I need to vent on my frustration on being screwed(in my opinion) on award tickets we got last April. I booked DSM to GCM and back, having to rulebust the return to get the date we needed. Our return was Memphis to DSM. Several months ago we got a schedule change, we now were going to mem-mps-dsm because they were cancelling the mem-dsm flight. Ok, we could live that. In looking at NWA.com today I saw that mem-dsm flight again. So we just called WP to see why are we not on that flight. Well, a. can't put you on because it's full(see below for this falsehood), and oh by the way, you haven't been notified but the late flight from MPS-DSM is cancelled that night and you will have to spend the night in MPS AT YOUR OWN EXPENSE and fly home on the 23d. SURPRISE!!! Though I could book on NWA.com the dms-mem. I called the reservation line and I could have also bought a ticket on mem-dsm right then on the 22s. So we go back to the WP line and they tell us the mem-dsm flight is full, no way to put us on blah blah. My frustration is mounting. How can we be bumped off a flight we rulebusted to get months ago? How can they route us only part way and tell us we have to put ourselves up or the night? How can I book a ticket both on NWA.com AND the reservation line yet WP says the flight is completely full and no seats, WP or otherwise are available. No amount of nicely and not so nicely talking to the WP is getting us anywhere. What's happening here??? What good is an booking on award ticket if they can do this????

This is why I am no longer flying NW. I have a ton of miles and I can't find a single way to use them. At least UAL and AA, while not as good FF programs in theory, have space for FF'ers.

Essentially, this is bait and switch practice and is usually illegal. But since NW articulates that the program is subject to availability (sort of like a car dealership adding that there is only 1 car like this on the lot), they are not held to the standard.

I don't find awards that hard to find, especially with lots of advance planning.

The new awards reservation site almost always comes up with an itinerary. You might not like it but the availability is there.

In fact I am now finding domestic availability that doesn't show up on WPAA lister or Galileo.
I'm wondering if everyone is seeing this or if this is extra available for elites. I have also found itineraries that only show up for NWA club members.

Try out the new site.

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doglover

milesmom, what are the dates you are after for that itinerary?

If you need to spend miles...standard awards to lincoln, nebraska are alays available

I have the same problem...trying to go to Asia in WBC..it takes some time to find standard awards.

milesmom: didn't you have troubles with your award tickers for you Christmas trip to GCM? I thought you would've learned by now .

Yes, we did have trouble on our Christmas trip, but finally resolved it with NW, eliminating the night in DTW airport. Interesting on that one, what they ended up doing was what we asked for all along that they told us "the computer" won't let them do, and that was let us fly to Memphis and catch the same flight to Cayman.That also took several phone calls to accomplish. The date we are having the problem is March 22d. This afternoon both on NWA.com and on the phone there were seats for sale on the memphis-dsm leg. Not seeing the seats now on NWA.com. Had another lengthy phone conversation with WP since I last posted. Basically there's nothing...yes we changed your original return flight to something else because the flight was going to be eliminated, but it is still flying but "the computer" wouldn't put you back on and now it's full, and yes, we did route you to MSP to get home that night, but now we aren't flying the latest flight to DSM and you'll have to spend the night in MSP at your own expense, no we won't fly you to Miami on AA to get connections to get you home the right date and the fact you rulebusted in april for this return means nothing now and no you can't get a mileage adjustment. I guess I expect some schedule changes, but when the change occurs and we end up in MSP instead DSM and have to put ourselves up when the original routing would and could still work just frustrates me to no end. I really suspect they bumped us off to sell the seats on the memphis-dsm flight and that it never did come off the schedule like we were orginally told. Of course I'll never know. And strangely, we have never been officially notified by email,or new itinerary that we are spending the night in MSP. We only found out last Wednesday when my Platinum hubby called to check on the time of the flight home from MSP and the rep said, oh you aren't coming home that night, I see by the record you haven't been notified. He asked when that change had occurred...Dec. 14th. Guess we're stuck. I would just caution that if you have an award ticket it doesn't necessarily mean they'll get you home on the date you originally booked and if you get half way home, you pay the hotel bill(and in our case with time, probably dinner and breakfast as well) yourself. We've booked lots of award trips over the years but this year's 2 fiascos have left us very unhappy. Am I being unreasonsonable or unrealistic here?

milesmom:
Please e-mail me. My e-mail addy (which I just updated! LOL) is in my profile. It's my username on FT @yahoo.com.

