Besides UA PC Connection, Travelocity and CO website, which reservation systems allow to put the reservation on hold for 24 hours?

Thanks to a tip I got from *gupta(?), I made and put a reservation on hold using United PC Connection; I wanted to use a voucher and to get bonus miles. This is very useful feature if you have any vouchers or coupons and to get some bonus miles...

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Dan_ Woof!
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_ d_L

I have put reservations on hold on Expedia. Remember 24 hour holds do not always apply (e.g. if it is a 14 day advance purchase fare and you are on day 14 before flight, it must be paid that day).

The new personal AC software that they are testing does not allow holds and I am not happy with it as there is no warning to that effect.

How do you do a hold on UA's web reservations? I have looked for this but have not found it.

MileKing, United Web Connection doesn't allow you to put reservation on hold. I was referring to United PC Connection which has an option to be ticketed at the ticket office or airports.

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Dan_ Woof!
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AA allows you to hold the ticket and gives you the 6 digit record locator - which you can then give to your corp/local travel agent if you wish.

Caution with placing reservations on HOLD!!!

In most instances, a HOLD only reserves a seat, not the quoted fare, on that flight. It does not guarantee the quoted fare at the time of the HOLD, even if, at the moment of purchase, you still meet the advance purchase deadline! If the quoted fare at the time of the HOLD is still available at the moment of purchase, then it will be honored. If not, it will be re-priced at the next available best fare for that class of service and you will be given an opportunity to accept or cancel.

This policy also applies when dealing directly with the airline phone reservation systems. If in doubt, always ask.

MRLIMO is correct but in my experience I have never had a fare hike up once I have booked. My mother has also had the same experience even when only booking a reservation (ie unpaid) months in advance.

Has anybody been stung by fare hikes for unticketed, unpaid bookings(other than not meeting the requirement, e.g. missing a 7 or 14 day advance deadline).

Yes, it happened to me this Feb. Reserved ticket to Mardi Gras and and called back the next day (well with in the 24hr period and well more than 21 days in advance). Had Q fare for $380 or so and when I called back only full Y was left. Even as 1K they would not budge. I had to book UA to ATL and take Delta to GPT instead.

In my earlier message I had cautioned about this. These days my experience is that United fares are jumping around (both up and down) more than usual. I live close to a United ticketing office, so I make the resrvation and then go right away to the ticketing office. But always double check before you actually ticket.

AA site allows holds. I have never experienced a fare increase, other than when I do not issue within 24hrs and try to re-book. The hold reserves a class of fare, not the fare itself. Most of the travel sites DO NOT RESERVE A SEAT e.g. PreviewTravel, what they call a saved itinerary is NOT a reserved seat or hold. You are not reserving a class of fare! Be very careful when using Internet bookings.

With United phone res (and the other majors) you reserve a class of seating (Y,B,M,H,Q,V,W) when you book, and are quoted a fare, but if the fare is withdrawn from the market before you ticket you are out of luck.

I once booked SFO-Boston-SFO round trip at a 7 day advance fare of under $400. When I went to ticket the next day that fare had been changed to 14 day advance; the cheapest 7 day advance was $1200. I was lucky....as Premier Exec the res agent waived the advance purchase reqt and gave me the $400 fare if I E-ticketed on the spot. Lesson learned....

I always hold my AA tickets at their web-site to get the 1000 bonus miles. They give you the locator number. I then go to the ticket office near O'Hare so I can use a coupon, and a voucher (if I have) which waves the tax. Recently I had the opposite experience. On-line a fare for $217 came up for ORD to YYZ (Toronto). By phone, the fare was $250. When I went to the office, the rep saw the 217 fare, said he couldn't find it in the system but was willing to over-ride it. He then took my $20 coupon, I used vouchers from a voluntarily bumped flight and my tickets came out $179 each. I think a lot is who you get and if you deal with someone regularly at an office, obviously they can be nice about it.

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DtG

Alaska Air Lines allows the 24 hour hold on their Web site. I sure wish Delta did.

How do I get UA PC connection?

thks...redrock

redrock - read the postings under United. It was posted within the last 30 days.