I'm a complete moron (possibly)- date mistake in ticketing
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Halfway between MKE & MSN
Programs: AA, BA, UA 2P, Hertz Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Silver
Posts: 209
I'm a complete moron (possibly)- date mistake in ticketing
So here's the deal:
Booked on FL a few weeks ago for a flight departing 11/15/09, returning 11/16/09. Was on FL website yesterday checking my account and to my (slight) horror, I see that the flights were showing as a past itinerary on 11/1/09, returning 11/2/09.
I find it incredibly hard to believe I booked the flights on the wrong days as I'm fairly anal about checking and re-checking all aspects of every flight I book.
2 questions:
1. Is there any possible way this was a website/software glitch that resulted in the wrong dates for the flights?
2. Does it even pay to see if FL will do anything to accommodate me in any manner?
Booked on FL a few weeks ago for a flight departing 11/15/09, returning 11/16/09. Was on FL website yesterday checking my account and to my (slight) horror, I see that the flights were showing as a past itinerary on 11/1/09, returning 11/2/09.
I find it incredibly hard to believe I booked the flights on the wrong days as I'm fairly anal about checking and re-checking all aspects of every flight I book.
2 questions:
1. Is there any possible way this was a website/software glitch that resulted in the wrong dates for the flights?
2. Does it even pay to see if FL will do anything to accommodate me in any manner?
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: Fabulous on one of the US carriers..
Posts: 11,878
So here's the deal:
Booked on FL a few weeks ago for a flight departing 11/15/09, returning 11/16/09. Was on FL website yesterday checking my account and to my (slight) horror, I see that the flights were showing as a past itinerary on 11/1/09, returning 11/2/09.
I find it incredibly hard to believe I booked the flights on the wrong days as I'm fairly anal about checking and re-checking all aspects of every flight I book.
2 questions:
1. Is there any possible way this was a website/software glitch that resulted in the wrong dates for the flights?
2. Does it even pay to see if FL will do anything to accommodate me in any manner?
Booked on FL a few weeks ago for a flight departing 11/15/09, returning 11/16/09. Was on FL website yesterday checking my account and to my (slight) horror, I see that the flights were showing as a past itinerary on 11/1/09, returning 11/2/09.
I find it incredibly hard to believe I booked the flights on the wrong days as I'm fairly anal about checking and re-checking all aspects of every flight I book.
2 questions:
1. Is there any possible way this was a website/software glitch that resulted in the wrong dates for the flights?
2. Does it even pay to see if FL will do anything to accommodate me in any manner?
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Halfway between MKE & MSN
Programs: AA, BA, UA 2P, Hertz Gold, SPG Gold, Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Silver
Posts: 209
Confirmation also says 11/1 and 11/2, but I didn't look at the confirmation until yesterday when I noticed the issue on my FL account.
I'm assuming I'm screwed, but just wondered if anyone had any advice or anything similar that happened to them.
I'm assuming I'm screwed, but just wondered if anyone had any advice or anything similar that happened to them.
#6
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Benicia CA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K, AA 3.8MM, UA 1.1MM, enjoying the retired life
Posts: 31,849
It's just one of those things you have to pay careful attention to, particularly in verifying all the information once you do receive confirmation.
#7
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,098
So here's the deal:
Booked on FL a few weeks ago for a flight departing 11/15/09, returning 11/16/09. Was on FL website yesterday checking my account and to my (slight) horror, I see that the flights were showing as a past itinerary on 11/1/09, returning 11/2/09.
I find it incredibly hard to believe I booked the flights on the wrong days as I'm fairly anal about checking and re-checking all aspects of every flight I book.
2 questions:
1. Is there any possible way this was a website/software glitch that resulted in the wrong dates for the flights?
2. Does it even pay to see if FL will do anything to accommodate me in any manner?
Booked on FL a few weeks ago for a flight departing 11/15/09, returning 11/16/09. Was on FL website yesterday checking my account and to my (slight) horror, I see that the flights were showing as a past itinerary on 11/1/09, returning 11/2/09.
I find it incredibly hard to believe I booked the flights on the wrong days as I'm fairly anal about checking and re-checking all aspects of every flight I book.
2 questions:
1. Is there any possible way this was a website/software glitch that resulted in the wrong dates for the flights?
2. Does it even pay to see if FL will do anything to accommodate me in any manner?
#8
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: MEL
Programs: QF, VA, VN, BA, SQ, KC - all reds and blues.
