Looking for some advice from experienced NW flyers.

Scenario:
A month ago my daughter booked a Xmas trip from PDX - PBI for 12/23 on NW, leaving on a
redeye from PDX at 10:31pm. Since NW doesn't fly from RDM, she also booked a UA flight from RDM arriving at PDX around 5:30pm.

About 2 weeks ago, she received notice from NW of a 20 minute time change. No big deal.

Last week, she received an email from NW re-booking her on a flight from PDX at 8:30am
on 12/23. Apparently the redeye flight was dropped from the schedule.

Problem:

UA flight getting her to PDX won't work now. Change fee is $125 (for a $106) flight.

NW won't help in getting UA to waive/reduce the change fee or make any adjustment in fare due to cancellation of the NW redeye flight.

As it stands, she will lose either the $125 fee to UA or the cost of another flight to PDX without her doing anything contrary to NW's rules.

Plus, she's still at the mercy of any future changes NW may choose to make to this flight or her return.

Does anyone believe this warrants a request for some form of compensation from NW?
If so, what would you suggest asking for?
Is there any other avenue to make such a request than the 'Talk to Us' email setup for Customer Service?

Has anyone had a similar experience (flight cancellation voiding connection) with NW and how was it resolved?

For the future, has anyone had a similar experience when booking through Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. and, if so, how was it handled?

Thanks for your help.

I don't think NW has any obligation to help you out. The UA portion wasn't purchased through NW therefore is a separate ticket. As far as NW is concerned the travel starts in PDX and they're obligated to assist you from PDX, not the other airport. That's the risk you take when flying on two tickets. I took that risk all the time in college flying HP PHX-LAX/SFO and then NW to HNL. It worked every time except one time NW eliminated the redeye from HNL to LAX and I was left sitting in LA for 7 hours in the middle of the night. HP wouldn't help because it was a separate ticket.

You can try, but I don't think they're actually required to help.


AZJ

You purchased two separate tickets for one trip. NW (and every other airline) reserves the right to make changes to its schedule -- you are not entitled to compensation. I can't understand why you would think you would be.

Consider: Let's say no schedule changes were made. Your daughter arrives at the airport, everything's going good, and then she finds out her flight from RDM-PDX is delayed due to mechanical problems. She ends up missing her PDX flight. Should UA compensate her for her missed NW flight? Of course not, because this was not a service paid for.

Had you purchased a ticket from Orbitz, Expedia, etc. in which "multiple airlines" are used on one ticket, you would have options. But you didn't -- you purchased two separate tickets.

That being said, there may be a way out: if NW makes a significant change in scheduling, you're entitled to have any flight any time of the day. Sometimes you may be able to get a refund. If you argue, you'll usually be able to get NW to book you on another airline with a similair time (provided they don't offer anything +/- 4-6 hours around the original flight).

Good luck!

[This message has been edited by IndustrialPatent (edited 10-01-2002).]

I'd call NWA and explained them the situation and asked them for help in a nice way. While they are not required to help you they still might be inclined to if they can.

But do your "homework" first. Check what flights NWA has for the city pair on that day. See http://www.nwa.com/travel/avail/

I had a similar problem. I was flying TYS-ORD on a normal ticket and ORD-VIE on an award ticket. Both NWA, though (there were no award seats for TYS-VIE). They changed the schedule of ORD-TYS and I was in trouble. I called NWA they fixed the problem.

[This message has been edited by Jano (edited 10-01-2002).]

You are entitled to a refund on your NW ticket if you choose to do so (normally schedule changes over 2 hrs (if the ticker serves me correctly!) are eligible for refunds).
<IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ideasmilie.gif">
NW does actually serve RDM via a code-share arrangement with Alaska/Horizon Air.

