LilAbner

In the first place, the Op assumed (incorrectly) that his child would NOT need a ticket, and he states so. Two tickets using miles cannot be combined with a revenue ticket, so the OP needed to pay for his lap child separately. This subject comes up all the time on FT and every single time posters blame UA for the fact that the OP's will need to pay to have their kid ride on a lap. Contacting Aaron is usually thrown out to see if he may somehow be able to comp an OP for not knowing the rules.

The FTer way of doing things, I know, is to transfer the blame for not knowing how to purchase tickets, for EVERYONE wanting to get on the plane, to the larger company with a hope that ignorance of the rules will somehow be winked through. A simple phone call right after the OP booked his tickets would have been the prudent way, to find out what the child needed to ride on the plane instead of seeking help/advice/sympathy from FT several months after the purchase.

Btw, after reading the OP's post above it may have indicated that the child was riding on a parents lap in the completed itin, but the OP still needed to buy a ticket for the extra passenger on a separate booking. Tickets using awards and tickets using $ cannot be on the same itin, and needed to be booked separately.

Boghopper

Help with what? Help the OP find his/her credit card? $1800 is the proper fare, more or less, and I think the OP just failed to include the infant in the booking. The OP just got to pay later rather than sooner, I don't buy that he/she is owed a free ticket.

There's plenty of UA stuff to complain about, this is not one of those things.

craz

If the PNR shows 3 names but only 2 tkts were issued, theres the problem. I take it you dont have a passport for the lapchild since they are so young why would they need 1, of cause every person no matter how old needs their own PP, and each person needs their own tkt as well. And for certain Countrys that a Visa is needed you would also have to pay for a lapchilds Visa

If I were you Id try getting UA to honor it w/o paying but no way would I go to the mat on someting like this, since clearly only 2 tkts were issued and not 3. I wouldnt hold my breath on UA letting you buy w/o paying for the 3rd tkt, hope I wrong

bandana1948

The title is neither hyperbolic not does it undermine my credibility. It is, as stated.

I was given a quote for all three passengers, a quote which I accepted and paid. I do not see how that translates into wanting a free ticket.

Are you suggesting that I ought to have known that the fare quoted was (with the benefit of hindsight) incorrect?

If so, that is debate about the level of travel knowledge people using United's website ought to have to identify potential errors on United's part. That is a different debate that I do not wish to engage in at this juncture, as it would simply detract from the issue at hand.

I simply believed what was quoted to me by United.com was accurate. Apparently, I ought to have known better.

Boghopper

What's interesting about this is that I just tried a dummy booking from SFO-HKG in F, an award ticket with one adult and one lap child (outbound UA, return on OZ). I was quoted the miles and copay for the award ticket (140K plus $99) and $1213 for the lap child (which seems about right, 10% of "full fare" more or less).

Looks to me like the system works just fine, and the OP just didn't include the infant in the booking.

bandana1948

Infant was included in the booking, with a seat assignment that states "In Adult's Lap". AC, which flies the first segment, sees my daughter's name in their system, but also that no ticket had been issued to her.

So it's best that we put to rest the assumption that the infant was not included in the original booking once and for all.

She was.

craz

what you see now doesnt mean that was what the OP saw when they made their res. The OP did say that when they checked the res it has 3 names on it , yet only 2 tkts were issued. Since we all know what Shares does today has no bearing on what it did yesterday or will do tomorrow, I will cut the OP some slack.

But just the same even with a UA glitch since its the proper amount and it didnt come back with a lessor amount but instead came back with no fare whatsoever,Im inclined to tell the OP to simply pay up or dont take the kid along if you dont want to pay for them to fly

LilAbner

You purchased 2 tickets using miles and taxes on one itinerary. By indicating that you wanted to have a child on your lap did not mean that you only had to pay for 2 people. The lap child entry only indicates that an infant under 2 is on the plane. A separate 10% ticket is needed, on a separate itinerary, for your child, and that's the way it been for a long, long time.

Just because you weren't aware of the rules is no reason that UA needs to pay for your oversight.

If you would have shown up at the airport with the lap child you would have needed to pay the $1,800.00 at the counter anyway, so instead of attempting to get UA to pop for the child just pay what you owe and move on.

Other posters may cut the OP some slack, and that's a nice gesture, but I can assure you that UA is not going to pay these other carriers for the child.

RoyalFlush

Could not have said it better myself.

Thanks for posting. I strongly disagree with what some posters up thread say.

FWIW, I constantly check and re-check my itineraries for schedule changes, irregularities, etc. Especially when not a simple domestic (U.S.) flight.

craz

W/o ever a tkt being issued (it wasnt since it was never paid for) it must be paid for at sometime. Ive had a few reses (award tkts) where things were changed and UA didnt forward the info onto LH result LH saw close to a dz changes I made for the trip but no Valid tkt was in the record. LH was able at the very last sec to get UA to send over what they needed and I madea mad dash to the plane and just made it.

Pt is each passenger needs a tkt and each tkt must be paid for 1 way or another, you have a PNR for 3 people but only 2 tkts were issued, you have to pay for that 3rd tkt if you want the 3rd person to fly

Often1

This isn't one of those disasters where there's no seat to be had because it involves a lap child. All that's needed is for OP to either pay the $1,800 or cancel. To repeat, he is no better nor no worse off and it's water under a bridge whether he loused up or UA loused up.

If this had worked smoothly, OP would have been quoted miles + $1,800 and either paid that or not and been ticketed or not. But, it didn't work smoothly, so he's being asked to pay the $1,800 now. There's no difference.

bandana1948

I have no problem paying for tickets.

I DO have a problem being quoted a price for three pax, paying the price quoted, and then being asked for more.

It's really not that complicated.

mgcsinc

I cannot believe the attitudes and assumed knowledge in this thread. I consider myself smart and informed on this stuff, but I would have made the same "mistake" - I would have just assumed that that's how lap infant bookings worked, because that's what the website gave me.

love_to_travel

Exactly. I completely agree. Amazing.

Baze

Clearly indicated on the UA web site. See the section on ticketing.

http://www.united.com/web/en-us/cont...s/default.aspx

Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse. Just s ignorance of the law is not a way to get out of a ticket or arrest. OP needs to pay the money.

(Ignorance is not being used in a derogatory way, just that they are unaware)

Let me edit to add:OP, not trying to pile on. We are aware that at the time you were unaware of the fee and thought all was good. You have now been educated that you will not be getting out of paying the fee. The first clue would have been only 2 tickets. And yes, I understand you thought you did not need a ticket as that is the case within the USA. But now you know that that is not the case for international travel. So unfortunately you are going to have to pay the fee for the lap child.