The other day I was reading an article written by a popular consumer advocate for travelers, Christopher Elliott. Maybe you have seen some of his work on LinkedIn or Twitter. While most of the time I can agree with what he is saying, I thought I would share some of his opinions and give my take on them. This particular article that caught my eye was referring to airline ticket refunds and what to do if you are given a bad hotel room. Let’s tackle the airline ticket portion first.
People ask if they can get a refund for an airline ticket that is nonrefundable. Christopher says the answer is Yes – sometimes. I agree. You will not get back any ticketing fees, so keep that in mind. That is payment for booking and processing the ticket, and is always nonrefundable.
Otherwise, these are the perimeters:
If your airline cancels your flight, and there is no suitable alternative for you to get to your destination, they owe you a full refund. A lot of travelers are not aware of this, so they willingly accept the voucher being offered by the airline. Know your rights – you are entitled to the refund, ask for it.
If you decide you want to cancel your flight and ask for a refund, you are not entitled to a refund in that case. If you cannot travel at that time, you typically have one year from the date of purchase with which to apply the ticket value to another flight on the same airline. You will of course need to pay any fare difference and possibly a change fee. I say possibly because the airlines have relaxed their Change Fee rules for the time being. I agree with Christopher on this one, those are not likely to be gone forever. Unfortunately.
If you purchase a ticket and decide within 24 hours that you do not want it, as long as it was not processed as an exchange from another ticket, you can contact the airlines, or your Travel Advisor, and ask for a refund. This is commonly called a voided ticket in the travel industry and is well within your rights. If you bought the ticket through a 3rd party OTA, you may not get the refund as restrictions apply. Choose who you purchase airline tickets from wisely.
For hotels, Christopher says the most common complaint is room quality. A room overlooking the air conditioning units. A room next door to noisy neighbors. An oceanview with no water in sight. How do you avoid this? Read on.
“You get what you pay for.” If you are booking on a 3rd party OTA and paying next to nothing for your room, you are far less likely to get a great room that people paying the full rate get. Don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed.
Speaking of 3rd party OTA’s, when booking through a discounted website, you’re a second-class citizen. I agree with Christopher on this one. When those sites purchase room blocks in bulk at a big discount, why should you get the premium room? On the other hand, if you work with a trusted Travel Advisor who has a relationship with the property and can get you a lower than full rate AND ask for nice accommodations for you, chances are you may avoid the not so nice room.
Other reasons you may get the bad room could be: checking in late at night or having attitude with the person checking you in. It is true that most people arrive earlier in the evening or late afternoon, so it makes sense the better available rooms go first. Now days, you can check in 24 hours prior to arrival on many hotels apps, so this could be a great practice to get a better room. Also, always say please and thank you to the Front Desk person. It may work in your favor. Or drop a hint that it is a special occasion, or you need a special circumstance. Just be nice about it and smile.
So what is the bottom line? Use a Travel Advisor when you want something better. Sure, there are times all I want in a hotel room is a clean bed and bathroom for a night. But there are also times when I want something nice with luxury bed linens, a big roomy bathroom, thick walls so you can’t hear your neighbors TV in the middle of the night and a nice, cozy lobby bar for a romantic night cap. A trusted Travel Advisor knows of great hotels, we have wonderful relationships with these hotels and it can mean the difference between ocean smell and ocean roar.
As for airline tickets, cheap is not always better either. For a while now, the lowest fares have been no frills fares. No miles, no upgrades, pay for all your bags, no overhead space for carry ons – nothing. And you better believe me when I tell you this, many of my friends that work the airline gates where passengers are boarding hear nonstop complaints about this. Why make yourself miserable to save $10? or $20? If you know there is a super good chance you are going to get stuck in a center seat, don’t buy the no frills ticket. If you are hoping for an upgrade, don’t buy the no frills ticket. If you want your airline miles, don’t buy the no frills ticket. And most of all, no matter if it be hotel staff or airline crew – be nice. Smile and say thank you. You never know where a simple nice word can take you.