Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Travelocity rebooked me on a lower fare class - what recourse?

Last fall I booked a flight from Toronto to Zurich through Travelocity. Flight over was in H class and return I believe in L. I needed those fare classes because with Air Canada H class can be upgraded with a System Wide upgrade Certificate and L class with a Special System Wide upgrade. On Jan 18 I called them to change my return flight to an earlier flight so I could connect with another flight I needed to Take from Toronto that evening. They made the change and charged me a change fee but said the fare remained the same.

A week prior to departure I call AC to reserve my upgrade and discover that when I was rebooked, Travelocity put me in the then-lowest available fare classes - V and K rather than retianing the fare classes of my original booking. Bottom line is the K fare is not upgradeable.

I spent over an hour with an agent then supervisor at Travelocity. They basically told me it was my fault for not telling them to retain the fare classes per the orginal booking :confused::eek: and the best they could do was wave the change fee but since my orginally booked fare classes are no longer available I would have to pay the (now) higher fare - cost over $400 per person since I'd have to book H class both ways. In the process of changing my flight they moved me down to a $200 cheaper fare.

Any suggestions on how I can escalate this and get what I paid for?

Sounds like Travelocity did what they were supposed to do, booked you the best fare they could find. How could they know you wanted to retain the fare class if you didn't tell them when you called to change your flights? I'm not why sure you think you're entitled to any compensation, I don't see where Travelocity did anything wrong here.

Sounds like Travelocity did what they were supposed to do, booked you the best fare they could find. How could they know you wanted to retain the fare class if you didn't tell them when you called to change your flights? I'm not why sure you think you're entitled to any compensation, I don't see where Travelocity did anything wrong here.

So I suppose if you ordered a blue Mustang with a V-8 engine from your local dealer and prior to delivery asked them if you could change the color to red, if they said fine, you'd be OK with them giving you a red Mustang with a V-6 in it.

When you go to take delivery you notice the smaller engine, but they tell you hey it's red and it's still a Mustang - we just were able to find a cheaper one (and not give you a refund on the price difference).

Don't say it's not the same - I bought a fare with certain attributes to it beyond just getting me from A to B, just as in the example above the Mustang had a V-8 as an attribute. In each case they make a change to the attributes without telling the consumer while offering them what on the outside looks like the "same" product.

What I don't get is why you didn't book directly with Air Canada, given that you weren't looking for the rock-bottom fare price. I agree with BLI-Flyer, Travelocity did exactly what they are supposed to do, they got you the cheapst fare possible. That's why they exist. Your example is flat wrong, the fictional car dealership processed your custom order for that specific car, they did not promise to find you a Mustang at the lowest price. Huge difference.

Sorry but I'm with BLI-flyer. I don't think it's the same as your Mustang example because for most (90%+) of flyers the fare class doesn't really matter. If it did, I think the pax would make sure that it is retained.

However, AFAIK AC does not refund any fare difference, so the agent booking you into K or L would not have made any difference in fare (if they did, K would have lowered your overall fare and your change fee would have been lower.) From that perspective I wonder why he or she chose K class.

I wonder why they re-booked your outbound flight though. That is what I find most puzzling.

Cheers,

You know, I find that folks here on FT seem to be overly defensive of the nameless, faceless corporations that airlines and travel agencies represent, for reasons that I can't fathom.

That said, this is once instance in which I'll have to defend them. The car analogy is cute but not really relevant. Most people are unaware of fare classes and just want the cheapest ticket. If you knew enough to request an upgradable fare class when you booked the ticket, it would have behooved you to confim the fare class when you rebooked the ticket. I wouldn't have expected the travel agent to give you the same fare class unless you specifically asked for it.

Sorry but I'm with BLI-flyer. I don't think it's the same as your Mustang example because for most (90%+) of flyers the fare class doesn't really matter. If it did, I think the pax would make sure that it is retained.

