These days, with the help of online travel agencies like Expedia and Priceline, the process of booking tickets and coming up with a vacation plan is not so complicated. With just a few clicks, you can easily book the vacation of your dreams. What happens, however, if you decide to cancel? Can you still get a refund, or is your money lost forever?
Booking Travel with Expedia
For those of you who aren’t that familiar with Expedia, it’s an online travel agency used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, vacation packages, and more. With a lot of different airlines, hotels, and vacation packages, it can be hard to find the best deal for your trip. Expedia helps you find what you need to give you the vacation you want.
Sometimes, for whatever reason, you are unable to proceed with your trip as planned. Before you bemoan the loss of everything you’ve spent so far in booking your tickets and other reservations, check with the policies. Some of them allow for a partial—if not a full—refund.
Here’s a quick guide on Expedia’s cancellation and refund policy:
Expedia Cancellation Policies
Expedia has different policies depending on the type of vacation service you get with them. Some require signing in to your account and canceling the service from there, while others require getting in touch with someone from their customer service department.
Expedia Flight Cancellation Policy
How to Cancel a Flight you Booked with Expedia
- Go to expedia.com on your web browser.
- Sign in to your account.
- On the menu, click on My Trips.
- Click on the itinerary that contains the flight reservation you want to cancel.
- Click Manage Booking.
- Click Cancel Flight.
Canceling the Flight Within 24 Hours
If you cancel a flight booked through Expedia within 24 hours of booking that flight, you may be eligible to get a full refund. Check with the terms and conditions first—usually written at the bottom of the itinerary to see if the full refund policy applies to your ticket.
Changing Flights
If you booked the wrong flight or decide to change flights, you may still end up getting charged by the airline. Airlines may also have other rules and restrictions in place, such as requiring you to book a new ticket on the same airline and paying the difference in ticket costs if the cost of the new flight is more expensive than that of the old one.
Some airlines are working to make “no change fees” a part of their policy. Nevertheless, not all airlines apply it already, and even then, it is still subject to other rules, such as COVID-19 waiver policies that take precedence over those new policies.
The “no change policy” usually doesn’t apply to bargain fares, such as Basic Economy or Saver. They also typically apply to domestic travel only and not international travel.
COVID-19 Flexible Travel Policy
Expedia has also been working with its travel partners in pushing for a flexible travel policy, especially in light of the constantly-changing rules and regulations brought about by COVID-19. This applies to hotels, lodging, other vacation rentals, and flights.
For hotels and lodgings, check to see if your reservation qualifies for free cancellation. If not, you can still cancel, but standard cancellation policies will apply, which means you might be required to pay a penalty or only get a partial refund. If you don’t see the option to cancel, either your booking is too close to the check-in date or is non-refundable.
For flights, you may qualify for either a no-change-fee cancellation or a travel credit that you can apply to a future flight.
If you aren’t sure which one applies to the package you booked, just sign in to your account and check your itinerary to see if the flexible travel policy applies to your bookings.
Canceling Complete Vacation Packages (with Flights, Accommodations, etc.)
What will happen if, for example, you book a vacation package that includes flights, hotel reservations, car rentals, and more? Will canceling one of those effectively cancel the others?
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. If you booked a vacation package, canceling the whole package requires canceling your flight and hotel reservation and everything else you booked separately.
I Don’t Have an Account. How Can I Cancel or Change My Booking?
If you don’t have an account, you can use the itinerary or confirmation number in your order. You will find this in the email you received when you booked your trip.
Expedia Flight Refund Policy
How Long Before Expedia Issues My Flight Refund?
Expedia tries to do its best to get any refund owed to you as soon as it can. Nevertheless, while they are the ones who process your cancellation, acting as the mediator between you and their travel partners (e.g. airlines, hotels, cruise ships), it’s still up to the travel partners to process your refund.
For flight cancellations, most refunds are issued within 12 weeks. Depending on the airline, however, some refunds may take longer, especially with the high volume of cancellations due to COVID-19.
Are All Flights Subject to Refunds?
