Empress,

I had an argument about two weeks ago on a CDG-YUL-YVR-SEA on a H Fare, it was a fare that didn't allow any stopover but I made full use of the less than 24h connection rule at in YUL and YVR.

I took CDG-YUL on Friday, stayed overnight in Montreal, took the YUL-YVR on Saturday and the YVR-SEA on Sunday (had to be in Seattle early Monday morning).

I tried to upgrade all segments (well, it didn't work for the dash-8 ride) with a single SWU from Paris but only the CDG-YUL cleared in advance so I was confirmed C on the transatlantic segment and confirmed H for the rest.

In Paris, I said, could you put a note to the next agent in my PNR saying that the SWU has been collected in Paris?

They said that there is no need to put a note, they will see it in Montreal.

Upon check-in in Montreal, after my new SE card refused to work in the automated kiosks, I enquired about my upgrade and the agent said, well sir, if you want to upgrade, you will need a certificate.

I replied: No, the cert was collected in Paris and since it is valid for the origin to the destination, only one SWU should cover it.

She said, it is not a connection, it is a stopover and therefore it requires no additional SWU (I had plenty left but I wanted to know how to handle it before using the new 2004 SWUs).

I explained to the agent, look at the ticket, this is a paper ticket and you will see in the x/o box that it is indeed a connection. The agent said, for it to be a connection, you should have taken the afternoon YUL-YVR yesterday.

After arguing for a while, she called someone and said: Go to the MLL and sort this out with the concierge.

Upon my arrival in the lounge, I had the same type of argument with the MLL agent so I asked to conctact the concierge. The agent told me that the concierge won't be there before the boarding of my flight.

Therefore, I called the reservations desk and explained the situation to an agent and I had the same type of argument. I asked, could you check with a supervisor, it is a connection since the fare allows no stopover. After chatting for a while with the supervisor, the agent came back and said, well, I am sorry, you were right.

I said, thank you, could you put a note in my PNR to the attention of the MLL agent for him to issue me a business class ticket without a SWU.

No problem sir.

So I finally got my boarding pass.

Just before boarding, I had a discussion with the concierge in Montreal about the agents not knowing about the rules and I asked if I should have handled it in another way.

She replied, no sir, the problem is that they don't use the same system in Paris so they can't leave a message to the next agent from Paris and nobody knows about all the rules. Therefore, please call me in advance if you think that there will be a problem with your upgrade and I will put a note in your file.

Is there a CIC that I can quote that explains that less than 24h is not a stopover on an international ticket?


Regards,
FRAC