deissi

I called the AY+ hotline yesterday to book a LH award in biz class for a flight that doesn't have U class availability, but is wide open in biz. The CS agent was very helpful, but recommended that I call again today between 10 AM and 8 PM when "the other department" that can immediately release space is open.

As instructed, I gave the AY+ hotline a new call today. The CS agent informed me that there is no space on the flights but that she would be happy to waitlist the booking. I told her that the agent yesterday instructed me to call again today, as the flight was wide open and "the other department" could release space.

Much to my amazement, the CS agent (who was thankfully very friendly) informed me that she does not know of any "other department", and also added that she is a member of the "top tier" CS team and would surely know if there was such a department. She said that the only chance to get tickets is to waitlist them and see if the booking clears.

This seems all the more confusing because when I booked a oneworld award in May, the agent told me that there was no space on a HEL-MAD flight, but she gave "the other department" a call and they released space.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with AY's CS? Does anyone know what is the real name of the magical "other department" so that I could refer to it if this happens again? I'd obviously like to get the booking confirmed immediately, so the hit-and-miss CS is a bit frustrating.

FFlash

I dont know and I dont care anymore. I just ask them waitlist and see what gives.

Two days ago i booked a U with no online avail, but I saw them selling tons of J, so I trusted there is space. Called in, sorry no space, I asked them just waitlist. Then I followed my app every 10mins or so. First saw outbound appear, then the first leg of inbound, later the second leg of inbound and soon after I got sms with payment link. All in less than 1 hour about.

ffay005

She lied.

They have new rules, and should not ask "the other department" for anything, only waitlist. A CS rep that I found competent explained this to me and I have no reason not to believe her.

There is a FinnairPlus department, with limited hours Mon-Sat, and some kind of a revenue management departmet that's available 24/7. They both have authority to release U (and X).

Ed Size

The magic of "the other department" - just wonder if humans working there - or if it´s highly skilled AI.

FlyeBye

Highly skilled AI? Developed by Finnair IT? That’s a good one!

FFlash

so it must be their legal department . Lawyers are supposed to mess up and complicate simple thing and thenput a hefty price tag on it.

WilcoRoger

They always refer to the "other department". When I told them to ask revenue management to release seats, there was a real blank stare (over the phone!) as if I asked them to ask the blacksmith department

deissi

Went ahead and booked the award flights. Had to make two separate reservations for the pax, but the CS agent was kind enough to let me know that she will contact The Other Department to request that the upgrades clear immediately (without me asking). It really is hit and miss with the Janicas. Lo and behold, the payment links arrived in my inbox the next day and the tickets are now issued.

DrSickle

Am I reading this correct as you were booking an U-award and they arranged for it to clear immediately? Was the booking done earlier or later than T-60?

Any time the the “other department” actually gets involved in the CS process things seem to go very smooth, but I feel that this is something that only occurs in a minority of cases. When it happens, everything suddenly seems possible: when making a change to a semi-flex ticket recently, there was an issue in repricing the fare. I first received a quote for a change fee that I accepted, after which the other dpt person contacted twice, both times quoting an higher price saying that the system was refusing the previously quoted price, basically trying to increase fare class to H/B in everything (the flights were being sold in L). She agreed that this was strange and agreed to investigate the matter further. Next say, she called me and said that she was authorized to manually open the needed revenue class availability for one ticket to accommodate the original quoted price.

I was of course happy but at the same time really concerned about what would have happened if I had gotten a different agent.
I find this lack of consistency in the service rather disturbing, especially now that the upgrade/business award availability is so scarce. In this situation, I think it would really be time for CS to standardize their operations and remove the gambling aspect.

Gnopps

When I worked for a competing airline we had the possibility to send waitlisted segments to a robot, who'd check to see if it was possible to clear them straight away. This actually worked a lot of the times.

deissi

Correct. She said that normally this would be reviewed by the robot, but as we had two separate reservations, she will email The Other Department to see what they can do. Booking done at T-150.

Apparently AY has this feature as well. But if it is controlled by a robot, why aren't they simply able to list that availability online? Really annoying that you have to call in.

WilcoRoger

There's not only an "other" department, but also a "higher" department. Chatting today, the agent managed to book me an open jaw business/basic combo with the help of customer service (I thought that chat was CS) but when asked the same for biz/value, she had to refer to a "higher department" ("Ei saanut toinen osastokaan luotua yhdistelmää joten piti laittaa selvitykseen ylemmälle osastolle onnistuisiko")

At the end of the day I just had her book me in biz/basic combo and get it done.

If someone's interested in the background:

When I looked at HEL-BKK-HEL, I noticed that for the outbound business promo fare was available while the inbound was strictly economy only. Getting excited, I tried an open jaw, but that was strictly either C or Y, no mixed booking. Chat worked out the open jaw as mentioned above - and was cheaper than a pro/basic combo! (HEL-BKK/SIN-HEL 1,2k€) Booked the exit seat on the inbound and also waitlisted for U.

NB: QR has no issues with mixed bookings, HEL-DOH-KUL/SIN-DOH-HEL is 1,5k€, ex-ARN 1,3k€ - but given the 6 hours extra travel time on QR I went with AY

miamiflyer8

How many freaking levels of obscure departments are there to process simple ticket/waitlist issues?

FFlash

I rather wonder how well that adds value to customer when revenue management has such big group to maximize all streams to AY and we customers pay their bill.

Gnopps

If I remember correctly, with the airline I worked for sending the pnr to the robot was like asking for an exception to be made. It was only a "light" request for exception. For a real exception you'd have to get in contact with revenue management and there the answer would almost always be no.

But again: This was at another airline and 15 years ago.