ozstamps

Like 100s of folks here Joh and I booked those Business Class Mexican computer error fares via Orbitz to Puerto Vallata. We booked from SFO and the price was about $55 + tax RT.

We selected mid October, as we has imagined we'd be in the USA and Vegas around that weekend. UA airfares to USA from OZ mid October are $100s dearer than flying end October. so we'd really prefer to fly to PVR late October.

Has anyone managed to have Orbitz or MX change a date on these fares? Lots of folks have flown down already without incident, that is clear. Just not sure what the response will be if a date change is contemplated. They appear to be booked in full Business Class category AFAIK, so theoretically changes SHOULD be possible for dates if routing is unchanged.

Would Orbitz or MX be the ones to approach on this? Thoughts please?

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~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

izzik

I believe that if you made the booking via Orbitz, then only Orbitz can make changes to your reservation.. which also means that you must pay whatever price difference/fees they quote you.. regardless of what the airline says. I had a previous run-in with Travelocity, who claimed the only other fare available was an extra $160, despite United's claim that there was a cheaper fare.. since then, I have always gone through the ual.com website.

I'm not sure how this works in the computer system.. does the booking agent "lock" the reservation or something? Or does this exist strictly in policy and not actual system architecture?

aisleorwindow

Not entirely true, izzik.
You CAN change a res. made on Orbitz through United, you do NOT have to call Orbitz. I've done it. United will, of course, charge you the $100 change fee.

gleff

Orbitz has never shown fare rules online for this glitch, either, so I'd have no idea what to expect: ------------------
More Room Throughout Coach: the Website of Free Miles and Free Markets

rcs85551

ozstamps, did you receive either a paper ticket or e-ticket receipt? It should state any applicable restrictions/endorsements in the appropriate field on the ticket.

If the fare restricts changes, then it should be stated there.

ScottC

Crossposted here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum.../013280-8.html

Perhaps it's better to close or move this one as it doesn't really belong in Milesbuzz? Just a thought...

[This message has been edited by ScottC (edited 09-22-2002).]

Eugene

AFAIK, even with "full fare" tickets, you can't change your first segment without repricing the ticket.

chix

Agreed.

ozstamps

rcs85551 - I think they were e-tickets. A US based friend paid for them, as they did not accept OZ issued credit cards on that night. All I got was an email from Orbitz IIRC with dates etc.

Eugene .. surely that does not apply with full fare It'l Business class tickets? Not that these necessarily are, who knows WHAT class they are, but a full UA C ticket AFAIK has infinitely changeable fly dates, hence their attraction to businessmen?



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~ Glen ~ Calling all United 1K Members - please join .. www.1Kflyers.com

Eugene

Sorry, but it does apply to "full fare" tickets. You can have it refunded, or change fly dates without incurring any penalties, with one exception - you can't change the first segment without having your ticket repriced. Typically, full fares do not change all that much, so under most circumstances it's not really an issue, but in this particular case you wouldn't want to have it repriced, would you now?

LLZ

My thought exactly...push too hard and you'll go over the cliff too! C'mon folks you lucked out...isn't that enough?

Andrew Yiu

Actually it doesn't have to be repriced. When you purchase a full fare ticket, one of the conditions is that it's fully changeable. So they just go in and change the dates on any of the segments. The only time which a full fare ticket needs to be re-priced is if there's a change in routing.

ozstamps

Not that I buy too many full fares Empress, but that is what my understanding was, but I do not claim to be an expert at all in that area.

I have a current UA 'M' one way ticket LAX-SFO that I have changed the date of 3 times, with no problem at all, the last time being a few weeks back. I have also changed direction twice on it, same deal = done with no questions. 'M' is a high fare class coach fare, but not full Y of course, and it has caused no problem at all.

If I choose to cancel it I get a full refund tomorrow. It probably cost me 2 or 3 times a 'W' or 'T' fare. That I understood was the trade-off when I bought it ... lack of flexibility versus much higher cost?

Anyway, re the MX tickets, I am interested to learn if anyone ever asked MX or Orbitz if a date change was possible? I agree if that requires re-faring it is not a question I'd be asking. However, it *may* be Orbitz paid whatever MX wanted for these, and as far as MX is concerned they are flexible tickets. Who knows?

Eugene

Not sure about your experiences, but I'm speaking from personal experience in a similar situation. I had to get my tickets refunded on more than occasion (all were "full-fare" tickets) when I couldn't start my travel on the original date. I've been told by both travel agent and airlines, that I can change anything and everything, including adding unlimited stopovers (provided they were on the same routing) and changing dates without any penalties or fees, with one exception - I couldn't change the first segment. Since the full-fare at that time was substantially higher than the one I've paid originally, I refunded my tickets and canceled the trips.

As usual, YMMV.

bseller

I spoke to MX yesterday concerning my flights ORD-PVR which were to have taken place on Nov 9 returning Nov 13. Something has come up and I won't be able to make those dates.
I can't ABSOLUTELY be certain, but I was told by MX that:
1) so long as changes to dates were made prior to departure of first outbound flight, and 2) availability was there,
I'd have NO problems. They mentioned that if I wanted to change dates after the departure of the outbound flight, a trip to the airport and a "re-validation" of the ticket would be required.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that MX rep was right, as I won't be able to use my originally booked dates.
Best wishes.