Agent booked wrong airport for award ticket
Jan 31, 2017, 6:28 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 21
Agent booked wrong airport for award ticket
I called for 2 round trip tickets from either "Charlotte or Dulles." Ultimately, she *said* she found one at "Dulles." Unfortunately, she meant DALLAS
I used the airport code IAD *at least* twice. I talked about how I live in Virginia and would drive 4 hours to Dulles. Nonetheless she kept saying "Dulles" and meant Dallas. She never said Texas or DFW. She never said "DAllas," only "DUlles" I'm a native speaker of English; she sounded as if from India/subcontinent Asia.
I found out only after I get home from work and see the email confirmation. Of course, it's 8:01 pm EST when I call, and the service center is closed. I made the booking at maybe 8:10 am.
What are my chances of getting a full refund of points, taxes, AND without @$120 fee? I assume I should ask for some CSR manager ASAP tomorrow morning?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I used the airport code IAD *at least* twice. I talked about how I live in Virginia and would drive 4 hours to Dulles. Nonetheless she kept saying "Dulles" and meant Dallas. She never said Texas or DFW. She never said "DAllas," only "DUlles" I'm a native speaker of English; she sounded as if from India/subcontinent Asia.
I found out only after I get home from work and see the email confirmation. Of course, it's 8:01 pm EST when I call, and the service center is closed. I made the booking at maybe 8:10 am.
What are my chances of getting a full refund of points, taxes, AND without @$120 fee? I assume I should ask for some CSR manager ASAP tomorrow morning?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Jan 31, 2017, 9:14 pm
#2
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: OSL/IAH/ZRH (time, not preference)
Programs: UA1K, LH GM, AA EXP->GM
Posts: 38,265
Feb 1, 2017, 12:11 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 21
I called the German Miles and More service center after receiving that advice from talking to a regular booking person in Germany. I asked for an English speaker and was left on hold for 30 minutes, hung up, and called the Australia service center.
She said she needed special permission from Germany to waive the approx 50-euro-per-ticket cancellation fee, and she kept saying I was past the 24 hour period, which isn't possible since I booked it at 8am EST and I'm on the phone with her at 2:00am EST. I hung up after being left on hold while she needed to calculate time zones for 15 minutes.
Now waiting for the UK/IE lines to open up
She said she needed special permission from Germany to waive the approx 50-euro-per-ticket cancellation fee, and she kept saying I was past the 24 hour period, which isn't possible since I booked it at 8am EST and I'm on the phone with her at 2:00am EST. I hung up after being left on hold while she needed to calculate time zones for 15 minutes.
Now waiting for the UK/IE lines to open up
Feb 1, 2017, 1:00 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 21
The agent from the IE line understood what happened & figured things out pretty quickly. She said since it's within 24 hours, everything would be refunded with no charge for cancellation. I was on hold for about 3 minutes, she came back and said she'd try to cancel it while I was on hold again for about another 5 minutes.
Reservation cancelled; all miles and taxes were refunded, and no changing fees applied since within 24 hours. G'night!
They were open, but the 2 people I was connected to did not speak *English. When I asked for an English speaker, I was transferred off and never connected to anyone again.
Reservation cancelled; all miles and taxes were refunded, and no changing fees applied since within 24 hours. G'night!
They were open, but the 2 people I was connected to did not speak *English. When I asked for an English speaker, I was transferred off and never connected to anyone again.
Feb 1, 2017, 2:09 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: OSL/IAH/ZRH (time, not preference)
Programs: UA1K, LH GM, AA EXP->GM
Posts: 38,265
Feb 1, 2017, 4:13 am
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Capetown
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Plat, IHG and Hilton Diamond, LH SEN, BA Gold
Posts: 10,167
Feb 1, 2017, 6:55 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: USA, France
Programs: LH HON*****, AF/KL Gold; HHilton Diamond; Marriott Gold; IHG Platinium; Avis PresClub
Posts: 934
Feb 1, 2017, 7:28 am
#10
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
For what it is worth, as this was a ticket issued for a departure from the US, US law requires that the ticket be subject to cancellation without fee or penalty at least for a departure 7+ days out and if made within 24 hours of booking.
