Apr 21, 2014, 11:37 am
Last edit by: Pat89339
A number of folks with award flights booked on CA (Air China) found their reservations cancelled. The only notification of cancellation appears to be an email in from UA written in chinese. UA reps confirmed that cancellations were made online and CA award space was no longer available. UA can rebook on other flights when award space is available.
It is plausible that a third party with access to PNR and pax name on the flight can fraudulently cancel an existing itinerary and book the reopened award seat.
Affected FlyerTalk members — with links to where in this discussion they posted their experiences — include:
It is plausible that a third party with access to PNR and pax name on the flight can fraudulently cancel an existing itinerary and book the reopened award seat.
Affected FlyerTalk members — with links to where in this discussion they posted their experiences — include:
- MikeMpls
- nihaoa
- lewende Reported 4 friends with this issue
- ordbkk
- twebst
- kb1992
- litesleeper
- zombietooth
- critten Reported 2/3 confirmations (3 people CA Business class) cancelled at the same time
- skyvanman Also 1 friend with the issue
- chris1234
- atiger29
- bubble o bill
- genemk2
- jefftiger
- CuddlyFlyer
- gpeso8
- imm2b
- acf1270
- dgxoxo
- ACM two passengers
It seems everybody wants to see the message.. here was mine:
united.com 通知 - 航班预订取消
2014年4月17日 (星期四)
united.com | 优惠促销 | 预订 | 赢取前程万里 (MileagePlus®) 奖励里程 | 我的帐户
先生 ORDBKK
您的预订 MYRES123 已取消，我们已收到您的退款申请。申请信用卡退款需 7 个工作日。如果信用卡退款未在一个付款周期内寄出，请联系信用卡公司。对于包括现金退款在内的 所有其他形式 的付款，需要 20 个工作日。
如需详细信息或查看退款的状态，请访问 united.com 并提供您的机票号码。
感谢您使用 united.com
电子邮件信息
请不要使用“回复”地址回复此邮件。
此电子邮件中的信息仅供原接收人使用。
如果您遇到技术问题，请通过电子邮件或电话联系 united.com 服务支持。
通知：机票取消确认
电子邮件地址: ORDBKK@MYEMAIL
2014年4月17日 (星期四)
united.com | 优惠促销 | 预订 | 赢取前程万里 (MileagePlus®) 奖励里程 | 我的帐户
先生 ORDBKK
您的预订 MYRES123 已取消，我们已收到您的退款申请。申请信用卡退款需 7 个工作日。如果信用卡退款未在一个付款周期内寄出，请联系信用卡公司。对于包括现金退款在内的 所有其他形式 的付款，需要 20 个工作日。
如需详细信息或查看退款的状态，请访问 united.com 并提供您的机票号码。
感谢您使用 united.com
电子邮件信息
请不要使用“回复”地址回复此邮件。
此电子邮件中的信息仅供原接收人使用。
如果您遇到技术问题，请通过电子邮件或电话联系 united.com 服务支持。
通知：机票取消确认
电子邮件地址: ORDBKK@MYEMAIL
Originally Posted by ordbkk View Post
For tracking purposes, I went through the 27 pages of this thread and compiled a list of those affected:
MikeMpls
nihaoa
lewende (reported 4 friends with this issue)
ordbkk
twebst
kb1992
litesleeper
zombietooth
critten
skyvanman (also 1 friend with the issue)
jefftiger (but, happened during October 2013)
So we're at 13 people affected, although some like critten have had multiple trips canceled.
From what I understand, all of these occurred in the last 3 weeks.
For tracking purposes, I went through the 27 pages of this thread and compiled a list of those affected:
MikeMpls
nihaoa
lewende (reported 4 friends with this issue)
ordbkk
twebst
kb1992
litesleeper
zombietooth
critten
skyvanman (also 1 friend with the issue)
jefftiger (but, happened during October 2013)
So we're at 13 people affected, although some like critten have had multiple trips canceled.
From what I understand, all of these occurred in the last 3 weeks.
2014 UA Issued Awards on Air China (CA) Are Mysteriously Being Canceled (Hacked?)
Apr 12, 2014, 10:01 pm
#91
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Chicago Illinois
Programs: 1MM UA
Posts: 1,753
...
