Travel Troubleshooter: Two airlines charged me for the same tickets twice

Q: My wife and I booked tickets from Boston to Budapest on American Airlines and its partner British Airways. We made the reservations through our travel agent.

British Airways charged us for the tickets, but a few days later, we were charged again for the same tickets by American Airlines. We asked our travel agent what was going on. She seemed to be as confused as we were.

I contacted American Airlines, which agreed to refund the second set of tickets. But it has only refunded one of them.

I disputed the charge for the second ticket through Citi, my credit card. We received correspondence from Citi last week that indicated they had not received enough information to support our claim.

I am confused as to what I could possibly send them that would indicate the ticket was not purchased. I don’t have a receipt to show what I didn’t buy. I have been on the phone for close to 25 hours. I need your help.

A: You should have only received one charge for your tickets, of course. And if you got a double charge, then your agent should have fixed it. You shouldn’t have needed to file a credit card dispute.

But let me say this: You should carry a credit card that carefully considers every chargeback you file. It looks like your bank did not thoroughly review your request. Consider finding another card that will take better care of you.

Your case was half-solved by the time you reached out to me. American Airlines had refunded your wife’s ticket, but not yours. It still owed you $1,666.

Why did American Airlines charge you for a second set of tickets? Your travel adviser doesn’t know. I asked the airline, and it doesn’t know either. But everyone could agree — everyone except your bank, that is — that you deserved a refund.

One thing you should not do is call the airline to get this fixed. Spending 25 hours on the phone with American Airlines was a waste of your time. I’m guessing you had to tell your story to many agents, none of whom could authorize a refund. Many consumers believe they can fix a billing problem with a quick phone call, but that almost never works. You have to put everything in writing.

Your travel adviser should have also been able to help you. They have special contacts at the airlines and should be able to fix a problem like this quickly. It’s not clear why she could not help.

I contacted American Airlines. A representative said it had reviewed your case and refunded your second ticket.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers. Contact him at chris@elliott.org or elliotadvocacy.org/help.