While it is absurd that in this day and age, to accomplish a simple cancellation, you are unable to dial a single number 24/7 and have your call routed to the most appropriate open location, the fact remains that if you do have trouble, send an email, webform, fax or other transmission with a time-stamp. It is your obligation to cancel within 24 hours. Not the carrier's obligation to be there. In that way, should an issue ever arise and a carrier balk, a simple DOT complaint (free webform submission) will solve the problem.
As a caution to avoid the waste of your time all of this occasioned, I would suggest that when booking over the phone, always carefully follow the read back or, if for some reason it is not offered, at the conclusion of the booking, ask to have the entire itinerary read back to you along with PNR(s). When an agent uses a city name, do confirm the airport code as well. It may annoy the agent, but the agent is not there to be your friend. This is a business transaction and the extra 1-2 minutes is for a reason.
While it is absurd that in this day and age, to accomplish a simple cancellation, you are unable to dial a single number 24/7 and have your call routed to the most appropriate open location, the fact remains that if you do have trouble, send an email, webform, fax or other transmission with a time-stamp. It is your obligation to cancel within 24 hours. Not the carrier's obligation to be there. In that way, should an issue ever arise and a carrier balk, a simple DOT complaint (free webform submission) will solve the problem.
As a caution to avoid the waste of your time all of this occasioned, I would suggest that when booking over the phone, always carefully follow the read back or, if for some reason it is not offered, at the conclusion of the booking, ask to have the entire itinerary read back to you along with PNR(s). When an agent uses a city name, do confirm the airport code as well. It may annoy the agent, but the agent is not there to be your friend. This is a business transaction and the extra 1-2 minutes is for a reason.
Feb 1, 2017, 7:44 am
#12
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: DUB
Programs: LH Sen, QR Gold
Posts: 87
[..]
As a caution to avoid the waste of your time all of this occasioned, I would suggest that when booking over the phone, always carefully follow the read back or, if for some reason it is not offered, at the conclusion of the booking, ask to have the entire itinerary read back to you along with PNR(s). When an agent uses a city name, do confirm the airport code as well. It may annoy the agent, but the agent is not there to be your friend. This is a business transaction and the extra 1-2 minutes is for a reason.
As a caution to avoid the waste of your time all of this occasioned, I would suggest that when booking over the phone, always carefully follow the read back or, if for some reason it is not offered, at the conclusion of the booking, ask to have the entire itinerary read back to you along with PNR(s). When an agent uses a city name, do confirm the airport code as well. It may annoy the agent, but the agent is not there to be your friend. This is a business transaction and the extra 1-2 minutes is for a reason.
What I would also suggest (and what I do myself) - always NATO-spell passenger names, cities and airport codes and ask the agent to read those back to you.
This of course adds up a bit of time spent on the reservation process but has never failed me to date.
Feb 1, 2017, 8:00 am
#13
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,566
Words of reason ^
What I would also suggest (and what I do myself) - always NATO-spell passenger names, cities and airport codes and ask the agent to read those back to you.
This of course adds up a bit of time spent on the reservation process but has never failed me to date.
What I would also suggest (and what I do myself) - always NATO-spell passenger names, cities and airport codes and ask the agent to read those back to you.
This of course adds up a bit of time spent on the reservation process but has never failed me to date.
Feb 1, 2017, 9:08 am
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2006
Location: DTW, but drive to/from YYZ/ORD
Programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards 2MM, Diner Club points
Posts: 31,911
I called for 2 round trip tickets from either "Charlotte or Dulles." Ultimately, she *said* she found one at "Dulles." Unfortunately, she meant DALLAS
I used the airport code IAD *at least* twice. I talked about how I live in Virginia and would drive 4 hours to Dulles. Nonetheless she kept saying "Dulles" and meant Dallas. She never said Texas or DFW. She never said "DAllas," only "DUlles"
I used the airport code IAD *at least* twice. I talked about how I live in Virginia and would drive 4 hours to Dulles. Nonetheless she kept saying "Dulles" and meant Dallas. She never said Texas or DFW. She never said "DAllas," only "DUlles"