You are doing the right thing by being proactive. I would contact a
worldperks service center superviso and ask for help in your routings.

Since 9/11, the flight schedules have been fluctuating and I think everyone has had more flight changes. cancelations, reroutes, etc.

Better to deal with this upfront.

Let us know how this is resolved!

Good luck!

On average, I believe NW has about 7-8% of their seat inventory systemwide available for award travel booking...this is pretty much in line with industry standards. You may see one flight say DTW-MSN have 10% of the seats available for award seats on a given day and another, DTW-LAS for instance only have 5%...therein itself lies a problem...the seats are not available to everyone for every given place at certain times. With the highest load factors in the industry and with numerous ways to accrue miles and bonus miles, there are alot of WorldPerks members attempting to use miles on any given flight. One unique option NW and programs have is the ability to use the "Rule Buster" option and go on basically any flight one chooses for double the amount of a normal award ticket.
I see many flights out of LAS (one of the highest load factor stations in the system with a high demand for award seats) with available "W" inventory and do hear the comments that there are never any available seats for award travel...the seats are out there, they just aren't always there on the exact dates/times you want them...key is to be flexible.

From what you have posted, I don't feel you are being unreasonable at all...as others have posted, contact the WP Service Center and speak with a supervisor. If not resolved there, e-mail Customer Relations...I can't see how this can't be worked out to some acceptable conclusion for you WITHOUT an forced overnight in MSP, especially if there are alternate flights (which you had booked before and were rescheduled from) that you are willing (and probably prefer) to take. Let us know how this is resolved.

Vegas agent... I agree with you, however, availability of an award seat isn't my problem...I HAD the award seats, then I was rerouted(by NW claiming the flight was going to be discontinued and it was not) and the reroute won't even get us home the same day! And we're told tough, you have to pay your expenses for staying overnight. There is NO reason why we aren't on the original flight I RULEBUSTED to get last April. I HAD the exact date and time, paid dearly for that in rulebust miles, had that reservation for months until NW unilaterally took us off, routed us to Minneapolis into a situation where we can't even get home. And now where am I? I'm in Minneapolis for the night and I'm paying for the privilege. With all due respect I don't think my flexibility or lack thereof is the issue here either. They were still selling seats on an oversold flight from Mem to DSM this afternoon, yet we can't be restored to our seats because it's "sold out". Isn't it contract between me and the airlines,I have a ticket that says I'm to be flown HOME, not Minneapolis on the 22d of March? Why is that worthless, and moreover, I have to PAY all attendant expenses involved??? And why does NW refuse to route us on another airline that would get us home that day?

Milesmom,
Here's what I would do:

Call NWA and make a reservation for MEM-DSM, one way... According to the history here, you should be able to do that. Tell the res agent you're paying with vouchers or cash or something, and that you just need a reservation so you can ticket it at the airport. Ignore the obscene price.

THEN... Call WorldPerks... Tell them that you'd like to fly MSM-DSM as originally booked instead of the ridiculous MSP-DSM they have you on now. When they tell you it's sold out, provide them with your reservation number that you received in the previous phone call, reinforce that this is a RuleBuster, and tell them that they can use that seat.... Your ace in the hole. Now there may be some technical issues that NW will need to get past to make this work, but now, in principle, NW doesn't have a leg to stand on.

Addendum: I couldn't find on the NWA website that a RuleBuster seat specifically comes from Y inventory - it just says "greater seat availability". I did see that an F seat comes from P inventory, which bodes well for a coach seat coming from Y. If it does, you're golden. If not, well....

This is the disconcerting part to me. Milesmom did use RULEBUSTER and it seems to be that she should have had some priority in the queue. If she paid the equivalent of "full fare" in miles, then why, when the flight was either not cancelled or reinstated didn't she have her original reservation restored? Would a paying passenger be treated the same?

Miles Mom

I think Vegas Agent is on your side. And I think Agent's suggestions are good. You need to go to a higher level with just the facts. Keep your chin up and take some deep breaths. You seem to be in the right. Now it is us to NW to make it work for you. Good luck.