Programs: BA Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club
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Booking LHR-MNL-LHR gone wrong
Hi Guys,
I am coming to this forum to hopefully have some help with a dilemma I have just discovered just now. My parents are travelling to MNL from LHR via HKG on CX and have made a massive booboo.
There are 2 pax meant to be travelling however mother has accidentally booked only 1!
Now, being a flyertalker I was thinking whether CX has a 24 hour cancellation policy on tickets booked via their online channel (I know some airlines have them but not all) - can someone shed a light on this?
Reason being is that dad cannot travel without mum and there is no more Q bucket seats on dad's booked flight so I was thinking of cancelling dad's flight and booking them the correct flights with the correct number of pax's on a later flight where there is more than 2Q seats left.
FYI - the seat that is currently booked is the cheapest and lowest one so the restriction is that when cancelled their lose everything.
Any help / advise would be appreciated. The CX UK helpline opens in 7 hours and hopefully I will be more armed and informed.
sounds like you used online booking. Their 24hours 7 days world wide E-desk is 00800 2747 2200 world wide toll free. they might be able to help by extending special arrangement considering you wanted to buy 2 but just bot 1.
Programs: BA Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club
Posts: 672
Quote:
Originally Posted by fakecd
sounds like you used online booking. Their 24hours 7 days world wide E-desk is 00800 2747 2200 world wide toll free. they might be able to help by extending special arrangement considering you wanted to buy 2 but just bot 1.
never heard 24 horu cancel policy.
Thanks fakecd,
I will give the number a shot! Can I just ask which country that number is?
How much more is the next-highest available fare on the flights on which you already have a ticket? Would booking your second parent separately and then calling in to link the PNRs be a financially viable option? In this scenario, CX should still be pretty good about seating them together even on separate records, especially if they could OLCI 48 hours before departure.
Programs: BA Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club
Posts: 672
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyJ82
How much more is the next-highest available fare on the flights on which you already have a ticket? Would booking your second parent separately and then calling in to link the PNRs be a financially viable option? In this scenario, CX should still be pretty good about seating them together even on separate records, especially if they could OLCI 48 hours before departure.
Hi CrazyJ82,
I looked for the next one up which is +£200 (in N) but mother was adamant that they need to travel on the same aircraft at the same time no buts (which included no price changes from what she saw on the screen... parents!).
I looked for the next one up which is +£200 (in N) but mother was adamant that they need to travel on the same aircraft at the same time no buts (which included no price changes from what she saw on the screen... parents!).
/AE
GBP200 isn't precisely a small amount anyway, so I'd do what you're going to do by calling in to ask for some leniency as a start. That said, if your parents are anything like mine, if CX don't give way, the prospect of losing all the money already spent on this Q fare just to rebook a new one on a different flight will quickly persuade her that a mixed Q/N on the same flights (even at GBP200 more) will be an acceptable compromise!
ETA: You know, another point to make is this: If she only booked one ticket, that might mean she was only searching for one right from the start of booking. If there isn't more Q availability on that flight, it could be she got the last seat and there would not have been another one availability even if she had searched for two. Presumably she booked those flights because they're most convenient. So in the end, she's only paying an extra GBP200 to get them both on what she felt were the most convenient flights, instead of the extra GBP400 it would have cost to book them both N fares. And with Q/N fares (assuming they have no status) they wouldn't have been able to pre-select seats in any event. This all reeks of rationalization but you gotta do what you gotta do when dealing with stubborn parents.
Programs: BA Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club
Posts: 672
All,
Thank you for your help with this matter!
It was like the FT / Revenue management gods where with me tonight and magically an N seat appeared to be only £50 more than the Q seat so it is a bargain compared to paying £200. This has now been booked and lectured her on what she has done (Seeing her tomorrow so I will ask what exactly she has done).
Now to call CX to see if they are kind enough to join the two separate PNRs together
Programs: BA Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club
Posts: 672
Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyJ82
GBP200 isn't precisely a small amount anyway, so I'd do what you're going to do by calling in to ask for some leniency as a start. That said, if your parents are anything like mine, if CX don't give way, the prospect of losing all the money already spent on this Q fare just to rebook a new one on a different flight will quickly persuade her that a mixed Q/N on the same flights (even at GBP200 more) will be an acceptable compromise!
ETA: You know, another point to make is this: If she only booked one ticket, that might mean she was only searching for one right from the start of booking. If there isn't more Q availability on that flight, it could be she got the last seat and there would not have been another one availability even if she had searched for two. Presumably she booked those flights because they're most convenient. So in the end, she's only paying an extra GBP200 to get them both on what she felt were the most convenient flights, instead of the extra GBP400 it would have cost to book them both N fares. And with Q/N fares (assuming they have no status) they wouldn't have been able to pre-select seats in any event. This all reeks of rationalization but you gotta do what you gotta do when dealing with stubborn parents.
You know what... I could have used those lines If only my brain was quick enough! Alas the crisis has ended! Thank you for all the advice I will definitely remember it the next time this happens .
Moderator: Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: MPC,UA,AA
Posts: 4,578
Quote:
Originally Posted by angeloedades
All,
Thank you for your help with this matter!
It was like the FT / Revenue management gods where with me tonight and magically an N seat appeared to be only £50 more than the Q seat so it is a bargain compared to paying £200. This has now been booked and lectured her on what she has done (Seeing her tomorrow so I will ask what exactly she has done).
Now to call CX to see if they are kind enough to join the two separate PNRs together
/AE
Glad that the situation was resolved. Yes, it is important that she will not repeat this .
Programs: BA Executive Club, Emirates Skywards, Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club
Posts: 672
Quote:
Originally Posted by cxfan1960
If she could only enter one passenger's name, of course she was only buying one. How did she think that she was buying two?
I had the very question to my mother and she said she did book two and waited for the etkts to arrived and I said well... if you enter two names, two etkts should arrive.
CX displays and sends out emails with one name per ticket per email. So if its two, it may be in the queue.
But really next time, perhaps you can ask your mum to book through the services of a High St travel agent like Trailfinders and can avoid panic situations like these.
but you gotta do what you gotta do when dealing with stubborn parents.
