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I booked with Expedia to Brisbane. Flying with Cathay Pacific on 27th Dec, a three hour wait in Hong Kong then straight there. All fine until they cancelled the Manchester Hong Kong flight and swapped it to the day after. Then ensued a long phone conversation that when I arrive in Hong Kong my flight would have left the day before! It got sorted after a battle with my boss and they changed to Boxing Day (December 26). All good for 5 months until today when they have cancelled the Hong Kong flight, until 3 days later. My question is: does Expedia have to arrange flight with another operator or compensate me for hotels both in Brisbane or more expense in Hong Kong that I wasn’t expecting?

Thanks everyone , I don’t want a refund as the flights have gone up in price over £2000 since I booked them so rebooking isn’t an option , I have checked Cathy’s pacific and there is still a flight on that day , it’s not direct to Brisbane so takes 6 hrs longer but will certainly be cheaper than a hotel for 2 nights , getting through to either operator is a nightmare and they both keep telling me to cancel and rebook , I think I have a fight on my hands !!!

Willeke
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Tracey Parker
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    Did you buy the flights and hotel together from Expedia? Where are you based, and which national version of Expedia did you use? – jcaron Nov 04 '22 at 12:39

2 Answers2

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You always have the right to cancel the flight and get a full cash refund. It may take some work to get it since Expedia will probably try to refund in the form of a voucher which has terrible conditions and constraints. NEVER accept a voucher.

Beyond that, it gets difficult and depends on your negotiation skills. Expedia will point you at the airline and the airline will point you at Expedia. That's the reason why you should always book with the airlines directly unless there is a really strong reason not to.

They will most likely offer you alternatives which you can accept or refuse. Unless your ticket is covered by some governmental rules (like EU 261) it's unlikely that they would pay for hotels, etc.

Hilmar
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    If the flights and hotels were booked together, at least under some conditions it's a package, and then if the flight is cancelled they have to deal with the hotel and vice-versa. If they were bought separately, then indeed very little recourse, especially with a notification that far in advance. – jcaron Nov 04 '22 at 12:40
  • I don't think the package helped much. Air France cancelled a flight on us that was booked though Expedia as a package. I had to fight tooth and nails to get the money for the flight back. The automatic Expedia voucher was horrible. The hotel was a throwaway anyway so I didn't even try. Turns out the cheapest hotel in Mumbai is really, really cheap :-) – Hilmar Nov 04 '22 at 17:01
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    You are based in the US, aren't you? Sorry for you :-) In the EU+UK packaged sales have better protection. Or at least are supposed to have, and of course Expedia probably isn't the best to handle that properly. – jcaron Nov 04 '22 at 17:40
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    In a similar situation I had to sue Expedia in a small claims court to get a refund (their attorneys waited until 11th hour and only then called me with an offer to settle for the full amount). – George Y. Nov 05 '22 at 07:01
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Expedia acts as an intermediary and can sell you different kinds of tickets with varying conditions. Commonly though, flights bought on Expedia tend to be single fare tickets from an airline, even if more than one operator is flying the route. It is important that you check and confirm that what you got is a single ticket for the trip.

Calling Expedia will get you a representative saying that you should contact the airline, while calling the airline gets you a service agent telling you to contact Expedia! I do book often with Expedia for convenience and price but I absolutely agree that dealing with issue is a nightmare. It can make many calls to both Expedia and the airline until you get one to help you.

Assuming what you got is a single ticket, you will generally be left dealing with airline service representatives. That means that they will almost always rebook you on the same airline or with a partner airline, but they tend to do that very reluctantly in my experience. What you must do is keep politely insisting with the airline agents until you get one that is willing to help.

Ask for something that is reasonable and suitable, explaining your constraints. Since the change is significant you are entitled to a refund but this is extremely hard to get when Expedia is involved (I have an open case with them where they agreed to give me refund but it has not happened yet, after more than a year). It is more likely that you get your flights changed. Since the Hong Kong flight has been moved further, that route is probably no longer flying. You can ask to move your other flight to reduce the gap or you can see if you can move both of your flights earlier. There might be a flight a day or two before. What greatly helps is doing your research ahead of time and coming with some alternate dates and flights already noted down when you call. That way you can ask about each one until they accept rather then them saying there is nothing available.

Itai
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