A few weeks back, while traveling through Asia, I had the unfortunate luck of missing my Japan Airlines (JAL) flight from Bangkok to Tokyo. I missed the flight because I severely underestimated the traffic in the city of Bangkok. 100 minutes to travel 12 miles is a bit ridiculous.
Anyway, I made it to the airport 30 minutes prior to departure to find the JAL counter to be closed. Not only was it closed, there were not a single JAL representative to be found. It reminded me of the missed Avianca Airlines flight form last year.
I called Expedia because I booked the ticket through them. When I finally got through to an agent, my flight was taxiing. I asked to be rebooked on the next flight. The agent stated he would be able to do it, but I would incur a $250 USD change fee plus the difference in ticket price. The difference in price for the Bangkok to Tokyo segment was nearly $1500 USD. 🤔
Thanks, but no thanks. I figured that I would price out a different ticket to Tokyo. While waiting for the new booking to be confirmed on Singapore Airlines, I checked my Citi account to ensure it was processing. It was during this that I found JAL had charged me $350 USD for missing the flight.
With the addition of this fee, my total charge would have been $2100 USD to rebook for Tokyo. 😂 I quickly disputed the charge through the Citi app. The reason for the dispute was because the goods or services were not rendered, therefore, the charge was invalid. Citi messaged me to say there was a temporary credit to my Prestige Card for the amount.
A few weeks after the incident, I received an email from Citi stating that the charge was invalid and the $350 USD credit to my card would become permanent. Thanks.
I get it, I missed the flight. To charge someone for missing a flight, is something I had not experienced until that day. This is a bit over the top, in my opinion. The airline already had the remainder of the money I spent on the ticket for the segments to Tokyo and Dallas, why did they feel the need to take more money? Either way, thanks to Citi for coming through in the clutch.
