I booked my JetBlue tickets on Orbitz. Now they’re gone

Q: Last August, I was supposed to fly roundtrip with my two children from Boston to San Jose, California, on JetBlue Airways. I had booked the flights through Orbitz. I was using a ticket credit from a JetBlue flight canceled at the start of the pandemic.

When I got to the airport with my family, JetBlue had no record for these flights, even though we had confirmation numbers for the tickets.

I tried to call Orbitz. The calls disconnected twice, and we had to call back and start the conversation with someone new. Eventually, a representative told me there was nothing they could do for us at the time, and we had to wait for a call back within 24 hours. I again called Orbitz, and I discovered that the credits had never been applied. They were still sitting in my account.

I had to buy tickets for the following day from Boston to San Francisco. I also had to book a hotel to stay in that night.

An Orbitz representative asked me to send in the receipts for the flights and hotel I had to book in order to obtain a refund. Orbitz never followed up with me. After the trip, we reached back out to them, and they requested ticket numbers and receipts. I provided all the information to them, yet to this day, we have gotten no response despite our many efforts. Can you help me? -- Benjamin Eckstein, Natick, Massachusetts

A: This was a somewhat complicated case. But let me see if I can simplify it. You had a JetBlue flight at the start of the pandemic. JetBlue canceled the flight, and you received a credit from JetBlue through Orbitz, your online travel agency. Then you tried to use the credit for a flight in August. You booked that flight through Orbitz. It issued a confirmation number, which led you to believe you had the tickets. But you didn’t.