Double charges by airlines

[hawaiitraveler]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA
We traveled to Hawaii in August 08; made our reservations thru Orbitz in February 08. Upon arriving at LAX, we were told there was a problem with our reservations on American, but after they got into the computers, it was worked out and we flew to Maui. The day we left Maui, I called Orbitz to see if all was well and we were told our reservations were not going to be honored--because they (not us)had charged all our flights to Aloha Airlines, which is now bankrupt. We told them our main flights were with American, but Orbitz washed their hands of us and said thery could do nothing. At the Maui airport, Island Air (our connecting flight) told us they had our reservations in the system, but we would have to pay an additional $400+ to fly. We showed them all our paperwork and they would not do it, so we had to pay again to get to Kauai. Our flight from Kauai to Oahu was OK, but we spent over an hour arguing with American to get on our flight from Oahu to LAX. They finally honored it, but with a tremendous hassle. What can we do to get our extra charges back? We thought it was a good idea to book in advance, but it blew up in our faces. Please advise if there is any recourse. Thank you.

 

[JETX]

You made several CRITICAL mistakes... starting with not resolving your ticket issue about Aloha in WRITING BEFORE your trip. The bankruptcy filing by Aloha was loudly announced in numerous media.

You do have a couple of options:
1) If you paid by credit card, you could dispute the charge.... but the airline will likely 'win' that one.
2) You can file a lawsuit against 'Orbitz' since they received your money... and failed to provide the services contracted. Of course, they will argue the airline got it... but you should argue that your contract was with them and NOT with the airline. THEIR contract was with the airline.