ilneigetu

Booked a ticket 4 months ago for a trade show I go every year in Frankfurt
used my flight pass upgraded the flight booked hotels etc...

For context I live in rural new brunswick and Bathurst (zbf) is the closest airport roughly an hour drive

checked my booking the night before a was good showed up on app etc...

got to the airport 1 hour before (no luggage to check in)
was told by gate agent flight had been reimbursed....

showed them my booking and confirmation and they said I need to call concierge

which I did...
got disconnected
called again was told no seats available on the flight to Montreal (2 a day and the 1230 was only one which would get me to Frankfurt on time for show...)
asked gate agent and was told lots of seats...

concierge called me back at this time 20+ minutes had gone by and agent was saying closing flight and doors in 5 which she extended by another 5 minutes

concierge said we are trying...
I told them get me on this flight and they can sort out while I am on flight to Montreal..

concierge we are trying I understand..

you understand that if I miss this plane because someone on your end f----ed up and I will miss my flights....

so after being on hold and door of plane closes engine starts concierge says ok we fixed it...

good job..... glad your helping out...

not sure what to do and not pleased to say least
should I now check all.my bookings and assume they will be cancelled or refunded...

canadiancow

They can determine when it was cancelled, and by whom. I'd press very hard for that information.

I worked with a concierge on Saturday over a similar situation, but they reopened the door to get me on, so I was just trying to figure it out after the fact.

If an agent did it, that would be very traceable.

I'm not sure any agent can really help if you show up at less than an hour out with no booking, but it's a shame it couldn't have been done in time.

ilneigetu

concierge said it was a glitch with flight pass bookings

I said odd as
1) I changed my seats less than 2 weeks ago
2) spoke with concierge in montreal on 24th oct about rerouting via montreal and he looked and said better to stay with my current booking
3) got an email on the 3rd nov asking me to check in etc...
(kicking myself for not checking in on line..)

also never got a flight credit back nor my eupgrade points....

codfather

I agree with canadiancow for sure, it is imperative that you find out who cancelled it and why. As he said, it is difficult to complete a booking like that in the limited time you had.

Super unfortunate they couldn't hold the flight any longer all the same...

canadiancow

1) So you had a booking less than 2 weeks ago
2) If you call a concierge, saying you're flying X-Y-Z, and want to know if there are better options, they're likely going to just search for X-Z without pulling up your booking
3) I routinely get those emails for bookings I've cancelled

Not saying you don't have a case in general, but you're going to want to think very hard how you word anything to AC, because all three points you outlined are basically irrelevant.

But yes, you should always check in at T-24 so that you know if there are problems with enough time to solve them. I had a friend today who didn't try checking in until arund T-90, and OLCI wouldn't work. That was a frantic rush to the airport.

MSPeconomist

Let's be very clear here that it's a good practice to do OLCI soon after T-24 but this is *not required.*

keitherson

Many airlines have gotten rid of this requirement and just check you in automatically

ilneigetu

Initial booking was made in August through a latitude flight pass
upgraded flight on booking in august
flight credit and eupgrade where taken from my account
AC claims the flight was reimbursed when I arrived at airport

checked my flight pass and no cancellations or reimbursements ever took place also have record of booking and when I was upgraded...

seems like someone or something happened and when I called AC and concierge they claim it was glitch with flight pass

my position is that their glitch shouldn't be my problem

was able to rebook and just arrived in Frankfurt but with lots of headaches and calls after being told by concierge we will give you benefit of the doubt....

I am like ... what benefit of doubt you messed up and I suffered because of it...

IluvSQ

I'm sorry, what does " reimbursed" mean? Cancelled and flight credit returned to your wallet?

ilneigetu

they keep on saying reimbursed
not sure
as I think it is a term they use when they cancel a flight pass book and "reimburse" your flight pass wallet

I checked history of my flight pass and did not see any cancellations/reimbursements with the exception of yesterday when new bookings were made

canadiancow

Agreed, but not doing it leads to situations like the OP.

2 minutes of your time can save you a ton of hassle.

And what happens if your booking was cancelled? The benefit of an explicit check-in is that you get immediate feedback that "all is good" or "all is not good".

Sometimes "not good" is as simple as SSSS, but even with that, it means you know you have to either:
1. Show up before check-in cutoff
2. If SE, ensure the concierge has checked you in so that you can collect your BPs after check-in cutoff.

I know two people (well "know" - I'm counting OP), both SE, who ran into a problem yesterday that would have been easily rectified had they attempted OLCI at T-24. Or T-12. Or T-3.

keitherson

Usually the airline sends you the boarding passes or why they couldn't when they check you in automatically.

canadiancow

I don't know what airlines you're talking about, but this has not happened to me this year on:

AC, NH, UA, DL, NZ, SQ, LH, TG

So I'm not sure what "usually" means for you, but I don't think I've ever had anything like that from any airline.

keitherson

LH Group: LH LX SN and I think LO too

Usually you have to opt-in at booking or MMB

DL usually also does the same with domestic flights