Leigh Roberts and her wife book an extra seat on a trip from Orlando, Fla., to Venice, Italy. But United resells the seat to another passenger. Can Roberts get a refund?
Question
I booked three nonrefundable airline tickets for my wife and me on United Airlines to fly from Orlando to Rome. United resold the middle seat between us on three of the five flights.
I asked for a refund, but United is telling me I can’t get my money back since I purchased nonrefundable tickets.
But how can they resell the seats I paid for? I’ve sent emails to the executive contacts for United on your website, but United won’t even give me a travel credit.
Can you help me get the $660 back I spent for the extra seat? — Leigh Roberts, Winter Garden, Fla.
Answer
United Airlines should have kept the middle seat you paid for empty. United offers the option of buying an extra seat for the same price as your original ticket if you need more room. That obligates United to keep the seat empty — it can’t resell the seat halfway through the flight.
Your case brings up a long-standing grievance among air travelers. When you have a nonrefundable ticket and can’t make your flight, your airline can resell the ticket, collecting money for the same seat twice. This strikes many air travelers as unfair. In the past, lawmakers have suggested legislating this unfairness and mandating that an airline refund a nonrefundable ticket if it can resell the seat, but so far, nothing has passed.
You were smart to escalate this to the executives at United. But I would have kept going. I list multiple executives on the site, and you could have been more persistent. Also, you might have considered a credit card dispute. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can file a chargeback for items you paid for but didn’t receive, such as an airline seat.
So what went wrong with your ticket? I checked with United and it said for some reason, the boarding pass for your extra seat wasn’t scanned when you boarded your first flight. You told me that you reached out to United the day before your flight when you had a problem checking in. The agent instructed you to deselect the extra seat when you checked in.
“The reservation was marked as a no-show by our team in Orlando, which ended up canceling the advance seating assignments,” the representative said. “That made the extra seat available for reassignment.”
How to make sure your airline ticket gets scanned properly
Oh, I know. You already have so much to worry about when you board a plane, do you have to add one more thing? Yes, actually. If your boarding pass isn’t scanned correctly, you could be in a world of trouble. (As in, you’ll be stuck somewhere without a ticket.)
Here’s how to avoid that:
Check in online. It’s your first line of defense against missed scans. Most airlines open check-in 24 hours before departure.
Get a boarding pass: Whether it’s on your phone or paper, make sure you have it handy. Important: Keep the pass. You may need it later.
Watch the scan. When the gate agent scans your pass, look for a confirmation beep or green light. If it’s not green, say something.
Listen for your name. If they call your name after scanning, speak up. It might mean there’s an issue.
Keep your boarding pass. Don’t toss it until you’re at your final destination. It’s proof you were there. This is so important that I’m repeating myself.
Keep an electronic record. If you’re using the airline’s app, take a screen shot that shows you boarded. Airlines purge their records so it may be the only evidence you boarded the flight.
I know, it’s a hassle. But it’s the only way to avoid a situation like this.
Will United refund the extra seat?
United should have seen the problem when you reached out to the airline and then to its executives. Instead, it kept turning you down. But after the airline reviewed your case, it decided to change its answer.
“We’ve processed a refund for the extra ticket that was purchased,” the representative told me.
Lesson learned: If you buy an extra seat, always scan the boarding pass for the extra seat. All airlines — not just United — will cancel the rest of your reservation if you miss one leg of your flight. In fact, this could have turned out much worse. United could have canceled all of the tickets on your reservation, which might have stranded you in Frankfurt or Rome, your stopovers.