cemlaw

I fly a lot, mostly international. In July, I experienced something I never have before.

I flew RDU-VLC with no problems. Tickets were purchased well in advanced and going to Valencia, everything went as smoothly as it usually does.

The problem came when I was heading home. I couldn't check-in online, which seemed like no big deal and has happened before. I have to check in luggage, so again, no biggie. But when I began checking in with the desk agent, she told me I had a reservation, but no ticket. I had never heard of this. These legs home had been purchased with the other legs. It seemed to have only been an issue with the VLC-CDG leg. It took ages, but the agent managed to sort it out on the phone with... Delta. I suppose.

A few weeks after I got home, I saw a man online say the same thing happened to him (not Delta, maybe Lufthansa), but his was not resolved and he was stuck in an airport for a couple days and then only got home after a serious odyssey of airports.

So now I am totally paranoid this will happen to me again! I have 3 scheduled flights now, including another RDU-VLC (also CUN and DUB). I have read what little I can find about this happening and it seemed there is something about the ticket numbers matching with the flight numbers on your online (not original emailed) receipt. I just checked my 3 current trips and each have a leg that doesn't match the flight numbers on the current ticket # receipt. I am used to flight # changes since I tend to book flights very far out, but again, I am so paranoid about this happening again, so I am looking for input from you guys.
The status on all 3 flights, and all the legs, says OPEN on the receipts and several don't show my seat assignments (all flights are biz class).

Do I have reason to worry, or am I needlessly making myself crazy?? TIA

zeke3

I’ve had this happen a couple times, always with codeshares, though not sure if that’s just a coincidence. I also lucked out both times that they had seats still available.

I wonder if PNR.sh can help point to a problem? My upcoming reservation has multiple tickets on, but only one that doesn’t have 0 coupons. Maybe the others are prior changes?

ttuna3

OP

Depending on your level of paranoia you can always call or get with the X (twitter) team and see if you've been ticketed. Did you check the reservation online as well to confirm that all of the segments are on the online ticket record? If not then I'd probably call Delta to fix it before things go pear shaped.

xliioper

AF flights between CDG and VLC are operated by HOP! and DAT, LT and are not codeshared on DL (they are sold as AF coded flights by DL). Off hand, my guess is there may have been some sort of schedule change after OP bought ticket and it wasn't fully sorted out which resulted in ticket issues on return.

DLASflyer

In the future, any time you can’t check in online, call to make sure your ticket is alright. By the time you get to the airport, it might take too long to fix.

Duke787

Are you booking these directly or through some kind of corporate travel agency (e.g., AMEX GBT)?

If there was any sort of a schedule change or really anything that caused the ticket to change it's very possible that it didn't sync properly when it was reissued by DL/AF/KLM (whoever you are using as the ticketing carrier). This type of thing can typically be resolved by an agent if you call in or by your corporate travel agency if you are booking via corporate TA.

cemlaw

I did check online, but there is one leg of each flight that the number is different in my res from the number on the receipt. There have been several flight changes, but the others show the new flight numbers. Just one leg from each of the three reservations show the original (?) flight numbers, not the new ones.

cemlaw

This sounds right. This leg was DAT. So what do I do in advance to avoid another scare in the airport?

cemlaw

I booked them all directly on delta. I don't fly for business

Duke787

In that case you need to call Delta and get an agent who can check and make sure the reservation has synced and been reticketed properly. They'll be able to see on their end if there is an issue with the ticketing and can take the steps accordingly or transfer you to the manual ticketing desk for complex tickets. You may be stuck on hold for a while but that is the best way to avoid the issue above. It is solvable by the agents they just have to do some work to make it happen.

Similar types of things occur on a regular basis for a variety of reasons so if you just call and say something like "my ticket had a schedule change and I'm concerned that it didn't sync and re-ticket properly, could you please check" that should be sufficient to get the ball rolling

xliioper

I'd check before departure on trip to verify that all flights showing on your itin match what is currently being sold on your flight dates. If there are differences in flight numbers, times, carriers, etc., you would want to get that sorted out with Delta before departing on your trip.

Utskicat

If the reservation and eticket do not match, its because there has been a schedule change and DL just "revalidated" the ticket. This works fine if its Delta, but will not work if other airline segments are involved. You need to call in for your future ticket that does not match and make sure they "reissue" the ticket. Ask to be transferred to the AF/KL Joint Venture support desk. They will get it sorted. After reissue, it will all coupons should match the reservation.

cemlaw

Great points. Part of my DUB trip is operated by KLM and the VLC is again codeshare with AF, as usual. I can never escape CDG...