People in this hemisphere may not be aware of how booming a business is at China right now for award seat scalping. Due to the language and food preference, CA (Air China) F and C cabin award seats are in high demand from Chinese travelers. As such, award seat scalpers in China are constantly looking for TPAC award inventory for their clients and if they find no inventories available, they will create availability by themselves.
...
People in this hemisphere may not be aware of how booming a business is at China right now for award seat scalping. Due to the language and food preference, CA (Air China) F and C cabin award seats are in high demand from Chinese travelers. As such, award seat scalpers in China are constantly looking for TPAC award inventory for their clients and if they find no inventories available, they will create availability by themselves.
...
cancelled, someone booked one or other of the two legs with an
award seat. Seems it ought to be fairly easy for an IT person to track
down, if United and Air China cooperate. And if there is a pattern,
the "scalpers" could be identified.
Apr 12, 2014, 10:12 pm
#93
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: 10^7 mm from Ȱ
Programs: Hyatt D/HHonors D/ SPG P/ Marriott P/ IHG P/ UA 1K/ AA EXP/ DL D
Posts: 1,976
If this hypothesis is correct, then soon after the award seats were
cancelled, someone booked one or other of the two legs with an
award seat. Seems it ought to be fairly easy for an IT person to track
down, if United and Air China cooperate. And if there is a pattern,
the "scalpers" could be identified.
cancelled, someone booked one or other of the two legs with an
award seat. Seems it ought to be fairly easy for an IT person to track
down, if United and Air China cooperate. And if there is a pattern,
the "scalpers" could be identified.
At the end of the day, it would be best for everybody if UA may enhance the security features of online award ticket cancellation to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Apr 13, 2014, 3:24 am
#94
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: AS 100K, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 1,828
Really? Have you tried a DL or even AA award booking recently???
I don't have much nice to say about UA these days, but online award booking and the mobile app are among the few things it does best compared to DL/AA
I don't have much nice to say about UA these days, but online award booking and the mobile app are among the few things it does best compared to DL/AA
Apr 13, 2014, 6:44 am
#95
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: None - previously UA
Posts: 4,864
Basically United needs to responsible for tickets cancelled in this manner and re-instate on the original itin booked in original class or find suitable alternatives until they fix the their website security issues.
Apr 13, 2014, 9:13 am
#96
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
Apr 14, 2014, 2:17 am
#98
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: BOS, PVG
Programs: United 1K and 1MM, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 10,000
Apr 14, 2014, 2:58 am
#99
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: AS 100K, Marriott LT Platinum
Posts: 1,828
They should, but I found it very hard to believe upthread that UA phone agents have access to see the IP address and confirm it was same as the one that booked the ticket in the first place. Perhaps the agent was confused and thought they were referring to MP #... Or the agent was making something up.
Apr 14, 2014, 5:57 am
#100
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: PSM
Posts: 69,232
Code:
1. WEB CO*COM RESERVATIONS - ua 2. AVAILABILITY SOURCE - ITA 3. WEB CLIENT 24.215.NNN.YYY - PERFORMREWARDUPGRADE ...
Yes. Every action on a record is quite closely tracked.
Unlikely for a variety of reasons. Among them UA uses Microsoft IIS and ASP.NET on their back-end systems, not OpenSSL, as I understand it.
Apr 14, 2014, 6:13 am
#101
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: BOS, PVG
Programs: United 1K and 1MM, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 10,000
Why does UA spend such resource on keeping track of IP address of every single action on a PNR?
Don't they have other better things to do, such as improving their website?
Apr 14, 2014, 7:00 am
#102
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,266
Also, I'm surprised you can't see the benefit of knowing the IP of the computer which actioned changes on the PNR.
Apr 14, 2014, 7:10 am
#103
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC / TYO / Up in the Air
Programs: UA GS 1.7MM, AA 2.1MM, EK, BA, SQ, CX, Marriot LT, Accor P
Posts: 6,310
So, assuming that the IP is part of the record sent to AC - would be really quite trivial to spoof that IP when cancelling - thus covering their tracks easily and making UA think the original person did it....
Apr 14, 2014, 7:21 am
#104
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 19,503
Limited benefit. My devices have different IP addresses when I'm at home or on the road. So do yours.
Apr 14, 2014, 8:28 am
#105
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,266
Of course, the IP address is not foolproof so it won't help against an intelligent and determined attacker, but then again we still have locks on various doors even though they can be picked or otherwise defeated, right?
