New policy on ticketing a lap child?
May 29, 2012, 6:25 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: CO Platinum
Posts: 103
New policy on ticketing a lap child?
Called United to add a lap child to an existing international award reservation and got a confirmation number and was told receipt would be sent via email momentarily. Went to united.com which said "Your itinerary cannot be retrieved, since there are no flight segments. Only itineraries with flight segments can be added to your Profile"
So called back and after a brief consultation with her supervisor, the agent said now lap child can only be ticketed 30 minutes prior to departure (but at the price I was quoted today) so no receipt would be sent. It has now been several hours and still no receipt or pending charge on my CC.
Is this a new policy or should I call back?
So called back and after a brief consultation with her supervisor, the agent said now lap child can only be ticketed 30 minutes prior to departure (but at the price I was quoted today) so no receipt would be sent. It has now been several hours and still no receipt or pending charge on my CC.
Is this a new policy or should I call back?
Last edited by qq511; May 29, 2012 at 7:17 pm
May 29, 2012, 8:06 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2007
Programs: UA, AA, LH, Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Hertz
Posts: 1,759
Called United to add a lap child to an existing international award reservation and got a confirmation number and was told receipt would be sent via email momentarily. Went to united.com which said "Your itinerary cannot be retrieved, since there are no flight segments. Only itineraries with flight segments can be added to your Profile"
So called back and after a brief consultation with her supervisor, the agent said now lap child can only be ticketed 30 minutes prior to departure (but at the price I was quoted today) so no receipt would be sent. It has now been several hours and still no receipt or pending charge on my CC.
Is this a new policy or should I call back?
So called back and after a brief consultation with her supervisor, the agent said now lap child can only be ticketed 30 minutes prior to departure (but at the price I was quoted today) so no receipt would be sent. It has now been several hours and still no receipt or pending charge on my CC.
Is this a new policy or should I call back?
May 29, 2012, 8:21 pm
#3
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: LAX
Programs: UA-1K, Hertz-Gold, Marriott-Gold, PC-Platinum, SPG
Posts: 2,777
Called United to add a lap child to an existing international award reservation and got a confirmation number and was told receipt would be sent via email momentarily. Went to united.com which said "Your itinerary cannot be retrieved, since there are no flight segments. Only itineraries with flight segments can be added to your Profile"
So called back and after a brief consultation with her supervisor, the agent said now lap child can only be ticketed 30 minutes prior to departure (but at the price I was quoted today) so no receipt would be sent. It has now been several hours and still no receipt or pending charge on my CC.
Is this a new policy or should I call back?
So called back and after a brief consultation with her supervisor, the agent said now lap child can only be ticketed 30 minutes prior to departure (but at the price I was quoted today) so no receipt would be sent. It has now been several hours and still no receipt or pending charge on my CC.
Is this a new policy or should I call back?
May 30, 2012, 12:46 pm
#5
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 282
I know it's not an issue for all FTers, but the lap infant issue has been a complete and total disaster since 3/3.
We have 5 different international reservations of all sorts coming up - paid on UA, award on UA, award on *A partners - and trying to get our 14-month old added to each of them has been a complete nightmare. I've spent no less than 2 hours on the phone for each reservation and, unlike some of the issues I've dealt with post-3/3, there doesn't seem to be any agent that is any more sure they're doing the right thing than any other.
On the paid UA reservation, when I look at the reservation online, it now (after 3 weeks and numerous calls) shows the lap infant on the reservation. I've printed 1000 copies for posterity.
The award reservations are impossible. I've spent probably 8 hours on the phone over the past 3 weeks working on the Singapore flight, and (sitting on hold right now, 1 hour 44 minutes and counting...) this agent just told me that it's not possible for UA to add the infant and that I need to call SQ to do it. I had another agent tell me the same thing about an award flight on Qatar, and I called Qatar who told me UA had to do it. The hold time now is my fourth attempt at adding her to a Thai reservation (and to correct the spelling of her name, which the last agent apparently didn't do properly).
While I too worry about things like my CPUs not processing, GPUs not clearing, etc since 3/3, this is a much bigger deal to those of us that deal with it. No two agents give me the same answer. When they do tell me that something has actually been done there is no evidence to show for it - nothing appears in my online reservations on these partner awards, there is no confirmation number or ticket number they can give me, and I can't get an email receipt. In short, I have zero confidence that any of this is being done right, and I fully expect to show up at least one of NRT, SIN, DPS, BKK, DOH, LHR or BRU in the next two months and be told that I have to spend north of $1000 or more for a one-way ticket so that my daughter has a boarding pass for the privilege of sitting in our laps for countless hours.