Posts: 3,205
Sometimes if you have been setting the dates and use the scroll wheel without first clicking elsewhere on the page, it will scroll the dates. I got caught with this once on booking a flight with BD. They were not interested in changing and simply said that I had all the details on the confirmation screen and clicked Proceed.
#10
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: MEL
Programs: QF, VA, VN, BA, SQ, KC - all reds and blues.
Posts: 3,205
Which then suggests that the problem is with the system rather than the customer. I imagine airlines know this is an issue but choose not to fix it because it is a useful source of income.
#11
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Home
Programs: AA, Delta, UA & thanks to FTers for my PC Gold!
Posts: 7,676
Can you elaborate how the airlines/systems are at fault when customers book the wrong dates themselves?
#12
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: MEL
Programs: QF, VA, VN, BA, SQ, KC - all reds and blues.
Posts: 3,205
The purpose (supposedly) of the online booking system is to sell pax tickets for air travel on the dates they want to fly. If pax often end up using the system and booking flights on the wrong dates then the system is not delivering what it sets out to do. In most industries, the aim is to achieve customer satisfaction and selling the wrong product seldom achieves that. But in the aviation industry, we seem to have been conditioned to believe that errors are the fault of the passenger and therefore the airline should not try to remedy the situation. Given the known fault that scroll wheels can cause dates, destinations and other data held in drop-down lists to be altered after the customer thinks the data has been set then airlines could take steps to fix the situation. The fact that they don't suggests they prefer to have errors occurring and keep the money.
#13
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: NYC, DEL, BKK
Programs: DL SM, 9W Silver, UA, HHonors
Posts: 71
I've made this mistake myself, and its a price you have to pay to have the convenience of being able to book your own tickets. There are several confirmations you make before you pay, so you likely would have been able to catch it previously. I've also had people get confused on tickets that are departing just after midnight on flights, and miss their flight, thinking it departs the following night, and the airlines still generally make you pay. Its a lose-lose situation! I have also had itineraries get messed up by having multiple windows open for the same website while researching fares and have the date incorrectly get booked because of that, realizing moments later when the confirmation email arrived. They checked their database and sent me the log of my transaction and showed me that I had in fact chosen those dates, and made me pay the change fee. If you truly believe there was a technical error, you can contact the airline and they will be able to have their tech support/web team look at the transaction for you and see if it was in fact their error. Most likely, it was yours and you'll just have to pay unfortunately!
#14
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SJO
Programs: CO Gold
Posts: 1,229
Problem is, (dumb) computer users are known to click the 'ok' button blindly.......as in
"do you really want to install this virus?"
"would you like to meet single coeds by installing this safe and free application that is going to eat all the resources of your computer and use it as a spam sender?"
"your computer is going to blow up, click 'yes KILL ME!' to do it now, click 'kill me later when I sleep!' to do it when the computer is shutdown.....click 'cancel' to 'cancel and PREVENT DEATH"
in summary, no matter how well designed any system is ......there will always be screws ups and this is even more so when you have 'everyone' using it (as in , everyone that "THINKS" they can use a computer)
The difference in date formats used around the World doesn't help either but reality is that 'do it yourself' booking systems are used all the time and the % of mistakes is VERY small
(I fly few airlines......and at least for the ones I use ....you can always TOTALLY CANCEL a purchase if you do it within 24 hours of booking so even if you screw it up THEN fail to notice this at the final confirmation screen you can STILL look at your receipt and take corrective action)
#15
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Exile
Posts: 15,638
The purpose (supposedly) of the online booking system is to sell pax tickets for air travel on the dates they want to fly. If pax often end up using the system and booking flights on the wrong dates then the system is not delivering what it sets out to do. In most industries, the aim is to achieve customer satisfaction and selling the wrong product seldom achieves that. But in the aviation industry, we seem to have been conditioned to believe that errors are the fault of the passenger and therefore the airline should not try to remedy the situation. Given the known fault that scroll wheels can cause dates, destinations and other data held in drop-down lists to be altered after the customer thinks the data has been set then airlines could take steps to fix the situation. The fact that they don't suggests they prefer to have errors occurring and keep the money.
Would passengers prefer to be asked to re-check their travel dates twice before they can complete a booking? Three times? Four? Eight? Twenty-six?
Would a passenger be willing to pay an extra $X so that the airline can call him on the morning of departure to remind him that he is supposed to fly today?
I would instead venture to say that passengers in some parts of the world are so conditioned in a compensation mentality that they are unwilling to assume responsibility for their own errors.