A man in California ended up fighting with Expedia over compensation after his kids, ages 12 and 16, were left stranded overnight in a Virginia airport, because the airline wouldn’t let them board the connecting flight without being accompanied by someone 18 or older. The man told Expedia the kids’ ages before buying the tickets but the company’s system didn’t send up any red flags, so he thought the trip would be fine.

(Fortunately for the kids, there was a relative in Virginia who was able to take them in.)

Anderson ended up booking new tickets on another airline. They cost $630 and Anderson says Expedia owes him that money. He says, “Something needs to be done to rectify this.”

We reached out to Expedia. The company launched an investigation and within a week admitted, “This absolutely should not have happened” and Expedia’s computer system “should have rejected” the reservation based on the kids’ ages.

The company agreed to reimburse Anderson for the extra tickets he bought and to give him $300 extra.

Expedia says it’s changing its system to prevent this sort of thing from happening again in the future.

“Call Kurtis: Expedia’s Mistake Stranded My Kids” [CBS13.com] (Thanks to Kurtis!)

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