I, like everyone else, have put up with all the merger growing pains. And I know that every person has their limit, and that some have already reached it and taken AAdvantage of AA's offer to jump ship. I can tell you very simply that this has already taken way too much of my time, will continue to take too much time between now and when we fly, has sapped most any confidence I have in the ability of United agents to do these procedures correctly (or even to tell me truthfully that they can't!), and when something predictably goes wrong on this series of flights I can honestly say that I will send my status match info to AA and never look back.
We have 5 different international reservations of all sorts coming up - paid on UA, award on UA, award on *A partners - and trying to get our 14-month old added to each of them has been a complete nightmare. I've spent no less than 2 hours on the phone for each reservation and, unlike some of the issues I've dealt with post-3/3, there doesn't seem to be any agent that is any more sure they're doing the right thing than any other.
On the paid UA reservation, when I look at the reservation online, it now (after 3 weeks and numerous calls) shows the lap infant on the reservation. I've printed 1000 copies for posterity.
The award reservations are impossible. I've spent probably 8 hours on the phone over the past 3 weeks working on the Singapore flight, and (sitting on hold right now, 1 hour 44 minutes and counting...) this agent just told me that it's not possible for UA to add the infant and that I need to call SQ to do it. I had another agent tell me the same thing about an award flight on Qatar, and I called Qatar who told me UA had to do it. The hold time now is my fourth attempt at adding her to a Thai reservation (and to correct the spelling of her name, which the last agent apparently didn't do properly).
While I too worry about things like my CPUs not processing, GPUs not clearing, etc since 3/3, this is a much bigger deal to those of us that deal with it. No two agents give me the same answer. When they do tell me that something has actually been done there is no evidence to show for it - nothing appears in my online reservations on these partner awards, there is no confirmation number or ticket number they can give me, and I can't get an email receipt. In short, I have zero confidence that any of this is being done right, and I fully expect to show up at least one of NRT, SIN, DPS, BKK, DOH, LHR or BRU in the next two months and be told that I have to spend north of $1000 or more for a one-way ticket so that my daughter has a boarding pass for the privilege of sitting in our laps for countless hours.
I, like everyone else, have put up with all the merger growing pains. And I know that every person has their limit, and that some have already reached it and taken AAdvantage of AA's offer to jump ship. I can tell you very simply that this has already taken way too much of my time, will continue to take too much time between now and when we fly, has sapped most any confidence I have in the ability of United agents to do these procedures correctly (or even to tell me truthfully that they can't!), and when something predictably goes wrong on this series of flights I can honestly say that I will send my status match info to AA and never look back.
May 30, 2012, 12:54 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 282
Domestic is a totally different ballgame (fortunately). Either paid or award most agents know how to do it over the phone, and you can actually just wait and do it at check-in at the airport if, like me, you're concerned that it may mess with your CPU if you do it earlier.
May 30, 2012, 1:03 pm
#8
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: ORD / DUB / LHR
Programs: UA 1K MM; BA Silver; Marriott Plat
Posts: 8,243
Domestic is a totally different ballgame (fortunately). Either paid or award most agents know how to do it over the phone, and you can actually just wait and do it at check-in at the airport if, like me, you're concerned that it may mess with your CPU if you do it earlier.
May 30, 2012, 1:21 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: CO Platinum
Posts: 103
Did you get a confirmation for the award on UA? I got one which couldn't be displayed online. Called multiple times and was told it is in queue for ticketing. Like you I have on confidence that things have been done correctly (or even there is a right way of doing this).
I know it's not an issue for all FTers, but the lap infant issue has been a complete and total disaster since 3/3.
We have 5 different international reservations of all sorts coming up - paid on UA, award on UA, award on *A partners - and trying to get our 14-month old added to each of them has been a complete nightmare. I've spent no less than 2 hours on the phone for each reservation and, unlike some of the issues I've dealt with post-3/3, there doesn't seem to be any agent that is any more sure they're doing the right thing than any other.
On the paid UA reservation, when I look at the reservation online, it now (after 3 weeks and numerous calls) shows the lap infant on the reservation. I've printed 1000 copies for posterity.
The award reservations are impossible. I've spent probably 8 hours on the phone over the past 3 weeks working on the Singapore flight, and (sitting on hold right now, 1 hour 44 minutes and counting...) this agent just told me that it's not possible for UA to add the infant and that I need to call SQ to do it. I had another agent tell me the same thing about an award flight on Qatar, and I called Qatar who told me UA had to do it. The hold time now is my fourth attempt at adding her to a Thai reservation (and to correct the spelling of her name, which the last agent apparently didn't do properly).