In the future, I would book your itinerary (if at all possible) as ONE ticket...whether you are traveling on 1 airline or 4, most carriers have a ticketing agreement that would allow you to do this...then, when something of this nature arises, the carrier changing the schedule is obligated to make arrangements for you to travel from your origin and destination even if requires endorsing the ticket to another carrier.
That being said, I would contact NW Customer Relations (the website will receive the quickest response) and explain your scenario and ask for your options...if you have the time, post a summary of the response you get...I would be interested in how it is ultimately handled. <IMG SRC="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif">

EDITED TO ADD:

One POSSIBLE solution is to ask if NW will accept the RDM-PDX ticket you have on the UA flight...as it is actually operated by a partner airline, this may prove fruitless but still a possiblilty...the tickets would have to be exchanged for a new ticket showing the NW flight so there wouldn't be a problem when checking in at RDM.
On the same note: Some times airlines will accept tickets from other airlines WITHOUT endorsement...it is a little known fact that the carrier presenting the ticket to the Chicago clearinghouse receives the funds due for the ticket regardless of any endorsements of "Valid AA Only" or whatever... you will find alot of agents that state the ticket has to be endorsed but this isn't true in most cases for domestic tickets. NW actually has a "Bring Us More Passengers" (BUMP) program which allows the acceptance of OAL tickets with any monetary value as space permits. (OK - sorry for the long post!)

[This message has been edited by Vegas Agent (edited 10-01-2002).]

Hey AJZ did you spend some time on Prodigy when you were in school in AZ? If so E-mail me (check my profile for address)roger/msp

Hmm... interesting. Is it only the flight coupon that is required from the OAL? Wouldn't this be hard to get if you are using e-tickets? Would you happen to know what class of service it is booked in on NW?

Only the flight coupon is required. Now, with the links NW has to CO, AA or UA, we can pull up their e-tkts, ususually we need the e-tkt number but there is a search method to find it as well...I will warn you, not alot of agents have much experience in this so you might be better off just getting the ticket printed by the other carrier. This program (BUMP) isn't widely publicized but if you have an agent not familiar with it, tell them to look up "G ATO BUMP" for the information.

Great. Thanks very much for the tip. This would be useful durring irregular operations, where it can take a good hour of lining up to see an agent to get the ticket endorsed.

Re: NW Codeshare with Horizon/Alaska.
Actually she tried to do things that way originally because it would have been much easier. She was told that the flight could not be booked by NW from RDM - PBI. (she was trying to use a PD316 $off coupon.)

Re: Your edited comment
I'm afraid I don't follow this. Do you mean ask NW to accept the UA ticket as a credit towards the NW fare? Or are you suggesting that she try to book RDM - PDX - PBI through NW using the UA and NW ticket originally booked?

Thanks for your help.

Yes -- not saying it will work, but it's worth a try... with this being a codeshare flight, NW doesn't have as much leeway in what tickets are accepted and how discounts are applied (as you found out with the $ off certificate). IF you can get someone to accept it, I would be almost certain that the tickets (UA and NW) would have to be exchanged together for a new NW ticket (with the Horizon codeshare flight). It's probably somewhat of a longshot but I would certainly suggest it. I don't know how the codeshare with Alaska/Horizon is set up...in some arrangements (such as the NW/HP code-share) a flat-fee is paid by NW to the other carrier...so I am told I am quite certain that NW would get the revenue from the RDM-PDX ticket you purchased in some form and therefore could justify accepting the ticket for a code-share flight. I realize this is somewhat confusing and I'm probably not explaining it too well ... heck, just bring the tickets to me in LAS and we'll get it done! LOL

One more option that has worked for me at a small arport IF you know the agents (where everyone does everything). I've had a UE ticket PSC-SEA and missed my flight (overslept) and had them endorse to AS (Horizon) in a flash. Do you know the players with UE? If so, that might work. In fact if you do know them, I'd go ask them now. Good luck!

NW should allow her to change the ticket to an 830am departure on 12/24. Then she could stay overnight at a hotel in PDX (probably cheaper than the $100 change fee). She will get home closer to Christmas, but if she flies overnight on 12/23 she will probably feel terrible or nap most of 12/24 anyway.

very, very interesting. thanks.