channa

Exactly. Not to mention, the DOT doesn't care why a reservation would be cancelled in the computer.

This circumstance is specifically mentioned on the DOT's IDB page:

* To be eligible for compensation, you must have a confirmed reservation. A written confirmation issued by the airline or an authorized agent or reservation service qualifies you in this regard even if the airline can't find your reservation in the computer, as long as you didn't cancel your reservation or miss a reconfirmation deadline.

Often1

Start with Orbitz.

As an aside and not particularly helpful because it's spilt milk for OP, but as a future matter for others who make the decision to book through third-party vendors such as Orbitz, the first call is to that vendor. Sooner or later you may be able to get a carrier to take over a ticket issued by one of these vendors but it is almost always a pain and time-consuming.

Here, the IDB thing doesn't work. Nobody suggests that AS "lost" a booking. It appears to have been affirmatively cancelled.

andymell

This bit of the op caught my eye:

I assume he/she meant cancelled and rescheduled it. Perhaps Orbitz was going through and rescheduling all bookings involving Go since they were shutting down. Their net inadvertently caught OP's booking and they rescheduled it for a later day, perhaps via HA. Maybe Orbitz somehow did this after OP's family departed KOA or they did it ahead of time and Go! goofed and let them board. This wouldn't be the first time that Orbitz IT goofed.

I'd talk to Alaska -- maybe a concise message to @AlaskaAir on twitter -- just to understand what actually happened. Then, if the problem was on Orbitz side, I'd follow-up with Orbitz for compensation. If Alaska actually IDB'ed you, then definitely ask for that compensation from them.

I doubt the CC will be that helpful here since you did actually get to your destination.

andymell

One more question for the OP:

When did your wife discover the problem -- at check-in or when she tried to bard? Did she ever get a boarding pass for the AS segment?

jjmiller69

+1 you have to go to Orbitz who you bought the tickets from. If YV went out of business (you said last flight) I would bet they never sent info to AS and you were listed as a no show. Your only recourse is through Orbitz. What a nightmare. I always cringe when I have to buy tickets from 3rd parties because of experiences like yours.

andymell

Go! airlines was operated by Mesa. Go! cased operations, but Mesa sadly remains in business. Unlike an airline bankruptcy, this means that passengers with Go! tickets are supposedly being accommodated by Mesa on other carriers.

dc333

Very level-headed thought process, I agree with most of that. There are at least a handful of possible factors. The truth lies coded within the PNR history. All changes and edits are recorded within.

I believe the OP's family experienced the unfortunate reality that PNR history coding is gibberish to 99% of CSA's. It's just not taught since better GUI's over Sabre reduced the need, and couldn't be given proof on the spot of what triggered the downline cancellation.

At the same time, I believe they experienced what makes AS customer service generally much better (just IMO) in that they used judgement, possibly with supervisor approval, and got the stranded mother and kids on their way asap, regardless of carrier.

I think contacting Customer Care, and requesting they decipher where the problem occurred, without pointing fingers up front, will at least bring some closure, and help others be prepared in the future, if OP can find out and report back.

UA Fan

Sorry to hear about your situation. I agree that disputing with the CC won't result in anything since you did not pay more.

Another reminder to avoid 3rd party ticketing.

Often1

This is key advice. If you feel the need to use a TA, use a local TA who has a bricks & mortar presence in your community and who comes personally recommended by people you know and trust and who has a 24/7 backup service.

But, usually you don't need a TA and booking online or even over the phone is easier & cleaner and when things go wrong, there is less of an argument about who has to fix it.

In this instance, if AS told the truth, and it has the ring of truth that Orbitz did cancel, they deserve a real thanks from OP for having handled the reroute.

ANC

avoid those web booking sites especially if they involve tickets on non partnered airlines. Sometimes they are totally separate tickets. Im wondering if the OPs family members were checked in for final flight from HNL-Mainland on AS within the timeframe required? And I want to re state what Often1 said, if you want to use a travel agency to book, use a brick and mortar agent where you can actually go back and talk to people that might care unlike some web travel agency booking engine. The last time I used a web booking agency I think it was Orbitz in 2008 or 2009. It involved NW and AS segments. and I was told it was an AS ticketed stock however upon checking in and subsequently during my travels I learned it was a NW ticketed stock ticket. The end results was it costed me money to make a very miniscule change to the dang ticket. Not again will I ever use Orbitz or Expedia or similar for tickets

mikereno1

Thanks for all the responses. We haven't contacted AS or Orbitz! since the travel day, but plan to this week based.

We checked into Go! and received boarding passes in Kona who put all the bags through Reno using the AS flight numbers on the itinerary from our confirmation with AS.

Upon getting to Honolulu about 2.5 hours before the flight time the gate was closed and then opened about 90 minutes before departing time when wife went to check in and was told she had no tickets. She was never issued boarding passes, although we have seat numbers and a record locator for the reservation. AS CSA's gave no reason or details about who/why/when tickets were cancelled as soon as they were told we had booked through Orbitz! they stopped looking into it and said it was them despite us having confirmation number and seat numbers for the flight. We contacted Orbitz! who said they cant cancel/reschedule flights and couldn't help us.

The Alaska CSAs said they were originally going to put them on a different Hawaiian flight to SFO leaving 20 minutes later than original flight, but apparently Hawaiian wouldnt accept the transfer for that flight but would for the redeye late that night, which was full by the time it left. My wife was told there was lots of room on the SFO flight

Alaska got the money for the reservations, there were no Orbitz or Go/Mesa charges on our card. We paid with our Chase Sapphire preferred which has great customer service, so I will contact them as well if we can't get answers.

Orbitz! contacted me through private message after seeing this post and is looking into the matter further.

I am debating calling or writing an email or letter, not sure what will give us the best response. I really hate waiting to get through to a live human and waiting for them to look everything up.

channa

More fishiness from AS. They were looking for an excuse, and jumped on it once they had it.

So long as you have a confirmation from Orbitz, you were good.

This smells more and more like an IDB.

alphaeagle

When was the last time you looked at the status of the reservation? If Orbitz never contacted you, or were able to, after some sort of schedule change it's possible that's why AS didn't have the reservation.

Orbitz is the ticket agent and as such is responsible for the ticket. Of course they can change it. It's highly unlikely an agent at the airport took it upon themselves to delete your reservation to prevent and denied boarding situation. Why would they risk their jobs and a fine to save the company money?

You'll figure out what happened though, both Orbitz and AS should be able to give you the answer. A gate agent might not have been able to, as dc333 mentioned.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

I'm not sure why you think this is an IDB

I'm glad the OP was contacted by the OP, and they're keeping us updated of what happened.

channa

Because the OP bought a ticket and was not allowed on the plane. It's textbook IDB.

The technical "issues" are just excuses, and per the DOT, don't matter. So long as the OP didn't cancel, he's good to go.