Even if you cancel your flight within 24 hours of buying it or even several days or weeks before your trip, some flights aren’t subject to refunds—even a partial one. Before you book the flight through Expedia, it’s best to check the terms and conditions of the itinerary so you can find out if it’s subject to a refund or not.
Some flights, though they aren’t subject to a refund, have other options so that, even if you cancel, you aren’t at a complete loss. Instead of getting a full or partial refund, you may be able to receive credit for a future flight from the same airline. If you have to cancel your flight, it’s best to cancel as soon as possible so you can still get a refund or travel credit.
For future trips, you may want to apply the “Free Cancellation” and “No change fee filters” when you’re looking to book flights, hotel accommodations, or other trip packages.
Expedia Hotel and Car Rental Cancellation Policy
If you’ve made bookings for other things, such as hotels and cars, these have their own cancellation and refund policies.
Expedia Hotel Cancellation Policies
How to Cancel a Hotel You Booked with Expedia
- Go to expedia.com on your web browser.
- Sign in to your account.
- On the menu, click on My Trips.
- Click on the travel itinerary that contains the hotel booking you wish to cancel.
- Click Manage Booking.
- Click Cancel Room.
How to Change a Hotel Booking Made with Expedia
- Go to expedia.com on your web browser.
- Sign in to your account.
- On the menu, click on My Trips.
- Click on the travel itinerary with the hotel booking you wish to change.
- Click Manage Booking.
- Click Edit next to any change you want to make and click to save your changes.
Canceling Your Hotel Room
Most of the time, whether or not you can get a refund for a canceled hotel room depends on the rules and restrictions of the hotel. This may also depend on the specific room or type of room you booked. Before you make any booking, it’s always best to read the fine print of your bookings and itinerary.
If you aren’t sure whether you are eligible for a refund, check the rules and restrictions found at the bottom of your itinerary.
Can “Unpublished Rate” Hotel Rooms Bookings Be Canceled?
No, “Unpublished Rate” hotel rooms can never be changed or canceled.
Will I Get Charged for Canceling or Changing a Hotel Room?
Expedia will not charge you any money for changing or canceling a hotel room. Some hotels, however, may do so, depending on their rules and regulations. Some hotels might charge a fee for changing or canceling your booking any time between the moment you booked it to within 48 hours of checking in. If you know you plan to cancel, it’s best to act as soon as possible, so you don’t have to pay for all those extra fees.
While most hotels will allow you to change several things free of charge, some changes, including the type of room, the number of guests, and even check-in and check-out dates, may end up with the hotel charging you additional fees.
How Long Before Expedia Issues My Refund for Accommodations and Packages?
The time between canceling your hotel reservation or package largely depends on the travel product or service you purchased.
For hotel accommodations, car rentals, and activities, it may take up to 48 hours to receive your refund. If the hotel is the one that processed the charge, the refund timeline is up to them.
For complete vacation packages, since you need to cancel each item separately, each part of the vacation package is also processed separately. Expect the refund to take a little longer than usual.
When All Else Fails, Contact Customer Service
If you’ve tried to cancel your hotel booking to no avail, contact Expedia’s customer service department or the hotel directly.
Expedia Rental Car Cancellation Policy
How to Cancel a Rental Car on Expedia
- Go to expedia.com on your web browser.
- Sign in to your account.
- On the menu, click on My Trips.
- Click on the travel itinerary with the car reservation you wish to cancel.
- Click Manage Booking.
- Click Cancel this Car.
Canceling Your Car Reservation Any Time
Unlike flights and hotel room reservations, most rental car reservations allow you to cancel at any time, and they won’t charge you an extra fee or enforce some sort of penalty. However, if you need to make some changes to the car reservation you booked, you will not be able to do so. Instead, you can cancel it and book a new reservation.
Navigating Through Expedia’s Cancellation and Refund Policies
When it comes to canceling or changing trips, Expedia’s policies are pretty straightforward. It’s easy to book with them, and it’s also easy to cancel in case you can’t push through with your trip. If you have an account, you can navigate to the itineraries you’ve booked and change or cancel them accordingly. If all else fails, contact their customer service to have things straightened out.
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