What Can You Do if an AAgent Misinforms You?
Jul 17, 2019, 9:22 pm
#17
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Jul 17, 2019, 11:49 pm
#18
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If it is a round trip fare, then see no reason why someone OUGHT to ro be able to just use the inbound sector
Jul 18, 2019, 2:31 am
#19
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I noticed this a bit when looking at flying to Buenos Aires. It is possible to fly MIA-EZE-MIA for less than flying DFW-EZE-DFW, even if the ticket to / from Miami includes at connection at DFW.
There are multiple reasons for this, one being non stop trips re generally considered more attractive than with connections. Additionally, if you are going to connect to a destination there are more airline options. Increased competition lowers the price.
If you could dump any segment and keep the remaining, people would simply buy the lower fare ticket. Tickets are sold point to point. The rules for basic economy permit the ticket to be used as purchased or it has no value. The difference between a Basic Economy ticket and an economy ticket are what distinguishes the value of the tickets. If there were no differences, the airline wouldn't be able to sell higher priced tickets. By taking the lower price offer, you agree to give up benefits. It is important to understand what they are before buying the ticket.
Jul 18, 2019, 2:50 am
#20
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In many cases, it is less expensive to buy a ticket with a connection less than the cost for a nonstop to the connection point or from the connection point.
I noticed this a bit when looking at flying to Buenos Aires. It is possible to fly MIA-EZE-MIA for less than flying DFW-EZE-DFW, even if the ticket to / from Miami includes at connection at DFW.
There are multiple reasons for this, one being non stop trips re generally considered more attractive than with connections. Additionally, if you are going to connect to a destination there are more airline options. Increased competition lowers the price.
If you could dump any segment and keep the remaining, people would simply buy the lower fare ticket. Tickets are sold point to point. The rules for basic economy permit the ticket to be used as purchased or it has no value. The difference between a Basic Economy ticket and an economy ticket are what distinguishes the value of the tickets. If there were no differences, the airline wouldn't be able to sell higher priced tickets. By taking the lower price offer, you agree to give up benefits. It is important to understand what they are before buying the ticket.
I noticed this a bit when looking at flying to Buenos Aires. It is possible to fly MIA-EZE-MIA for less than flying DFW-EZE-DFW, even if the ticket to / from Miami includes at connection at DFW.
There are multiple reasons for this, one being non stop trips re generally considered more attractive than with connections. Additionally, if you are going to connect to a destination there are more airline options. Increased competition lowers the price.
If you could dump any segment and keep the remaining, people would simply buy the lower fare ticket. Tickets are sold point to point. The rules for basic economy permit the ticket to be used as purchased or it has no value. The difference between a Basic Economy ticket and an economy ticket are what distinguishes the value of the tickets. If there were no differences, the airline wouldn't be able to sell higher priced tickets. By taking the lower price offer, you agree to give up benefits. It is important to understand what they are before buying the ticket.
If a customer has a 3-leg multi-city trip, and an agent tells them they can’t change the first leg because it’s basic economy, and that same agent books them a new flight instead, it should be clear to the agent that the customer is planning to skip the existing first leg. The agent should know the customer still wants to fly legs 2 and 3 because they didn’t ask to change them. It is the agent’s job to obtain the customer‘s desired itinerary and sell the appropriate ticket. Advising the customer of the no-show policy and the impact to the remainder of the existing ticket is a basic expectation. This agent either sold the guy a ticket knowing it did not meet his needs and failed to make him aware, or the agent did not know about the no-show policy. Neither is acceptable.
Last edited by javabytes; Jul 18, 2019 at 2:58 am
Jul 18, 2019, 5:32 am
#21
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I have no sympathy for the blog poster. You can't no show for the first leg and expect the rest of the flights to remain as-is. It's been this way for decades. Hotels are no different. If you no show on the first night, your reservation is cancelled unless you've called to make a change.
We also only got one side of the story. None of us were on the call with the agent or have heard a recording of the call. I would want to hear this call before saying the agent failed in some way. Given the rant in the blog post, my hunch is the agent tried to explain this and he refused to listen.
We also only got one side of the story. None of us were on the call with the agent or have heard a recording of the call. I would want to hear this call before saying the agent failed in some way. Given the rant in the blog post, my hunch is the agent tried to explain this and he refused to listen.
Jul 18, 2019, 6:30 am
#22
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Does any airline treat it this way, or is it universal that all remaining segments in a ticket (or locator?) are cancelled?
Jul 18, 2019, 8:31 am
#23
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So here's the thing. He paid $1300 for the original flights, 3 weeks in advance. His total for the rebooked close-in flights was $500 + $1400 = $1900.
When he had called to rebook, if that agent had been completely clear that his whole reservation would be canceled, the end result would have been about the same. He'd still be out at least $1300 and likely close to $1900, and still be .....ing about it on his blog.
When he had called to rebook, if that agent had been completely clear that his whole reservation would be canceled, the end result would have been about the same. He'd still be out at least $1300 and likely close to $1900, and still be .....ing about it on his blog.
Jul 18, 2019, 8:50 am
#24
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As a window on what can happen, German law requires that carriers offer tickets which need not be flown in segment-issued order. Thus, those tickets are available. They are vastly more expensive than "standard" tickets. Spanish courts have recently required the same.
Jul 18, 2019, 9:45 am
#25
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If a customer has a 3-leg multi-city trip, and an agent tells them they can’t change the first leg because it’s basic economy, and that same agent books them a new flight instead, it should be clear to the agent that the customer is planning to skip the existing first leg. The agent should know the customer still wants to fly legs 2 and 3 because they didn’t ask to change them. It is the agent’s job to obtain the customer‘s desired itinerary and sell the appropriate ticket. Advising the customer of the no-show policy and the impact to the remainder of the existing ticket is a basic expectation. This agent either sold the guy a ticket knowing it did not meet his needs and failed to make him aware, or the agent did not know about the no-show policy. Neither is acceptable.
Jul 18, 2019, 11:03 am
#27
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I have no sympathy for the blog poster. You can't no show for the first leg and expect the rest of the flights to remain as-is. It's been this way for decades. Hotels are no different. If you no show on the first night, your reservation is cancelled unless you've called to make a change.
We also only got one side of the story. None of us were on the call with the agent or have heard a recording of the call. I would want to hear this call before saying the agent failed in some way. Given the rant in the blog post, my hunch is the agent tried to explain this and he refused to listen.
We also only got one side of the story. None of us were on the call with the agent or have heard a recording of the call. I would want to hear this call before saying the agent failed in some way. Given the rant in the blog post, my hunch is the agent tried to explain this and he refused to listen.
Jul 18, 2019, 2:00 pm
#28
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Lessons learned:
-Be accountable
-Be polite
-Be realistic
Jul 18, 2019, 2:03 pm
#29
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Also judging by the tone of the author of the blog post - I would imagine he was in attack mode and wasn't listening. BUT how many of us on here call and get three different answers to the same question?