Flaps Down

About two weeks ago, my wife booked a one-way LHR - MLA, flying around two weeks from today. She received a six-character record locator but also the message "there has been an error in issuing the eticket".

I've phoned KM twice, my wife a third time, but the ticket has still not been issued. They claim that they cannot find the payment but I can see that the money was taken from the credit card on the day of purchase.

Every time we call we are told that they can't do anything to speed the process along, but in the meantime we have no way of knowing whether - when my wife gets to LHR - whether she will be allowed to board or not!

Does anyone have any experience of this, or suggestions on how to obtain the ticket that she's paid for?

Thank you.

UKtravelbear

has your card actually been charged or is it still pending?

if there is an actual charge then there is usually a reference number you can quote to the airline aside from the booking ref.

Flaps Down

It's been charged. There's a 23-digit reference number on my credit card statement, a 13-digit number that I think refers to the merchant and a Date Processed of the day after it was booked.

I've tried offering the reference number but the KM telephone operators aren't interested and just say we have to wait for the relevant department to work it out.

Ldnn1

lhrpete

I had this once with Air Malta a couple of years ago and I'll start by saying good luck with sorting it out.

Once they found the payment they claimed it was insufficient and the fare was higher, no amount of we paid what your system asked for got anywhere and in the end they refunded it because I refused to pay the extra money they were asking for - something like €150 so not insignificant on a FCO-MLA journey. We booked and traveled with Alitalia instead and it was faultless!

Flaps Down

It begins with 003. The entry on the statement says:

Bit surprised that it says "United Kingdom" on there. Have we actually paid the subsidiary based in Putney, London?

Yuck! Thank you for sharing.

Although I generally dislike FT posts that touch on compensation, that's made me wonder whether it might be better to wait a couple of days until we are inside the 14 day window, and then argue that EU261 applies (LHR - MLA is 2,100km). I guess that would depend on whether taking the money would constitute a 'ticket' in the sense of the regulation, or whether an actual ticket would need to be issued first. I'm not a good enough amateur lawyer for that one, but maybe it would focus their minds.

Edit: I think it might hang on whether having a PNR constitutes a "confirmed reservation" as distinct from a ticketed reservation. This page seems to think that it might.

To be clear: we'd rather have the ticket than €400 compensation!

ajeleonard

EC261 is a stretch when no ticket has been issued. This is a civil dispute between two parties where one of them has performed (paid) and the other hasn't yet (not delivered the good or service)

Im a new user

If your ticket hasn't been issued, I'd imagine that 261/2004 doesn't apply and that you should instead seek compensation from the ticket vendor (airline or OTA) for any extra costs incurred due to the vendor's failure to issue the ticket, which may include costs for buying a new ticket at the airport and maybe also money that would normally be due from the airline, such as the 400 euros compensation.

UKtravelbear

You could also dispute the transaction with your card provider and ask for a charge back - which usually prompts companies to look into issues again at a higher level

Flaps Down

Just been doing some more research. I see that this is a rare but not unheard of situation:

IB: Booking confirmed but no e-ticket
BA: The 2016 BA compensation thread: Your guide to Regulation 261/2004 (section 31 'b')

As I say, this is clearly not a "ticketed reservation" but does seem to be a "confirmed reservation". However, I accept that it might be a grey area - as the BA thread shows.

Yes, agreed. I wouldn't want them to issue the refund scot free!

Flaps Down

Just for the sake of completeness, I can report that KM did eventually ticket the booking.
The last time I called up I chose a different option. Can't remember which one, but it wasn't "If you're having problems with the website press..." so perhaps this department had more leeway to actual do the ticketing, rather than telling us it would happen. The e-mail arrived about 48 hours later.