Northwest WorldPerks (Discontinued Program) - (Rant) NWA.com gives wrong total - screws up voucher

Ok, forgive my little rant here - we are all entitled to blow off a little steam at NW. last week I booked 2 tickets (together) EWR-CDG-ORD for me and my wife. Total price was $1130. I had an electronic voucher for $1095 that I put into NWA.com giving me a final price of $35 - which I gladly paid. This morning I got a cc charge for $550(something) which is exactly half the ticket. Turns out that even though NWA.com said one price, the rules state that you can only use a voucher for 1 ticket. Had I known this originally when I booked it (like NWA.com saying a total price to charge of $550) I would have just paid cash. Now my $1095 voucher was fully used (from an MCO - no remaining value allowed) for a ticket costing $550. No good FTer would ever let an airline do that - they would find a ticket of full value.

Anyone ever have this problem with nwa.com?

BTW, to NWs credit, I spoke to a supervisor at the elite line who is currently looking into this for a resolution. He was very helpful and believed that I would not (in right mind) use an $1100 voucher for a $550 ticket. Now I am waiting for the call back with a solution. Anyone want to bet whether they side with me or not?

Thanks for letting me rant a little...

Gary

What is an MCO?

Besides being the airport in Orlando (which has nothing to do with my story).

An MCO is a Misc Change Order - done for things like a price change after a ticket is booked.

I just got a call back from NW. Jason (the one that helped me) called to say that they have agreed to refund the ticket amount. He did make a comment that if I wasnt a PE that this would have been almost impossible without the original printed screen from the web site (which I cant seem to find but I know it is somewhere).

So kudos to NW for treating their top customers like valued assets! I was considering a change to UA next year, but I just threw that idea out the window.

Did you have an electronic MCO or a paper MCO?

I'm pretty sure it said somewhere that the amount could only be used towards ONE ticket...but maybe it's just an assumed rule by those who get bumped a lot :)

Glad you got a resolution to your liking. Also glad to see NW went out of their way to help one of their elites.

-RM

I have also been told that a voucher was only good for one ticket, not one reservation, even after some protest. Luckily my voucher was worth less than half the reservation, so I just did that and my companion and I split the total cost by two. It's an odd little annoyance. The crack about you being PE and it would otherwise be next to impossible makes me squirm, though. Doesn't seem right.

I have also been told that a voucher was only good for one ticket, not one reservation, even after some protest. Luckily my voucher was worth less than half the reservation, so I just did that and my companion and I split the total cost by two. It's an odd little annoyance. The crack about you being PE and it would otherwise be next to impossible makes me squirm, though. Doesn't seem right.

You are right that it is one ticket - not reservation - which I did not know when I booked. The odd part was that NWA.com showed it being applied to the entire reservation. If I knew it was only 1 ticket I would have either:
A. Booked it into B for an upgrade
B. Threw in a side trip to HNL for more miles
C. Paid cash and just used the $1100 for one heckuva huge mile run

I am actually glad that status had something to do with it. Technically what I did was not right according to the rules (regardless of how the computer showed the price). If I was not a PE I am sure they would have still done something but probably not letting me apply it to both. They might have let me cancel and rebook with cash to keep the original voucher (which I would have accepted as well).

I did send a thank you email to NW for the excellent customer service to make sure the agent gets the credit he deserves.

You are right that it is one ticket - not reservation - which I did not know when I booked. The odd part was that NWA.com showed it being applied to the entire reservation. If I knew it was only 1 ticket I would have either:
A. Booked it into B for an upgrade
B. Threw in a side trip to HNL for more miles
C. Paid cash and just used the $1100 for one heckuva huge mile run

I am actually glad that status had something to do with it. Technically what I did was not right according to the rules (regardless of how the computer showed the price). If I was not a PE I am sure they would have still done something but probably not letting me apply it to both. They might have let me cancel and rebook with cash to keep the original voucher (which I would have accepted as well).

I did send a thank you email to NW for the excellent customer service to make sure the agent gets the credit he deserves.

What is the difference between a MCO and a ECV( which is what I got for a price change?) And do you always lose the difference if the ECV is larger than the ticket you are paying for?

What is the difference between a MCO and a ECV( which is what I got for a price change?) And do you always lose the difference if the ECV is larger than the ticket you are paying for?

An MCO is an ECV unless its a TCV (Electronic vs Paper) but an ECV does not have to be an MCO (it could be a bump voucher). Certain ECVs that are for fare changes (012028 ticket numbers) have no residual value and are only good for 1 ticket on 1 reservation in the same name as the person it was issued to. ECVs for other reasons like bumps (012027 ticket numbers) have a residual value after used and can be used for MANY tickets until it has no remaining value.

AND I should not know that much about ECVs but now I do and will never make that mistake again.

You are right that it is one ticket - not reservation - which I did not know when I booked. The odd part was that NWA.com showed it being applied to the entire reservation. If I knew it was only 1 ticket I would have either:

I did send a thank you email to NW for the excellent customer service to make sure the agent gets the credit he deserves.
That's what I kept going back to, in your story... why would one side of the system calculate the amount to one value, and another side of the system calculate it to another value?

The irony would be if the RA was disciplined for not following protocol by the letter... or he might have said that, to make you feel they were bending the rules, to make you feel better.

Steve B.

Besides being the airport in Orlando (which has nothing to do with my story).

An MCO is a Misc Change Order - done for things like a price change after a ticket is booked.
Actually, it's a "Miscellaneous CHARGES order".

That's what I kept going back to, in your story... why would one side of the system calculate the amount to one value, and another side of the system calculate it to another value?

The irony would be if the RA was disciplined for not following protocol by the letter... or he might have said that, to make you feel they were bending the rules, to make you feel better.

Steve B.

I wouldnt be too worried about him - it was the int'l rates desk that actually spent the time trying to figure it out. They are the ones that are on the new ticket as the issuing body and not the res center.