United: One more reason to hate 'em
 

Tried to use what was left of a cancelled, nonrefundable itinerary (after subtracting the $100 change fee) by calling 1-800-UNITED1. Was quoted a price nearly double that found on Orbitz for a trip that was NOT labelled a Web fare. I know how Orbitz works, even if they don't: with other airlines, like America West, no problem getting the airline's website or phone resv agents to match the fare. Not so United.

"The inventory is totally different," said the CSR. Got the same gobbledygook from "Customer Relations". Told them both that I had purchased the original ticket on the web, and would not have done so had I thought I would only have access to whatever leftovers and marked-up tix they deigned to provide over the phone. I also told them it sounded like bait and switch. Both hung up.

Other than the obvious (boycotting), is there any way to fight this? Any other airlines pulling this bullcr*p?

This is not unique to UA. I've seen AA availability on Orbitz, but not on the AA web site itself. It seems like other sites have access to inventory that the airline does not make available on its own web site.

If the UA agent can't see the fare, I can't see how they can match it.

Your lucky they let you use the ticket at all. I was not so lucky with a ticket for my wife on DL. It looks like they are going to bamboozle us out of the whole fare.

We booked a flight to Europe based on when a Congressional staffer had told us the INS would untangle a snafu concerning her immigration status. Thanks to delays resulting from 9/11 changes, that time was extended way beyond the flight date. I asked DL if they could extend the time to use the ticket credit, and they agreed, telling us we had until December 2003 to use it. I booked flights for Thanksgiving to Europe to use it. Because I had left my info with the e-ticket number sitting at home, I called DL while on the road to get the number before getting to the airport, but was told that travel had to be complete by a date in October instead of December. I was rather disconcerted to hear that but began to brainstorm on how we could use the credit for a long weekend trip before the new October deadline. I decided to first call back and see if there was any possibility of another extension. The new person I got at DL told me she would check.
She came back and told me we did not need one because the use-by date was the original date I had first been given in December (I had never given her that date in the conversation. She had gleaned it from DL's record). I went to the airport to buy the ticket, but when the agent called the DL office, she was told that the ticket had to be used for travel by a date in July and that it was no longer good for anything since that date had passed.

Incompetence seems to be instiutionalized at DL when four different people can give you three different use-by dates, and the customer ends up flim-flammed out of his money. I have contemplated trying to pop them for treble damages and attorney fees under North Carolina's Unfair and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Someone needs to get these con artists a lesson.

Using the residual value of tickets seems to me like a perfectly appropriate topic for TravelBuzz. Since I'm not sure how it's directly on 'point' for frequent flyer program buzz, I'm going to move the thread.

Best,
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz and Delta moderator