While I too worry about things like my CPUs not processing, GPUs not clearing, etc since 3/3, this is a much bigger deal to those of us that deal with it. No two agents give me the same answer. When they do tell me that something has actually been done there is no evidence to show for it - nothing appears in my online reservations on these partner awards, there is no confirmation number or ticket number they can give me, and I can't get an email receipt. In short, I have zero confidence that any of this is being done right, and I fully expect to show up at least one of NRT, SIN, DPS, BKK, DOH, LHR or BRU in the next two months and be told that I have to spend north of $1000 or more for a one-way ticket so that my daughter has a boarding pass for the privilege of sitting in our laps for countless hours.
I, like everyone else, have put up with all the merger growing pains. And I know that every person has their limit, and that some have already reached it and taken AAdvantage of AA's offer to jump ship. I can tell you very simply that this has already taken way too much of my time, will continue to take too much time between now and when we fly, has sapped most any confidence I have in the ability of United agents to do these procedures correctly (or even to tell me truthfully that they can't!), and when something predictably goes wrong on this series of flights I can honestly say that I will send my status match info to AA and never look back.
We have 5 different international reservations of all sorts coming up - paid on UA, award on UA, award on *A partners - and trying to get our 14-month old added to each of them has been a complete nightmare. I've spent no less than 2 hours on the phone for each reservation and, unlike some of the issues I've dealt with post-3/3, there doesn't seem to be any agent that is any more sure they're doing the right thing than any other.
On the paid UA reservation, when I look at the reservation online, it now (after 3 weeks and numerous calls) shows the lap infant on the reservation. I've printed 1000 copies for posterity.
The award reservations are impossible. I've spent probably 8 hours on the phone over the past 3 weeks working on the Singapore flight, and (sitting on hold right now, 1 hour 44 minutes and counting...) this agent just told me that it's not possible for UA to add the infant and that I need to call SQ to do it. I had another agent tell me the same thing about an award flight on Qatar, and I called Qatar who told me UA had to do it. The hold time now is my fourth attempt at adding her to a Thai reservation (and to correct the spelling of her name, which the last agent apparently didn't do properly).
While I too worry about things like my CPUs not processing, GPUs not clearing, etc since 3/3, this is a much bigger deal to those of us that deal with it. No two agents give me the same answer. When they do tell me that something has actually been done there is no evidence to show for it - nothing appears in my online reservations on these partner awards, there is no confirmation number or ticket number they can give me, and I can't get an email receipt. In short, I have zero confidence that any of this is being done right, and I fully expect to show up at least one of NRT, SIN, DPS, BKK, DOH, LHR or BRU in the next two months and be told that I have to spend north of $1000 or more for a one-way ticket so that my daughter has a boarding pass for the privilege of sitting in our laps for countless hours.
I, like everyone else, have put up with all the merger growing pains. And I know that every person has their limit, and that some have already reached it and taken AAdvantage of AA's offer to jump ship. I can tell you very simply that this has already taken way too much of my time, will continue to take too much time between now and when we fly, has sapped most any confidence I have in the ability of United agents to do these procedures correctly (or even to tell me truthfully that they can't!), and when something predictably goes wrong on this series of flights I can honestly say that I will send my status match info to AA and never look back.
May 30, 2012, 1:46 pm
#10
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: UA GS
Posts: 282
As far as the confirmations go, I had the same as you where they kept giving me confirmation numbers and I would look them up and it would say there were no valid flight segments. Then, the other day, I asked an agent for a confirmation number when she added the baby, and she told me they aren't supposed to give them out because, "it's some sort of placeholder that then gets deleted when the reservation is ticketed."
The first of our flights of concern are now three weeks away, and they're still telling me that things are being ticketed in chronological order and to call back and check again in another week.
May 30, 2012, 2:04 pm
#11
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Tampa, FL
Programs: UA 1K, Marriot Platinum, HH Gold
Posts: 17
Infant Ticketing Issues/Rec locator/Ticket #
qq511, I DID get a confirmation with CO ticket numbers pre 3/3, but no ticket numbers since then.
The record locator provided by UA for infant is not visable online as you say - there are no flights on iten message. However, I am able to see the infant under my record locator now and calls to all of the partner airlines allowed seat assignment and infant/toddler meals to be ordered which seems to be a good sign!
"I know it's not an issue for all FTers, but the lap infant issue has been a complete and total disaster since 3/3."
