Vegas Agent

For those not yet aware...

Effective March 1, NW will begin charging a $50 fee for changes made to award reservations. This is similar to the $50 redeposit fee that applies when a person no-shows on an award booking.

gottigotti

but plats are expempt:

http://www.nwa.com/freqfly/wpplatadmin.html

thezipper

Also, this is a one-time fee. If you decide to make more chances, you don't have to fork over another $50.

knowitall

Not so - thezipper! The $50 fee applies EACH TIME you make changes, but only applies to all changes made at the same time. So, if you change both dates and times on the same change, that is on $50 fee, but, if you call 3 separate times and change your dates each time, you will pay 3 fees of $50=$150.

thezipper

Thanks... I got confused with the "multiple changes" part of the text...

"The administrative fee is not cumulative. This means that multiple changes to one ticket within one transaction will only require a total of one $50 administrative fee."

Radiocycle

I have heard of people ordering an award ticket and calling back 19 times to change it. The $50. fee is to discourage excess changes to award tickets. There is additional cost if you don't make changes!

I think that this administrative fee is to discourage frivilous calls/changes to award tickets because it is expensive to have agents waste time.

Imagine someone calling 19 times to change an award ticket!

RC


[This message has been edited by Radiocycle (edited 01-08-2003).]

leroy11

Does this apply to situations where you have no choice but to talk to an agent to change a ticket such as when using a partner airline like COPA that, as far as I know, you can not book online?

theawesome1

Now what are THEY paying me when they change my tix booked 9 months in advance to Hawaii with my award???

Last year they didn't even call or send me a new E-ticket. I happened to log on to nwa.com & type in my flight numbers to learn they cancelled the flights to a later time, thus my interisland flights were long gone. So they had to phone Aloha to change me at their cost.

knowitall

yes-you pay when you have to call NWA for a change in a situation when you cannot make the change online. I had one award situation last year which I changed 7X at no cost. This year I'll pay 7X50=$350. YUCK! Guess I won't make last minute changes any more.

fscher

I did a search and this is the thread that appeared. If there is more, please link.

I want to go to KOA March 13-19.
March 13 is fine, but the 19th is not open for a few more days. If it tickets tonight for 13-16th (latest the booking will go out for now - so it is a temp. hold because they will not book just the outbound), they will charge me 50.00 per ticket to change to 19th in a few days. If I don't book it, I have been assured that the 13th will be long gone by the time the 19th opens. Also, Hawaiian Airlines won't open for several weeks. This means I have to use MORE miles to book interstate connections between Oahu and the Main Island. They just don't make it easy any more. Does not seem fair that I try to plan ahead and can't get what I want (without paying the fees) and someone else will come along and get "my" seats. Thanks for listening to the same gripe that I am sure others are feeling now.

keithguy

Since there appears to be no limit to the number of times you can redeposit for free (until midnight next day)...

What you might want to try do is ticket 13-16th, then call before midnight the next day, cancel and redeposit (free) and then re-ticket for the 13th-17th (assuming it opens up, if not ticket for the exact same dates/flights). Keep on doing this until the 19th opens up.

It's a heck of a lot work (for both you and the agents) but it's one way to avoid the fees.

Andy100

question about this: can someone else grab the seats for the 13th, because they open up when you cancel (there were on a waitlist, and you were not..). So you cancel, they get the seats, and then you cant get them anymore because there are none left.. is such a scenario possible?

afrugal1

Very nice point, theawesome1. Neither reciprocity nor equity ever seem to be considered in these ever expanding fee schedules.


[This message has been edited by afrugal1 (edited 03-31-2003).]

fscher

Yes, this is possible. That is why they were urging me to BOOK, not just reserve my seats and then PAY to change the return part. I took my chances yesterday and did rebook 13-17 and the agent made it clear that I was lucky. Someone else could be on the other line at the same time and the other agent might get them for the caller on the other phone. Yes, it is more work for them! AND it holds the 17th for someone else who might want it when I clearly DON'T want it. They are making this harder than it should be. It is using up more manhours and is probably COSTING them more in the longrun than being a bit flexible and making members happier. Oh, well. Nobody asked me what the rules should be.

bwallet

I had an award ticket that I changed about 10 times last year. NW is to blame for this because of the way they handle availability. I got award tickets that were approximately when I wanted to go and approximately when I wanted to return. Then, as seats opened up that were closer to the right times, I changed. Eventually, I got the best dates/times I could get. If I had waited to the right return dates, I wouldn't have been able to get the outbound dates. That's really what you have to do, and the agents on the elite line will tell you that.

So, basically, this change means that getting award tickets in WBC on NW will be nearly impossible for non-Plats unless you pay a few hundred dollars in fees.