travelocity Crooks

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Mar 2, 2019, 4:47 am

#16

skywardhunter

Join Date: Oct 2015

Location: Economy, mostly :(

Programs: Skywards Gold

Posts: 7,801

Quote:

Originally Posted by narvik

I re-read the OP, and fail to see where and how assistance and advice is sought.

Quote:

Originally Posted by barzondo

How can they do this?

Between the emotion and anger, OP clearly would like to understand better how the whole ticketing, credit, change fee system works, as it is obviously opaque and convoluted for the average traveler.

BearX220, jsloan, strickerj and 1 others like this.

Mar 2, 2019, 4:56 am

#17

narvik

Join Date: May 2010

Location: AVP & PEK

Programs: UA 1K 1.8MM

Posts: 6,341

Quote:

Originally Posted by skywardhunter

Between the emotion and anger, OP clearly would like to understand better how the whole ticketing, credit, change fee system works, as it is obviously opaque and convoluted for the average traveler.

Possibly. The tone and sentiment had me convinced otherwise.
Full disclosure: I saw the last two sentences after I posted (they were added as I was typing my response).

Mar 2, 2019, 8:30 am

#18

Artpen100

Join Date: Jul 2011

Programs: AA Plat, UA 1K>Plat>moving to Silver

Posts: 2,089

I totally understand the OP. The OTA was terrible, but followed the rules, so probably no recourse. Though I always complain, since you never know when you might get something.

But many of us have learned that OTAs are fine if nothing goes wrong, and lousy if anything does.

That is why I never, never, never use an OTA for airline tickets. Any more.

Mar 2, 2019, 9:21 am

#19

Collierkr

Join Date: Feb 2017

Location: Houston

Programs: UA 1K and Million Miler, *A Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hertz Five Star,

Posts: 1,301

Quote:

Originally Posted by barzondo

I booked a flight had to cancel. Got a 513.00 dollar credit. Called customer service and tried to use my flight credit. Almost non-speaking english representative. I did make out a few words here and there. Booked my flight with my credit. Rep explained the 200.00 dollar charge for the airline. Flight was 194.00. Total 394.00 right? Wrong Travelocity charged 200.00 to my credit card and wiped out my travel credit.Said airline policy charged them 200.00. So I had a 513.00 credit. Called them another none fluent english speaking person told me that was their policy. So 194.00 flight just cost me 713.00. NEVER EVER USE THEM AGAIN. How can they do this? I wish United would stop doing business with these criminals.

this isn’t about UA doing business with Travelocity... it is about pax doing business with Travelocity. When that stops, or people pay attention to their rules, this problem will go away.

iflyjetz likes this.

Mar 2, 2019, 9:47 am

#20

WineCountryUA

Moderator: United Airlines

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: SFO

Programs: UA Plat 1.995MM, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Plat/LT Gold, Hilton Silver, IHG Plat

Posts: 66,832

Quote:

Originally Posted by j2simpso

Couple reasons why you may want to use an (O)TA:

Sometimes their fares are cheaper than booking direct with the airline .

And these may come with a new layer of restrictions and lost of DOT purchase protections -- Buyer beware

The use ITA like tools and then booking on the carrier's site, can be the best of both worlds

Quote:

You can get free E+ seating in Economy Basic on UA as a Premier due to the lag between booking and ticketing ...

????

Quote:

You get the expertise of a human agent who knows the ins and outs of international travel and can provide assistance when things go sideways ...

As you mentioned this TA vs OTA, and the question was about OTAs

Mar 2, 2019, 10:11 am

#21

iflyjetz

Join Date: Jul 2001

Programs: Marriott LT Tit; Hyatt Explorist; Hilton CC Gold; IHG CC Plt; Hertz (MR) 5 star

Posts: 5,536

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collierkr

this isn’t about UA doing business with Travelocity... it is about pax doing business with Travelocity. When that stops, or people pay attention to their rules, this problem will go away.

I learned my lesson LONG ago about booking with OTAs. Hopefully the OP has now learned to not book with OTAs, or at least read all of the fine print before doing this again.

Mar 2, 2019, 11:19 am

#22

docbert

Join Date: Jul 2007

Location: San Francisco/Sydney

Programs: UA 1K/MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Something, IHG Gold, Hertz PC, Avis PC

Posts: 8,155

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve M

Even if things had gone the way you expected them to go, why would you pay a $200 change fee to use a residual credit for a $194 flight? Even if you had kept the residual credit, why not pay $194 now for the $194 flight, instead of $200 now, and keep the entire $513 for some other flight? What you did makes no sense even before you ran into the Travelocity residual credit problem.

Because it's the smart thing to do?

The OP ends up $6 out of pocket for doing so, but ends up with a $319 credit that they can use without any fees or charges. AFAIK, this credit is good for 12 months from the time of this transaction.

If they had just paid for the new ticket, they would have 'saved' $6, but still had $513 locked up with United, which would have still required a $200 fee to get it out. And an expiry of 12 months from when the initial ticket was issued.

IF the OP was going to be purchasing a $513+ ticket before the initial 12 months is up, then you're right, it makes little difference. However if they aren't, then to me that's $6 well spent as it allows them to use the entire credit on other flight(s), and with a longer expiry, and even for someone else (the ticket credit is locked to the original ticket-holders name, whilst the rollover credit isn't - at least when dealing with UA directly)

As for the bigger picture, what the OP needs to do here is call United and ask what has happened to the additional credit. It's possible that an ETC has been issued (or can be issued), or that an agency credit has been issued to Travelocity. That's the piece of information that's needed before proceeding any further...

Mar 2, 2019, 11:24 am

#23

FlyerTalker70

Join Date: Nov 2017

Posts: 3,359

Quote:

Originally Posted by WineCountryUA

????

When you purchase a flight from an OTA often there is a delay between when you book the ticket and the airline in question (i.e. UA) issuing the ticket in their system. During that time your PNR will pull up your itinerary on the airline's website but the site will say, something along the lines of United is currently in the process of ticketing your flight. During that time the details of your flight will appear but the segments won't say Basic Economy. You can then go into change seats and select your E+ seat. Unsure if that has been resolved since I first observed it at the end of December but something to think about nevertheless.

It has always been my experience in purchasing flights directly with UA that the flight would be ticketed at about the same time as I book it (likely because I'm booking directly with the airline and all their systems are integrated).

Safe Travels,

James