the1guy

So... I'm current on hold from Orbitz who's on hold from Qantas after getting transferred from Cheaptickets after calling United. It turns out Orbitz deals with Cheapticket's international itinerary.

My itinerary, starting tomorrow, is IAD -> LAX -> SYD -> ZQN then a similar itinerary back. The CONUS leg is with United and the rest with Qantas.

I booked this itinerary with Cheaptickets back in Feb. Then it used to be IAD -> LAX -> AKL -> ZQN I'm sure many of you know that in ~May Qantas discontinued LAX -> AKL route. This is when all hell broke loose.

Long story short, I'd been on the phone with Cheaptickets, Orbitz, and Qantas for collectively 20 hours or so the past couple months because Cheaptickets kept changing my itinerary. At one point I had a 6-leg one-way itinerary that involved a -2 hr -45 mins layover in SFO. Somehow I get back to a plausible itinerary and it hasn't changed in the past 2 weeks.

So, today, I try to check in on United.com because my flight leaves within the next 24 hrs. It told me that there wasn't a coupon issued or something. I call United and they told me that the e-ticket hasn't been released and I won't be able to check in at the airport tomorrow even unless I get this resolved. So I call Cheaptickets who then transfers me to Orbitz.

The Orbitz customer rep assures me that everything is fine. So, sensing correctly she has no clue and is just trying to get rid of me, I ask for the manager. After asking politely for the manager 3 times, I get her, who sounds equally clueless. I spend the next 10 minutes convincing her that they f'ed up. Finally she sees on her system that I'd had like 7 flights issued and calls Qantas. 30 mins hold later she tells me she has to "renegotiate" with United the tickets (Cheaptickets f'ed up I'm sure) and promises to call me back in the next hour.

This sounds like a .....ing session, and it is, but I'm really looking for a perspective here. This is by far the worst experience I've had pre-flight and these clowns give me 0 confidence that I'll actually be able to fly out tomorrow. Such competence must be illegal. Worse would be me not being able to come back on time - I have very important family functions to attend. What can I do at this point to make sure that I can actually fly when and where I am supposed to?

At this point, I'm so disgusted by the whole experience that I want to cancel my NZ trip altogether. But since I bought the ticket back in Feb, my credit card company probably won't let me do a charge-back.

the1guy

... and just got a call back from Cheaptickets/Orbitz. It seems they've figured it out and it'll take another 1-2 hrs for it to take effect. I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning whether I'm going to NZ.

Yoshi212

Good luck, Hopefully it works out. If when you wake up it is still messed up have them put you on an AA flight as things might be smoother with them working with QF.

the1guy

Thanks, Yoshi. I was able to check in online on United this morning at 2:30am. It seems Cheaptickets somehow booked a W+ ticket for me instead of W (I'm not a ......), Qantas denied it, and Cheaptickets just sat on it. I can't believe it took 2 hrs for Cheaptickets to figure out what was going on. My friends who bought the same itinerary had a slightly better experience although it seems Orbitz handles international itineraries for both. I sincerely hope that Qantas, Cheaptickets, and Orbitz go bankrupt as soon as I get back from NZ and their executives eventually burn in hell.

Yoshi212

I'm sure you and the people in the Australian media have the same wishes. Have a few drinks and enjoy the trip.
If not when you get back contact a good voodoo priestess and have her do her things on them.