[chicago]

Hi,

I would just like to tell people about about my experience with Mexicana Airlines and how they are treating their customers, and what you as a cutomer can expect to see happen to you if you are planning on traveling to mexico with Mexicana Airlines.



I canceled my flight to Cancun Mexico in May due to swine fly. So instead of giving me refund i received flight credit, given i was charged $150 per ticket in cancellation fees. Now I'm trying to book a flight to Cancun Mexico for December 21, and return on Dec. 26. I have found a flight on Mexicana.com for $704 for two people, so when i called Mexicana to use my previous credit they told me that i can not use that flight and that price if i want to use my previous credit, but i have to use one they found me instead, and the flight they found me costs about $750 per person. It's more than twice of the flight i found on Mexicana.com, when i spoke to their customer service and told them that this is not fair, and that they are ripping people off they basically just played stupid and repeated how this is their policy. My question is: How can you stay in business if you are treating people this way? It would be cheaper for me to just not use my previous flight credit of $420, and fly to Cancun on a quote from mexicana.com. This is basically robbing people of their money , and you can not treat people/customers this way, and rip them off like this.So if you are looking to book a vacation to Mexico for this winter and you have to cancell it for whatever reason, you will lose your flight money if you do it throught Mexicana. Do not fly with Mexicana Airlines.

[PHXFlyer]

Are you sure the $704 quote you saw on the Mexicana website was for 2 people or per person. You do not say what city you are departing from however for travel to Cancun over the Christmas holiday $704 for 2 people ($352 per person) sounds almost too good to believe. If it is $704 for 2 then is it a web only fare? Some web only fares can't be booked by the regular reservations agents.

Just for kicks I went to Mexicana.com and did a test booking on the dates you indicated. There are three fares displayed. The first is the "Super Saver" (lowest) fare and under the description it reads:

The lowest fare of Internet

This may be an indication that this is a fare only available on the internet for a new ticket purchase. Most airlines offer these "internet only" fares and unfortunately in most cases prior travel credit can't be applied. Since the Swine Flu outbreak was a unique situation I'm really surprised they won't make an exception for this. Did you try to appeal to a supervisor or manager? Unfortunately if you make a complaint in writing the fare you saw could disappear or go up before it gets settled. What you could do is take a screen shot of the fare display screen to use as a reference if you go with a written complaint.

Good luck.

[chicago]

I'm flying from Chicago to Cancun, and the fare i saw was the Super Saver fare. But it just doesn't make sense to me that a credit from previously can celled purchase minus fees, can not be used with the fare that you find but with the fare that they find you ( which is 250% more costly), and i think that the reason for canceling first fare should not be important if you as a customer give them plenty of notice, and they charge you a $150 fee.

[PHXFlyer]

It's a ploy to keep your money. They advertise a really low "internet only" fare for which you can only use "new money." They then have an "everyday fare" for which you can apply those unused funds. Totally "bait and switch" but it's legal. Most of the US based airlines have dropped those practices because it did create animosity towards them.

One airline I fly often, Alaska, used to have similar web specials. You could not apply any unused ticket funds, once purchased you could not make ANY changes whatsoever either. It was a "use it or lose it" proposition. There were so many customer service complaints which arose from those fares that they decided to abandon them all together. They still have "web specials" however you can change them (for a fee) or apply the value of another ticket towards them. They're not, however, the screaming deals they used to be so I guess in the end there's always a trade-off.