I have to agree 100%. I have spent more time trying to "fix" this and make having a lap infant work than anything with my flights this year
Paid ticket to LHR - purchased pre 3/3, flown 3/25, we missed our connection in EWR due to weather delays in EWR. UA moved us to next avail flight (about 2 hours later) but told me I could not get on with infant because I had no ticket. It took 50 minutes with supervisot, gate agent and so on to issue me Boarding passes but they could NOT remove the notation that the infant had a paper ticket not an e-ticket... As i was standing there with e-ticket confirmation trying to plead with them all I could do was laugh.. In the end they crossed out p-tckt and wrote e-ticket and words OK to board. It ws painful and a waste of an hour in the airport with an infant in arms... but in the end it all worked out
domestic paid tickets have been no issue (flown 3 R/T since 3/3) with infant, UDU processed 4/6 flights
Award tickets to Asia in 2 weeks.. NIGHTMARE. Flying UA, Thai, SG, Air China and Asiana. Booked pre-3/3/ and all seemed OK. Integration spawned new record locators and e-ticket numbers for all. Infant no longer visible on reservation at this point, several calls to premier line and still no sign of infant ticket, record locator could not be pulled up on ua.com. Finally got an agent who stated it was fixed and I should be able to see infant on the main RL shortly, but that never happened. Called back in 2 more times to where i finally was able to see the infant on the itenerary, but was not able to get anyone to provide a UA ticket number (016xxxxx). Fingers crossed as we depart in less than 2 weeks. I. like the qq511 have a stack of papers to take with me that docuement the saga that this reservation has become!
The record locator provided by UA for infant is not visable online as you say - there are no flights on iten message. However, I am able to see the infant under my record locator now and calls to all of the partner airlines allowed seat assignment and infant/toddler meals to be ordered which seems to be a good sign!
"I know it's not an issue for all FTers, but the lap infant issue has been a complete and total disaster since 3/3."
I have to agree 100%. I have spent more time trying to "fix" this and make having a lap infant work than anything with my flights this year
Paid ticket to LHR - purchased pre 3/3, flown 3/25, we missed our connection in EWR due to weather delays in EWR. UA moved us to next avail flight (about 2 hours later) but told me I could not get on with infant because I had no ticket. It took 50 minutes with supervisot, gate agent and so on to issue me Boarding passes but they could NOT remove the notation that the infant had a paper ticket not an e-ticket... As i was standing there with e-ticket confirmation trying to plead with them all I could do was laugh.. In the end they crossed out p-tckt and wrote e-ticket and words OK to board. It ws painful and a waste of an hour in the airport with an infant in arms... but in the end it all worked out
domestic paid tickets have been no issue (flown 3 R/T since 3/3) with infant, UDU processed 4/6 flights
Award tickets to Asia in 2 weeks.. NIGHTMARE. Flying UA, Thai, SG, Air China and Asiana. Booked pre-3/3/ and all seemed OK. Integration spawned new record locators and e-ticket numbers for all. Infant no longer visible on reservation at this point, several calls to premier line and still no sign of infant ticket, record locator could not be pulled up on ua.com. Finally got an agent who stated it was fixed and I should be able to see infant on the main RL shortly, but that never happened. Called back in 2 more times to where i finally was able to see the infant on the itenerary, but was not able to get anyone to provide a UA ticket number (016xxxxx). Fingers crossed as we depart in less than 2 weeks. I. like the qq511 have a stack of papers to take with me that docuement the saga that this reservation has become!
May 30, 2012, 2:58 pm
#12
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 99
I was in the exact same situation as you. International award reservation in first, called to add lap infant, paid the fee, got the confirmation number. It took a week and 3 phone calls in order to get the ticket booked. It was in queue for that entire time. Now, my son shows up on my reservation. Although they mistakenly added JR at the end of his last name, since I have a JR at the end of mine. I called to correct and they said there is no way they can change it.
May 30, 2012, 4:48 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: CO Platinum
Posts: 103
You mean a week to get the ticket issued, and before it was issued you hadn't seen the lap child under your reservation? We called again and finally we can see a pending charge on the cc (although it seems that they charged twice, will see what happens). But the adult's reservation still shows no signs of lap child and still no receipt. They said the ticket is being processed by the ticketing department and should take less than a week.
I was in the exact same situation as you. International award reservation in first, called to add lap infant, paid the fee, got the confirmation number. It took a week and 3 phone calls in order to get the ticket booked. It was in queue for that entire time. Now, my son shows up on my reservation. Although they mistakenly added JR at the end of his last name, since I have a JR at the end of mine. I called to correct and they said there is no way they can change it.
May 30, 2012, 5:26 pm
#15
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: UA Gold-MM, AA Gold-MM, F9-Silver, Hyatt Something, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 6,392
Honestly, I am sick of people posting that the sky is not falling just because they got a CPU at the window, had a friendly crew, and didn't have to wait 30 mins on hold. Sure, that stuff works reasonably well most of the time. But these odd-ball issues are just killers.
Also, it seems like one of our resident focus-on-the-family bloggers should pick up on this story line. Paging MommyPoints!
