USAirways - Canceled flights?

Grundlestiltskin

Hey all,

Currently on hold with USAir for the second time today. Long story short - I was supposed to fly to NC tonight but my flight was canceled due to weather. They offered to put me on a flight tomorrow, but the timing was such that it would be a waste of time and money for me to be in NC for the time I'd be able to. They gave me a refund for the canceled ticket.

However, I have a return ticket that I now can't use. Apparently it's a "separate ticket" and they can't do anything about it. Won't offer a refund, etc. Is there anything I can do here, or am I just out of luck?

MichaelLC

Did you get the ticket thru USAir or a site? If somewhere else, check their policy for canceled tickets.

Grundlestiltskin

I think the issue is that my wife was already at the destination, so she booked my flight and then booked our return flight together separately. Which would be fine, except that my flight down there was cancelled

Phyphor

Ah, separate bookings will do it, and you're not likely to get much of a refund of the other ticket since it's still being partially used. If you had booked your flight + return and her flight separately you would probably be fine.

Tofystedeth

@Darth Waiter‌ might have some negotiation advice?

Darth Waiter

Grundel, if the ticket has been reissued because of a cancelled flight, policy *should* dictate that you will be refunded that money as long as the ticket goes unused.

Whatever bullshit they're trying to pull with this 'separate ticket' nonsense is one of two things:

1. Somebody told someone else incorrect information and then passed along that bad info to you (think The Telephone Game from grade school).
2. Whoever was telling you this crock of shit was so swamped that they can't even see or think straight.

At United, the unused portions of the ticket can be petitioned for a refund via the website and you could expect a turnaround of about a week to process. US Airways should have a similar policy described in detail on their website.

To be fair, policies differ from airline to airline, but United is notorious for being the most stingy in it's reimbursement protocols.

If you have any other problems or they're speaking some form of Greek to obfuscate your options, @me and I'll do what I can to walk you through it.

Daenris

Except in this case isn't it literally two separate and unrelated (as far as USAir is concerned) ticket purchases? Sounds like they got a one-way ticket from his current location to his destination. Then separately booked two one-way tickets from that location back home/wherever. Since there's no relationship between the tickets, a cancellation of one would seem to have no bearing (policy-speaking wise at least) on the other ticket.

Grundlestiltskin wrote: »

I think the issue is that my wife was already at the destination, so she booked my flight and then booked our return flight together separately. Which would be fine, except that my flight down there was cancelled

Now, granted, if I was in this situation I'd do everything I could and bother everyone at could at USAirways to try to get a refund for the other useless ticket, but I think it's going to be an uphill battle.

Grundlestiltskin

Apparently additional complexity is coming from the fact that the tickets were booked through usair but the return was booked through American Airlines, or something weird like that. Might just be SOL.

Darkewolfe

If the tickets are through different airlines, then you're SOL. American won't refund you your tickets just because US Air fucked up.

Irredeemably Indecisive

If you paid with a credit card, contact the bank and see if you can start a dispute through them. When I was doing fraud and disputes, unused plane tickets that were "Non-Refundable" were disputable and we would get the money back for the card holder almost every single time. The only times I can think of when we didn't get the money back was when the ticket was used and the card holder was lying.

ASimPerson

The only thing that matters is whether the tickets were booked on one itinerary or not.

Usually (but not always) this means that you booked a ticket and the return flight at the same time in one purchase. If the tickets were bought as two separate one-way tickets, the airline will not automatically combine them into one itinerary or anything like that.

US and American are in the process of merging, but the two airlines do codeshare (almost?) all their flights, so that part doesn't really matter.

Now, of course, you should still try to pursue getting a refund of some sort for the return trip as outlined above, but from the airline's perspective your two flights were on separate itineraries and thus not eligible for getting a refund via normal means.

This is a risk when trying to fly around with multiple people. The other thing you could've done is book your own entire trip as one itinerary and then have your wife have her own flight back. The downside of that strategy is that you could possibly get separated if something happens with the return flights.

MegaMan001

I second the idea for checking with your credit card company if applicable. My Chase Sapphire Preferred reimburses me for canceled flights.

SatanIsMyMotor

If your tickets were booked separately and not as part of a round trip I'm afraid you're screwed. You'll get the cancelled flight ticket refunded but, to the airline, there's absolutely nothing wrong with your other flight.

It's why you should always book round trips instead of separate flights to and fro. You might be able to get them to make an exception but I fly for work very often and have been through exactly what you describe.