Using Proceeds from canceled flight
 

Has anyone been successful in applying remaining proceeds from a canceled trip to a new purchase and still receive full EQM's. Thanks

Sure, I do it all the time. It is true that often times there is a problem getting the EQM's to credit, but as long as the original itin was booked at co.com, all you have to do is send the OPSC an email explaining the situation and the EQM's will post within a few days.

Hi... I'd like to open this thread back up with a question.
(I have been searching for 20 minutes, so if there is a thread
with this answered, it is hidden better than my search skills
can uncover.)

I think the original poster was asking about a situation where
he or she cancelled a trip, and had "proceeds" left from the
price of that ticket to be applied to a new ticket purchase. I believe
the response may have been to a situation where CO cancels
a flight.

My situation is the same as the original poster. I have a ticket
now (purchased on co.com) that is non-refundable, but I cannot
make that trip. I have another ticket that I would like to buy now.

Is there a way that I can cancel my original reservation, have
CO give me credit for the remaining amount of that ticket (price
- $100, I presume), and apply that credit to the purchase of
a new ticket on co.com (to get the 100% EQM)?

Thanks for advice and help.

I'm not sure how it works on continental.com but my travel agent does it all the time for me (I think three different times in 2005). I get the credit (or even partial leftover credit) from the unused ticket, minus the $100 change fee.

One thing when it comes to EQM: the class of the new ticket is the lower of the original class or the new class. In other words, lets say I have an "I" ticket, non-refundable, for a flight which I cancel. A couple of months later, I book a last minute "Y" ticket. Travel agent uses the cancelled "I" flight so on the new flight, even though it is full-fare, I only get half the EQM credit (and am at the bottom of the upgrade list).

Alan

Thanks... I was wondering if there was a way to purchase
the new ticket on co.com so that I could get the 100% EQM.
Both the old and the new ticket are on fares that would qualify
for 50% EQM unless purchased on the CO website...

I just went through this but havent taken the new flight. I had a trip to Ottowa that I had to cancel and wanted to use the credit for a flight to LAX. I found no way to do this on CO.com so I booked the flight online thinking they could just pick it up and apply the credit. Could not. They had to change my cancelled reservation under the original conf # to the new flight. I then cancelled my LAX reservation within the new 24hr window. Of course they used airline math on the $$$ and charged me the $100 change fee separatly and couldnt just subtract it from the value of the cancelled itinerary. They had to send me a $70 credit voucher in the end. I guess it works for them as they know I'll come back and use it but the whole process is confusing and not very customer friendly.

Thanks for the experience! When they got rid of the
"hold" feature, they really messed up situations like this.

I am thinking that I might try to make a reservation and
use one of the non-credit-card payment options and see
if I can hold the reservation on the new flight that way.
Then maybe call the co.com support desk and see if there
is anything they can do.

I'll post here if anything good comes of it. Thanks!

Changing non-refundable tickets
 

Yes: use "change flights" on the itinerary page for your old ticket, or call Reservations to reissue the ticket for a new itinerary. (I have done this very often.)

If you initially purchase a non-refundable ticket on continental.com, you can change your itinerary either online or through Reservations. You pay the change fee (usually $100 for domestic round trips) plus the difference in fares. The confirmation number stays the same, and 100% EQMs still post whether you use the site or the phone.

The "Change Flights" function on the website sometimes fails and sends you to the website support desk. This also works.

If the new ticket is cheaper than the old one, you still pay the $100 but get a travel certificate for the difference in the mail.

Very occasionally --this happened to me only once-- the fare rules on your original ticket specify that the new ticket has to be repriced using fares available on the original purchase date, so you can't get the cheapest new-ticket fare using your old ticket. (For example: you originally bought a W fare, U fares are available for new tickets, but you can only change your W to a more expensive B.) Sometimes a fare applies only between two specific cities, and you cannot use the credit to fly somewhere else. This seems to happen mostly with the price-matching I, W, and X fares.

The weekend specials (leave Saturday and return Mon/Tue to a hub) are an exception, being non-changeable.

I don't know how this works if partner codeshares are involved.

Don't bother: they use your old confirmation number to build the new itinerary. The only thing a hold does is block an extra seat on your flights, potentially raising the fare.

As long as you paid through continental.com in the first place, your 100% EQMs will post, even if you make changes by phone.

Sorry: that happened last year, but is apparently no longer the case. An itinerary I booked online but changed by phone got half EQMs and no points on a segment in X (discount economy).