[Mikees501]

Why is it that passengers can be charged fees for cancellations and Airlines get away for free. I reserved a flight from Charlotte to West Palm Beach on June 1st. Yesterday I was notified that the flight has been canceled and even though they have other flights they cannot accommodate me on that same day. What ever happened to the 240 rule anyway?

[azstar]

Assuming you had purchased a ticket, when an airline cancels a flight they will either refund your money, or reaccommodate on an available flight of theirs or another carrier. Check the "contract of carriage" on US Air's website and then insist they reaccommodate you on a different carrier if they have no seats available.

[Mikees501]

No need to assume, my tickets were purchased for a Nov. 12th departure. Yes, they will in fact refund but they will not get me where I need to go on the same departure date without paying an additional $80 for the flight. What US Airways has done was to cancel the flight and then offer the same flight but at a higher rate. That is why the 240 rule was in place. That is why I will drive before I fly. It's clearly a bait and switch tactic which goes uncontrolled thanks to derugulation. My point is why even bother with booking early when they can just dump you. The catch is that you cannot dump them without a penalty. The sign says one way.....

[Ombudsman]

You absolutely should be accomodated on a flight the same day regardless if its on US Airways or another airline. When you call back have a "gameplan" ready. If they tell you there is nothing on US Airways try a test booking one-way on a site like Kayak or Orbitz and tell them the available flights you find on another airline. Given the cost of booking yo
u on another airline you'd be amazed at the space that opens up on US Airways.

Another suggestion is when you are going through the call prompt menu select the choices for an international itinerary so your call will be answered by a US based call center.

[Mikees501]

I may have troubled everyone with with this thread. Even though US Airways cnx the flight they're saying that Vayama is responsible for finding another flight. Vayama refuses to put us onto the more costly flight that will get us to our destination on time. This simply means that they can blame each other forever. Beware of Vayama!

[Ombudsman]

Check again. Today Southwest announced another major fare sale and many US airlines are matching fares on competeing routes. The fare for your preferred itineray may have gone down and Vayama may be able to rebook at no additional charge.

Good luck and hope it works out. If not, check on Kayak for your same dates and cities. If you find something comparable, or cheaper, book it and get the refund from Vayama. I reccommend Kayak because they scour both airline and agency websites for the lowest fare and if its found on the airline's own website you are directed to that website for the purchase.

[Mikees501]

Just an FYI,
We started out with Kayak and they brought us to Vayama. We spoke with one of the founders of Kayak and he stated that they were trying to work out the kinks.
Thank you very much for your help.