If you search for flights from North America to South it is likely that LAN Chile will come up. Often they will be the cheapest or have the best schedule. I am not saying not to use them but please be aware of what is happening to me:
Using Orbitz I purchased a RT Tijuana to Quito on LAN Chile. Two days before the April 28, 2012 departure I received a routine e-mail reminder from Orbitz. I noticed the middle of the three return segments was commencing prior to the first. I would have had to fly Lima to Mexico City prior to flying Quito to Lima. Obviously an impossible schedule and an error that was not there when I purchased the e-ticket more than a month earlier.
I immediately called Orbitz and after a while was told to call back in the morning. I did and they finally told me they had “fixed” the problem by moving the other two segments back one day. I did not want to loose a day of my already short trip but it was too late at that point I was told.
I arrived at the Tijuana airport 2.5 hours early. Aero Mexico was the operator of my LAN flight. Towards the end of the check in process I was told that I had to pay a change fee. I politely protested but agreed to pay it. I got shuffled around to two different windows but neither could process the fee due to LAN being closed on a Saturday. The Aero Mex staff worked very hard to get me on that flight but the clocked ticked down and ultimately they could not let me board.
I returned home to San Diego and called Orbitz. They also could not do anything due to the weekend and told me to call back later. I asked if they could work on rescheduling and they took down some possible dates from me and said they would look into it.
I have been calling them over the past several days, each time having to explain myself and finally getting transferred to the international staff. So far all I have been told is that LAN is denying a refund except for unused taxes. Orbitz has given me a tepid pledge to possibly process a refund but it will take 36 days. A rescheduling seems to be out of the question.
I blame LAN for making the idiotic schedule change but fault Orbitz for not having their computers programmed to catch the error. I blame both for not being available at the critical time when, despite my outbound flight being error free, I was not allowed to board. Everyone lost. My trip was ruined and three segments that day had an empty seat.
It is also very unsettling that neither company was willing to put a person on this fiasco and see it through. I am on my own. Luckily I am fighting this from the comfort of my home and not from some airport hotel in a strange city. This situation could have been a lot worse is what I keep telling myself.
Are You Upset Or Frustrated At A Business?
Click Here To File A Complaint
Related Keywords:
- american lan airlines schedule problems
- lan airlines book on orbitz
