Originally Posted by
travels007
I booked an United Airlines flight from SFO to Hawaii for travel in September 2022 using Turkish Airlines miles. I did this on the phone on 12/31/2021 right before my Turkish Airlines miles expired. I can no longer make the trip and am wondering what my options are.
1. If I cancel the flight, will I get the Turkish Airlines back? My guess is probably not since the miles expired on 12/31/2021?
2. If item 1 is right, then my only option would be to change the flight to a future date in February 2022 that I can hopefully use. Will I have to pay a change fee if the original flight I booked was 9am to 11:48am and now the current scheduled time is 8:53am to 11:31am? Is this considered enough of a time change to avoid the $25 change fee?
3. Is the best way to change the flight a call to the call center (they were hit or miss when I was trying to book the initial flight)? Are there any other ways to do the change like email?
Originally Posted by
travels007
An update: After multiple attempts with Turkish Airlines call center to change my flight to an open ticket or to a new date in February 2023 with no luck at all (I called at least 5 times), I tried calling United Airlines as one of the Turkish Airlines reps suggested. Surprisingly, the United Airlines representative was able to change my flight to February 2023 even though my original award booking was done through Turkish Airlines. Maybe it is because there was a small schedule change. One of the Turkish Airlines reps did mention that the Turkish Airlines system was not recognizing the schedule change.
The hiccup is... The Turkish Airlines website still shows the September 2022 date under the Turkish Airlines confirmation number (UXXXXX). The United Airlines website shows the new February 2023 date under a different United Airlines confirmation number (FXXXXX) and also the Turkish Airlines confirmation number (UXXXXX). The United Airlines website also says the ticket status is ticketed Dec 31, 2021. Will I have any issues with this flight in Feb 2023? I assume that as long as United Airlines shows my flight, I should be ok? Has anyone has this issue before?
Originally Posted by
travels007
The confirmation number did not change. There was always a different confirmation number on the United website versus the Turkish Airlines website.
I did not get a new ticket number when United changed my flight to February 2023. I am only able to find the ticket number from the United website when I click the button to get an emailed receipt. Am I supposed to get a new ticket number?
Given how unhelpful Turkish Airlines call center reps are, what should I tell them? Or should I try emailing one of the US ticket offices?
Originally Posted by
SK AAR
The ticket def. needs to be reissued (i.e. the ticket will be updated and gets a new ticket No.) and only TK is able to do that. Currently, the flights in Feb 2023 do not match the ticket in the reservation and you will not be able to travel. UA only changed the flights in the reservation but will not be able to/will refuse to reissue award ticket issued by another airline.
You need to contact your local TK ticket office and explain that UA has rebooked/changed the flights and ask TK to reissue the ticket. Hopefully, TK will not object to the fact that the new travel dates exceed the validity of the ticket, but give it a try. But give it a few days; it's possible that UA has requested TK to reissue the ticket (it can take a while to get reissued), but if the ticket No. remains the same as originally issued last year, you need to take action.
Update 2:
a. I called United and they told me the ticket number associated with the Feb 2023 date is actually the old ticket number with a 2 at the end.. So 239XXXXXXXXXX2 (14 digits total). When I asked how I can see the ticket number on the United website, the agent didn't have an answer. He emailed me a receipt but the receipt showed the old ticket number, 239XXXXXXXXXX. The United agent told me I should be OK to travel in Feb 2023 but told me to ask Turkish Airlines why the Turkish website is showing the old reservation.
b. I emailed a few US ticket offices and got a response pretty quickly from the LAX office. They told me I have to call the 1-800 call center number and cancel my ticket and pay a change fee (which wouldn't work because my Turkish airlines miles are now expired).
c. I called Turkish Airlines 1-800 call center number and explained how I changed my flight through United but the Turkish airlines website was still showing the old flight info. The agent told me that their system can't see updated United airlines information and told me I should be fine to travel. Then the agent offered to add the new ticket number to my account, so I gave her the new ticket number with the 2 at the end. She said she put it into the system and it should update in a few hours. Of course, it has been over 12 hours and the new flight doesn't show up on TK website.
After getting off the phone, I googled and found that Turkish airlines ticket numbers are 13 digits so the ticket number that United sees is kind of odd.
1. Is it weird to have a 14 digital ticket number? If United has a 14 digit ticket number associated with the new Feb 2023 flight, should I be OK? I am able to pick a seat on the United app for the Feb 2023 flight.
2. Should I be concerned that the receipt in the United system shows the old ticket number but the agent on the phone told me there is a 14 digit ticket number for the Feb 2023 flight? The receipt shows the new Feb 2023 flight date.
3. Any suggestions on what to do next? I live near SFO so I could go to the ticket counter at the airport but I am not sure if they would be able to do anything.