Minter66

I'm really confused on what is going on here.

Feb 11th I book a reward flight (one way) from HNL to DFW on saverpass. It is the only available saverpass flight home.

It has been in my account as an upcoming trip. I have even selected my seats and everything. The only issue is I was 456 miles short of the 40k (2x 20k) required for the flight. I Had the option to purchase miles for $35 and the taxes on the flight were $5.00 each. I was "charged" 45.00 on the United site.

Fast forward today. I log in, notice my miles have NOT been deducted, no miles have been added and the flight is now missing.

The confirmation code given to me is no longer valid. I have called ICC two different time. The first time the indian rep told me I did not call in and purchase the flight. I explained to her that I purchased it online and paid for the required miles to top off my account and the taxes. It never mentioned having to call in.

She says she rebooked the flight under the same booking code and I paid $30 to transfer 2,000 miles out of my wifes account at the request of the agent.

Sure enough, flight shows back up under my account and rep told me to call back in by the 18th at midnight.

Fast forward to 30 minutes ago. Flight is now missing AGAIN, code no longer brings up flight, seats have been released again and I call ICC again.

She says flight was cancelled on the 13th and "no more seats are available"

I hang up on her as I can barely understand a word she is saying, go online and re-book again. New booking code issued, I "pay" $45.00 for miles and taxes.

Flight now shows up under my account.

What do I need to do now? Do I sit tight or do I actually need to call in? None of this makes sense and I can't get a proper red-blooded American on the phone that knows what they are doing.

Cliff notes: Reward flight cancelled twice for no reason, call center cant speak english and are giving me BS answers, I rebook myself, do I need to do anything the third time around?

Update: I have two pending United charges. One for $30 and one for $0...don't really get that one.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

United does not fly non-stop between HNL and DFW. Can you post more details on flights? Is you credit card valid? If there's a problem with your credit card, the booking might not go through even though it looks like flight booked, seats chosen etc. But if you see pending charges on your credit card, I guess that's not the problem...

Minter66

Correct. Sorry for not explaining the flight path

HNL - SFO - UA396

SFO - DEN - UA756

DEN - DFW - UA812

Is there no longer an American Call center? When I flew to Europe last year, I talked with American females...I just can't understand the people at these call centers!

CC is good. I just checked my new reservation and this is the lingo it gives me:

This reservation is not ticketed. Complete this purchase now.
We will hold this reservation until midnight Sun., Feb. 17, 2013 in Honolulu, HI (HNL). To complete your purchase online, sign in and go to My Account. You may also call United Reservations at 1-800-396-1751 or visit a United ticketing facility for assistance.

Why is it not being booked despite "purchasing" or "transferring" miles.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Best bet is just to call United now and ask to be ticketed and have them e-mail you receipt. Sounds like you did a fare lock possibly, instead of ticketing.

Minter66

I went through the whole shindig of purchasing, I don't think you can fare lock on award travel.

Despite all that, I did call in and got an indian guy that spoke proper english and we hashed it out. Now my ticket reads:

Thank you for choosing United Airlines. Your purchase is confirmed. You will be promptly notified once the internal processing of your reservation has been finalized so that you can request additional receipts, export to Microsoft Outlook, refund or change your flight, view/change seats, check-in, or email or print your itinerary.


So I think I am good to go!!

The only down side is might be double charged and I am going to get 2k miles from my wife's account that I dont need...oh well..HNL to DFW for $45.00, no further complaints from this guy!

PV_Premier

the system is waiting for the miles to credit to issue the eticket number. i might actually call milege plus and not general United and ask them to push the miles thru, then call UA to have it ticketed.

PV_Premier

you are not good to go until the reservation says ticketed and confirmed as of [DATE, TIME]. this can take anywhere from 2-30 minutes.

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Cool. Glad it finally worked out! At least you got the ticket in hand (sort of...). That's the main thing.

Minter66

OH and thank you all very much for replying and trying to help out! I do really appreciate it.

Right on the money:

This reservation was ticketed and confirmed on Fri., Feb. 15, 2013 at 1:30 p.m. Central Time.

I now have e-ticket numbers. Thanks everyone!

PV_Premier

now its time to work on getting some of that $$ back if you were really charged $45x2+$30!

gobluetwo

Tangential, but yes, you can fare lock award travel.

Often1

Wait until after the trip is completed. The absolute last thing to do is to mess with a record which has had problems. Presuming that you would still take the trip if you can't get the refund, take the trip. When you returm, send in a webform request noting in 2-3 sentences what happened, wait 10 days and then dispute the difference on your CC.

The routine risk in advance is that either the record gets screwed up or OP gets the credit and then gets hit with an add/collect on departure.

lixiaojuventus

Interesting. Did not know this. But what to lock for on an award travel? Perhaps award space? The price won't change

paule123

Saver award inventory comes and goes on a daily basis, so it could be useful to lock in the saver rate for a few days while one decides.

lixiaojuventus

I see. Thanks for the reply. This is really new to me