say?

edited to answer own question... the pop out doesn't appear to give any fare information but rather some generic advice.

 

[eastwest101]

As MEL_Traveller says, if the pop out is just generic advice and not the Saver Lite fare rules does that help the OP's case much? I would think so, but am interested in other (more expert) opinions about this.

 

[DGW]

As MEL_Traveller says, if the pop out is just generic advice and not the Saver Lite fare rules does that help the OP's case much? I would think so, but am interested in other (more expert) opinions about this.

I would think that given the phrases "Fare: Saver Light", "Virgin Australia without bag" and "Checked baggage NOT included" are all prominently displayed it should be pretty obvious that this is not a full Y/Flexi booking..

 

[MEL_Traveller]

there is probably little doubt that using Y for economy class as a general designator is sloppy.

expedia knows there are various issues that come into play with airfares these days, including limitations of certain sub classes from earning miles (for example with partner FF schemes) or from being upgraded. Expedia knows this can be an important component of buying airfares.

it would be better for Expedia in those circumstances to simply list the fare as economy/coach rather than including the supposed booking class (in this case Y).

however. against that, and the OP has already indicated - they are an informed consumer by virtue of their elite status on virgin. the purchaser could have made relevant enquiries before booking.

they could have called Expedia. they should have been alerted by the 'saver lite' status. they should have been alerted by the 'no bag'. they should have been well aware that the fare ($350 return) was a highly discounted fare and in all likelihood, not a full Y fare.

there is no doubt there was a 'meeting of minds' in the contractual sense. the OP intended to take the fare. but the OP also took a gamble, making certain assumptions which they didn't necessarily have and solid foundation to make.

if the OP had been a one-off flyer, the error might have been arguable (but then how would they have had an upgrade certificate?)

is it worth pursuing? why not? but I think that would be a matter of a goodwill resolution, rather than much of a legal basis. you might ask that Expedia cover the cancellation fee for example.

on the issue of whether Expedia can completely absolve itself of liability by saying it is a low cost carrier? I don't think so. they sold and marketed the ticket. I don't think from a consumer protection angle they can deny responsibility anymore than a retailer can't deny responsibility for a faulty item on the basis that 'they didn't make it' (that is, the retailer must still send it off for repair or refund your money and not leave it to the manufacturer).

 

[paultiffen]

Hi thanks for the help I did actually call expedia to ask and they said it was "subject to availability". I was counting on being able to cancel the fare however. I did call virgin before hand to ask about it and they said that they hope it works
out for me

There are additional people that come in on Monday so will try then and if not pay the cancellation fee then try to get expedia to pay it. I took screenshots.beforehand just in case. Still I feel like the expedia low cost carrier tag is justified here by not having a grace period

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi thanks for the help I did actually call expedia to ask and they said it was "subject to availability". I was counting on being able to cancel the fare however. I did call virgin before hand to ask about it and they said that they hope it works
out for me

There are additional people that come in on Monday so will try then and if not pay the cancellation fee then try to get expedia to pay it. I took screenshots.beforehand just in case. Still I feel like the expedia low cost carrier tag is justified here by not having a grace period

where does the concept of a grace period come from? I know American based carriers offer such a period, but it's not usually for Australia. is there an expedia guarantee of a grace period in their terms and conditions?

when you say you called expedia and they said it was subject to availability, what does that mean? what exactly was subject to availability? if you are talking about the platinum upgrade, then expedia cannot be expected to answer that. it is not their upgrade program.

or do you mean you directly asked expedia what booking class the ticket booked in to? and they told you full Y class?

 

[basso]

there is probably little doubt that using Y for economy class as a general designator is sloppy.

From my own experience on expedia, the Y for economy happens on some airlines, while other airlines it works better. Jetstar, for example, always says 'Y'. I assume that it is just the way the various GDSs integrate. An outsider view would think this is all simple stuff, but it ain't.

 

[basso]

Still I feel like the expedia low cost carrier tag is justified here by not having a grace period

Expedia is the agent. Do they provide a grace period for any carrier? The closest thing I know of in Australia is what Qantas provides for bookings on Qantas.com, but I wouldn't rely on it extending to what happens on Expedia.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

just as an addendum... the way you are presenting your arguments is confusing and possibly not helping your cause.

as virgin platinum you are spending dozens of hours on board Virgin flights and it seems odd that you have not spent any time to read the terms and conditions regarding upgrades, or how fares work.

the simpler the argument the better. you saw a fare marked as economy class Y, you booked that thinking you could upgrade it, but it turned out to be an S class fare. further, the expedia booking page didn't indicate an S class fare at any stage (if that is in fact true... I haven't done a dummy booking through to the end on expedia).

that would be the basis for any good will claim. the rest is fairly irrelevant. that you were hoping something (cancellation rights, fare class, ability to upgrade) or that you asked the wrong questions from the wrong people is not relevant.

 

[paultiffen]

You are right it was definitely opportunistic. I'll be arguing with expedia that I didn't get what I paid for ( y class)

 

[ftm]

Considered paying the fare difference to make it upgradable?

I don't think I have ever seen a Y class fare, booked in Y class that is cheap. If it looks too good to be true...

 

[trooper]

And why would a Y fare ( a TRUE Y Fare) be called a "Saver Lite" and have no baggage allowance?

 

[paultiffen]

Rang them up tonight and after some initial difficulty they cancelled the full amount

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Rang them up tonight and after some initial difficulty they cancelled the full amount

good news! what argument did you use?