Problems with MCOs
 

I decided on a spur of the moment to fly YYZ - LHR for a weekend (with the seat sale only about $460 and only had to stay over a Sunday).

I took my flight choice and a MCO which I received in October 2000 to my favorite travel agent and said "book it". My travel agent said the MCO wasn't dated so there may be a problem in using it . .

I left my travel agent to book the ticket and when I came back she reported that AC denied the MCO as it wasn't dated. It appears AC has had a lot of problems with MCOs and they have decided to error in their favour. Rather than blasting my travel agent or the voice on the phone I will take the MCO to the airport this weekend to see if I can get it validated.

It seems strange to me that AC wants the customer to be an expert on if an MCO is valid or not.

Lets hope that I find a reasonable ticket agent on Saturday!!!

AC staff and MCOs are a bad mix. Good luck - you'll need it... Just don't get arrested like that SE member!

Back Seat Join the club regarding MCO Problems,

Please let me know how this turned out. Do me a favour and take a photo copy of it for me, I will keep you informed also on my problem with AC & MCO's also when I return in 2 weeks from Asia.

Canadian, I was thinking of you when I started to have this problem. . . . I will certainly post the outcome when I go to the airport on Saturday!

AC thinks that whenever an MCO or ticket is not properly issued the customer is a crook and cannot be believed without extensive backroom "verification". A friend of mine had a ticket issued at AC counter in AMS, hand written, which caused significant problems here as the seal was omitted by AMS agent. It took approx 2 hours of discussion and waiting, 2 airport tkt counters before YVR finally fixed the problem. Perhaps they are being cautious but the customer just feels like there is zero trust and somehow AC's mistake is their fault.

MHD Club.

MCO Club?

MCO fraud is the probably the biggest single revenue loss to an airline after credit card fraud--and much easier to perpetrate.

Any irregularity in an MCO is a red flag to a competent agent. If there is an irregularity in an MCO from another carrier, I, for one, would never take it.

Irregularity can include missing dates, missing information, illegible document numbers, audit coupons still attached, the works.

If accepting an MCO for any reason, I never leave the counter without going over it with a fine tooth comb.

not a bad idea...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by Fly Boy (edited 01-24-2001).]

Could somebody tell me what an MCO is?? (I thought it was Orlando).

MCO = Misc. Charge Order.

The airlines give it to you as compensation if you have been bumped on an oversold flight.

They are also used for excess baggage payments, gift certificates, and random things like that.

It seems to also be an indication of an incompetent agent, somewhere.

If that's the case, then there is something grotesquely wrong with the entire system.

It's unreasonable to expect even a frequent flyer to know exactly how one of these instruments should be filled out. To expect and occaisional flyer to know all the ins and outs, and what constitutes a "correctly completed MCO" is just plain absurd.

Seems like this system is ripe for abusing and defrauding customers.

Why doesn't AC or StarAlliance just release a credit card for refund processing? Most major companies (eg, Future Shop, Home Depot) have gift cards that let you deduct the value from it with each purchase...

Same idea can be done with AC... releasing a credit value card. This can be done with a magnetic strip to a central authorization centre or a smart card with value stored on it.

Frauds can be reduced... and customers will not be treated like criminals.

People are still treated with respect using a credit card with risk of fraud. Whey should people using MCOs be treated unfairly?

Test

KH--exactly, exactly, and exactly.

IATA have been doing their collective nut for years trying to figure out how to stamp out the problem of ticket and MCO fraud.

There are something like a million blank paper tickets floating out there unaccounted for, and airline security folks take this stuff really seriously, because of the potential revenue loss.

An MCO is essentially a cheque, and a blank MCO is essentially a blank cheque. No $ limit, no signature required.

The move to electronic tickets was not predicated on customer convenience, it was based on fraud prevention.