However, AFAIK AC does not refund any fare difference, so the agent booking you into K or L would not have made any difference in fare (if they did, K would have lowered your overall fare and your change fee would have been lower.) From that perspective I wonder why he or she chose K class.

I wonder why they re-booked your outbound flight though. That is what I find most puzzling.

Cheers,

You're probably dealing with an outsourced call center that got the job because they were the lowest bidder, what do you expect?

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Online Booking Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

You're probably dealing with an outsourced call center that got the job because they were the lowest bidder, what do you expect?

They wouldn't even give me a job :(

What I don't get is why you didn't book directly with Air Canada, given that you weren't looking for the rock-bottom fare price.

With hindsight I should have booked through AC but I was not able to book what I wanted on-line on the AC web site but was able to do it from the Travelocity site at lower initial cost to me.

That said, this is once instance in which I'll have to defend them. The car analogy is cute but not really relevant. Most people are unaware of fare classes and just want the cheapest ticket. If you knew enough to request an upgradable fare class when you booked the ticket, it would have behooved you to confim the fare class when you rebooked the ticket. I wouldn't have expected the travel agent to give you the same fare class unless you specifically asked for it.

Just because "most people" have no idea of the attributes associated with fare classes (BTW I agree this is true), shouldn't mean that it's OK to re-book somebody in a lower fare class when I could have been rebooked for the exact same price/change fee on my original fare classes. How do I know? Because I checked the fares at the time and they hadn't changed.

The onus shouldn't need to be on me to ensure they are giving me the same thing they gave me before. (And for some strange reason I was not able to verify what they had done because I did not get an e-mail confirmation and could not bring it up on-line on the Traveloicty site).

Just because "most people" have no idea of the attributes associated with fare classes (BTW I agree this is true), shouldn't mean that it's OK to re-book somebody in a lower fare class when I could have been rebooked for the exact same price/change fee on my original fare classes. How do I know? Because I checked the fares at the time and they hadn't changed.

The onus shouldn't need to be on me to ensure they are giving me the same thing they gave me before. (And for some strange reason I was not able to verify what they had done because I did not get an e-mail confirmation and could not bring it up on-line on the Traveloicty site).

From what I have read you assumed they would give you the same fare class. But travelocity did what you in a way wanted them to do. They got you the cheapest fare. Here to me is a decent example of what happened. You pulled up to the drive through of McDonalds and order a double quarter pounder with cheese and ask for no pickles but by the time you get up to the window you change your mind and change your mind and decied to get a double cheese burger instead but you do not ask for no pickles because you assume since the first burger you wanted you asked for no pickles they would make the new one the same way. But give you a double cheese burger with pickles. After you drive away you realize it has pickles on it and go back demanding some type of compenstation for you not telling them you wanted it the same way as you ordered the original sandwich. Yes I know its a weird example but when I worked there as a kid a person did that and wanted a refund and then some for them not ordering the new sandwich without pickles like the first one.

People are not mind readers and please understand if you want something specific you have to say so you can just assume since the first time you asked for it and then rebook it that it will be the same way. You must request it again.

From what I have read you assumed they would give you the same fare class. But travelocity did what you in a way wanted them to do. They got you the cheapest fare. Here to me is a decent example of what happened. You pulled up to the drive through of McDonalds and order a double quarter pounder with cheese and ask for no pickles but by the time you get up to the window you change your mind and change your mind and decied to get a double cheese burger instead but you do not ask for no pickles because you assume since the first burger you wanted you asked for no pickles they would make the new one the same way. But give you a double cheese burger with pickles. After you drive away you realize it has pickles on it and go back demanding some type of compenstation for you not telling them you wanted it the same way as you ordered the original sandwich. Yes I know its a weird example but when I worked there as a kid a person did that and wanted a refund and then some for them not ordering the new sandwich without pickles like the first one.

People are not mind readers and please understand if you want something specific you have to say so you can just assume since the first time you asked for it and then rebook it that it will be the same way. You must request it again.

