Flight + hotel deal on expedia, can I use other flight tickets without any consequences?

Question

If I book a flight + hotel deal on Expedia, then want to change to a different airline (after researching the airline company that was booked, they have some very unfavorable reviews), but it is not possible at this point to change airlines on Expedia.

If I purchase a new set of airline tickets on a different website for the same dates and use those to travel, what are the consequences with my trip? Will Expedia know I did not use the flight tickets booked on their site and is there any penalty for this?

Answer 1

The only personal experience I had with having to cancel (adjust, really) was within the past months, but it was through another carrier.

Firstly, Expedia won't care if you book or not. They sold the ticket and that's the end of their business need. Now, if you wanted to try to get money back before the trip or tell them that the ticket was never used and you'd like a refund or something, that gets more difficult.

Some airlines themselves may offer you some type of partial (or even full) refund if you give them a heads up and you haven't been booked long. For me, it was within a day that I had to make adjustments and they did -not- just adjust the date, they processed a refund. If they can get a fee out of you, AND, resell the seat, that's more money to them.

I'd say get in touch with Expedia and check your options. Odds are your best-case scenario could be some type of refund or voucher through the same airlines. Half an hour on the phone for even the potential is good.

Answer 2

I could not find the exact sales conditions for Expedia, but they have a FAQ entry for a similar issue.

It is possible to cancel a part of a vacation package (i.e. a booking with multiple parts, like flights, hotels, cars) for some fee.

Apparently, Expedia does not charge anything themselves for such cancellation, however, the airline/hotel/car rental agency may charge something. So you should read the condition of your flight to figure that. If it is non-refundable, then you would have to pay a new ticket without getting any refund on the initial ticket.

There is no explicit mention of this in their FAQ, but it seems the bookings for the flights, hotels and cars are independent and therefore you can probably fly another airline and still check in to the initial hotel.