Airline credits gone, agent to blame?

CRANSTON, R.I. (WPRI) - When a Cranston family went to cash in on their airline credits, they were told they were gone.

The family earned more than $600 dollars in travel credits and their travel agent told them to use them or lose them. Well, they lost them alright, and you'll never guess where they went.

As part owner of a family jewelry business, Michael Depot of knows bad P.R. can tarnish his reputation.

That's why he can't understand how a recent travel snafu was handled by AAA.
Michael booked a vacation in 2008 for a trip the following year, since the trip was so far out, he says his travel agent was helping him earn airline credits. So he earned $650!

"What she was doing was canceling our flights and re-booking them at a lower rate and all the while this was building up a credit thru Southwest that we could amass and we could use them later on," said Depot.

Michael says he contacted Southwest Airlines to extend the credits for a few more months, but Southwest told him he didn't have any credits.

Depot said, "I couldn't believe it that all of a sudden there was nothing there."

Not only were Michael's credits gone, but so were his in-laws who traveled with them. According to Michael, Southwest Airlines told him that the credits were being used by two women traveling from Los Angeles to Seattle, one of those women; the AAA travel agent who booked the trip.

Call 12 for Action contacted AAA. No one from the company would comment on camera. But according to a spokesperson, the travel agent is no longer working for the company and they are conducting an internal investigation.

Michael said he contacted AAA back in November, now, months later, with no money or credit returned to him.

"They were just giving me the runaround."

He called 12 for action.

"Just one phone call from you took care of everything."

AAA did send Michael a check for the $650 in lost credits. AAA reiterated that this was an isolated incident and in no way were they dragging their feet and had every intention of making Micheal whole, but there was a protocol with Southwest they had to follow and that takes time.