We have been told by Expedia that a flight we booked to Asia cannot be changed despite the ticket confirmation stating, "any changes to your ticket may incur additional charges". We were very careful to read the website in full before purchasing this ticket because we might have to change the return date. We read all the "rules and regulations" and including a section which said, "we have not received rules or restriction information for this flight. In most cases the following rules and restrictions may apply". We reviewed these "rules" and noted that we may have to pay additional charges, but there was no statement that changes may be prohibited.
When we called Expedia to change the return leg they refused. We pointed to the website confirmation page and and they explained that other customers had a similar problem but there was nothing they could do about it. Expedia had a problem with the Finnair computer connection and the flight restriction information could not be displayed. They said we should have called Expedia (AT 10 PENCE PER MINUTE!!!) if we wanted to know what the restrictions were. They claimed that they were required by law to provide the common rules applied by the airlines when their computer could not link to the airline's specific rules. In these general rules (see attachment Page 1 and 2) there is no statement that ticket changes may be prohibited. Inexplicably, Expedia denied that they had any obligation to tell their customers clearly to call Expedia if the airline specific rules were not disclosed on their website. They added that tickets purchased through Expedia would always default to the harsher airline specific rules if these rules were not posted on Expedia's website.
Finnair, to their credit, said that if Expedia were to call them, Finnair would be willing to discuss this case. However, Expedia refuses to call Finnair saying that it is our fault that we did not call Expedia to clarify the rules using Expedia's 10 p per minute "help" line.
Amazing. We have now booked a separate return from Asia costing us an additional £500 and this airline and its website clearly states that "changes are not permitted". An expensive lesson.
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