1. All I want is for them to take off the pickles for me since I am not allowed to remove them myself (I'm not looking for "additional" compensation.

2. Continuing with your analogy, All I wanted to do was change from a double quarter pounder to double cheeseburger, but they took it upon themselves to downgrade my outbound flight (which was not changed), sort of like them giving me fries as part of my combo even though I had ordered salad (and not changed that part of my order) because "most people" just want fries.

FWIW it seems that you have a case for the outbound flight. I would demand that travelocity puts you in an upgradable class ( the lowest available of H,B,M,U,Y) on the outbound sector since that is what you booked. On the return, though, it seems you are SOL.

In a more extreme example, I think this is the same as travelocity rebooking your outbound completely and not telling you (changing your airline for example).

Cheers,

With hindsight I should have booked through AC but I was not able to book what I wanted on-line on the AC web site but was able to do it from the Travelocity site at lower initial cost to me.

It sounds like Travelocity made a mistake by giving you H class that didn't exist (if it existed AC would have given it to you) at low price that was wrong for that fare class, and then corrected the mistake.

In other words, if you're lucky enough to get a mistake fare, don't push your luck by asking them to make changes.

Just guessing. I don't know.

You found a Big Mac priced as a cheeseburger. When you changed you mind and asked them for extra pickles, you got the pickles, but you lost the Big Mac and got the cheeseburger you actually paid for. :D

Let me see you paid for a seat to get from point A to point B and return on certain days in a certain cabin.
You made the trip exactly as paid for.
You were the expert in this case. You knew what you wanted and why. You did not convey that information to the person you dealt with. Why would a fare class make a difference to the person you dealt with.
Your butt fits in the seat exactly the same.
You are not owed anything and I loath Travelocity.

In general I agree with most of the responses, but I think both parties should have been more communicative. It would have been appropriate for travelocity to tell you about the change of fare class, but it would also have been good to mention it was important to you that it not change. So I agree that you could have done more, but I do think there is some legitimate room for frustration with travelocity.

On a side note, the supervisor did mention that the fare class was no longer available, correct? So i'm not sure what you could have really gotten anyway without paying for the fare difference, which isn't really travelocity's fault. Unless I'm missing something?

It sounds like Travelocity made a mistake by giving you H class that didn't exist (if it existed AC would have given it to you) at low price that was wrong for that fare class, and then corrected the mistake.

In other words, if you're lucky enough to get a mistake fare, don't push your luck by asking them to make changes.

Just guessing. I don't know.

You found a Big Mac priced as a cheeseburger. When you changed you mind and asked them for extra pickles, you got the pickles, but you lost the Big Mac and got the cheeseburger you actually paid for. :D

Wrong - AC's web site has pretty limited functionality.

I worked in an airline call center a number of years ago. Call center employees (notice I didn't call them "agents" as they once truly were in bygone days) were taught to book the itinerary in Y (full fare coach) and then do a simple transaction where the computer would rebook/refare to the lowest available bucket/price. This prevented an agent from the time-confusing job of searching unlimited numbers of flight combinations for a specific fare bucket.

I suspect things are either unchanged, or similar these days. If correct, I'd have to side with Travelocity on this one (as much as I hate to as I've had issues with them myself). In the instant case, the OP should have specified he/she needed specific buckets booked/maintained. Just my opinion.....

After getting no satisfaction from Travelocity, I took the issue up with a contact at Air Canada and they were able to restore me to the booking classes I needed, so all I need now is for the upgrades to clear. ^

In the words of the Air Canada person who resolved the issue - "I can't believe that Travelocity would move you down to K class which doesn't even accrue mileage - that's not right."

That's great! congrats on it all working out-and nice to hear that AC came through!

This is the exact reason why I justify paying $50 to my travel agent when I want tickets issued. I tell them what I want and how I want it booked. Since I have a knowledge of Sabre commands, they sometimes let me sit down at the desk to do the booking.