Shawn and his new wife booked their honeymoon to Grand Cayman with the understanding that they’d paid $3,000 for an all-inclusive stay at a resort. A week into the 10-day trip, the online travel agency told the couple they’d be on the hook for more than $2,000 because the fee they paid wouldn’t cover an all-inclusive stay after all.

He writes:

One week later, on our last day here, the phone rings. It is a woman at the front desk who tells me that Expedia has reversed their decision and we are now responsible for all of the all-inclusive charges, which amount to $120/person/day. This means that on our $3,000 honeymoon which we have already spent an additional $681 on, we now owe the hotel $2,160 when we leave, effectively making our entire vacation twice the cost we had budgeted.

I spoke to the woman in Reservation who talked to [redacted] at Expedia a week ago. She said that he asked how to get Expedia to cover the charges and she told him that they needed a letter from Expedia. He told her that it would be sent. That was on Wednesday. By Monday, The Reef had still not received the letter so they called Expedia to find out that the letter was not going to be sent.

So at this point, Expedia has gone back on a verbal agreement on the phone, left us with $2,160 of charges that we would not have racked up if they had done what they promised.

If you travel, how do you handle mushrooming costs that pile on top of prepaid trips?

UPDATE: Expedia gave the couple a $2,160 refund.

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