Originally Posted by
Adam Smith
A few years back, it was sometimes possible to have AC make changes to TA bookings. The general policy was that they wouldn't, but there were some exceptions, e.g. if you needed to make a change on a weekend and your TA wasn't open. I haven't had to deal with this in years, so that may or may no longer be an option.
AC will touch TA/GDS bookings within 48 hours of departure, but before then they usually will not.
Originally Posted by
Bohemian1
I know that the airline industry is still mired in ancient tech, regulations and 'customary' practices dating back to who knows when.
But I am still baffled that in this day and age they won't touch a reservation booked by a travel agency, even if it is a low added value OTA. Since it does little to add any value to the actual traveler, I'm sure there is a sound / entrenched business reason in there somewhere that is unlikely to be disrupted.
It depends how the ticket was issued. If the travel agent used the AC travel agent website or some other direct connect to AC and the ticket was issued on AC internal forms (ticket numbers 014 21XX) then AC exchanging the ticket should not be an issue. If the ticket was issued in the GDS on neutral forms, unless the TA used Amadeus, once AC exchanges the ticket to its own internal forms, there is no way for the travel agent to subsequently exchange that again and apply the value to a new ticket. If the TA used Amadeus, then they should still be able to further exchange because AC is also on Amadeus.
From the business side, you are a customer of the travel agency, not AC/other airline directly. The TA is responsible for servicing the itinerary, collecting payment from you, and settling that payment with the airline.