Let me see if I got this right.
You're mad at CO club agents because:
A. Your travel agent booked the wrong flights.
B. You changed flights on a kiosk without understanding what you were doing.
C. When trying to fix your error, they quoted you the fare differential?
Things seemed to have worked out well enough for you. I would suggest that if you have followed through on A, or at least B at a minimum, then you wouldn't have put yourself in such a position to begin with.
Originally Posted by
techauthor
In another thread I asked if a 30 min connection (Co to CoExpress) was possible. Several said not likely.
Despite my asking the travel agent for a 3 hr layover in IAH, she booked the 30 min connection. When I got to EWR this morning I went to the self-service kiosk (no checked baggage) and saw some options for flight changes. I was a bit rushed and made a mistake, switching from the 1:30 flight via IAH to a 7PM direct. That's the last flight of the day, and company rules absolutely positively forbid taking it outbound (as in loss of job for non arrival).
I went directly to the club and asked if they could get me back to where I was, if not exactly to where I wanted. The club agent made a few calls and said the fare class was not available and I'd have to pay $1050.00 more to get it back. Gulp!
I asked if standby was possible and she said no. I asked for the club supervisor and the agent said she was "busy". By this time, it is about 1:00.
I decided to head for the gate and see if the gate agent could get me on as a standby. I explained and she called a red-jacketed fellow over; I explained again and he said, "I don't see why not." About 5 minutes of clicking and I had what I wanted, original 1:30 to IAH, layover (and a nice dinner at a seafood place whose name I can't remember) and here I am in OKC. The only thing I lost out on was a nice exit row seat. Still, I had a window near the back.
By the way, the original flight arrived 10 minutes before the connector the travel agent put me on. By the time I got off the first leg, that flight would have had to be one gate over to make it.
By the way, if I had to pay to get on an earlier flight, I would have, although I'd have first checked for cheaper alternates (different airlines, or airports, or possibly using miles). Anyone who has been unemployed for a while would easily pay 1K to get their job back; I'd have paid just to avoid the risk of losing it.
As you might imagine, I am not happy with the agent in the club. Generally, they're better than most and far more customer service oriented.
Steve