Dec 11, 2017, 12:50 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

This is yet another "plating" issue. SAS / SK does not allow many of their fares to be sold / plated on non-SAS ticket stock So UA is unable to ticket these fares as UA can/will only use UA ticket stock. This does not affect award tickets. Internet / online agencies, such as Expedia, Orbitz, ... can issue tickets on SK ticket stock.
for example

Quote:

Originally Posted by findark

SK is definitely the problem. Even a full C fare requires:

Code:

TICKETS MUST BE ISSUED ON THE STOCK OF SK OR WF AND
 MAY NOT BE SOLD IN VENEZUELA/ANGOLA/SOUTH SUDAN/SUDAN/
 NIGERIA/EGYPT/ZIMBABWE. AND MAY ONLY BE SOLD IN AREA 1/
 AREA 2/AREA 3..

United Can't Sell Me a Ticket on SAS, but Expedia Can

Reply Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Mar 26, 2015, 2:16 pm

Explore

Original Poster

Join Date: Aug 2001

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE, AA EXP MM, UA Gold MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, HH Dia, IHG Plat

Posts: 4,777

United Can't Sell Me a Ticket on SAS, but Expedia Can

I went to the United website to research award and paid ticket availability from LHR to ARN (Stockholm). I decided to buy a paid ticket. Entered my credit card information, pressed purchase, and received an e-mail notifying me of a ticketing delay of up to 24 hours. I thought no problem, it'll probably be confirmed soon. Fast forward three days to today, and I'm going through my reservations by accident. I notice the Stockholm itinerary isn't there. Called United: first Reservations, which transferred me to Web Support, which ultimately transferred me to Customer Service to register a complaint. All this took an hour on hold and in conversations. Not one United staff member apologized for the fact the reservation had "expired," and the fare was now 12% higher. Nothing could be done to honor the original fare, and no compensation was offered. A couple of staff members told me it was my responsibility to call United in 24 hours if the reservation failed to ticket, and they said the e-mail instructed that. But it didn't.

I then went to Expedia to book the same flights. Confirmed within 5 minutes. Anyone know what going on? Does Star Alliance count for anything?

Mar 26, 2015, 2:28 pm

SEA1K4EVR

Join Date: Mar 2005

Location: Seattle, WA

Programs: DL Diamond, UA 1K MM, SPG Plat For Life, Marriott Plat, Nexus/GlobalEntry

Posts: 9,198

FYI... Don't know if you care, but you won't earn UA PQD's if the ticket isn't on UA's 016 ticket stock. Just wanted to throw that out there in case it's important to you..

Mar 26, 2015, 2:37 pm

Explore

Original Poster

Join Date: Aug 2001

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE, AA EXP MM, UA Gold MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, HH Dia, IHG Plat

Posts: 4,777

Quote:

Originally Posted by SEA1K4EVR

FYI... Don't know if you care, but you won't earn UA PQD's if the ticket isn't on UA's 016 ticket stock. Just wanted to throw that out there in case it's important to you..

That's one reason I attempted to book on United, but if their process is broken then one has to move on. Now on Delta, that foreign carrier ticket would count toward the PQD requirement if I'm not mistaken.

Mar 26, 2015, 2:39 pm

MarkyMarc

Join Date: Feb 2014

Location: SLC

Programs: UA 1K

Posts: 240

That's strange - I was able to do FRA-CPH-FRA on SK mid-last year on the UA website with no issues (on 016 stock).

Mar 26, 2015, 3:31 pm

bdeardorff

Join Date: Jul 2008

Location: DEN

Programs: UA Gold

Posts: 28

I didn't have any issue when I booked HAM-CPH on SK using united.com in early Feb. eTicket email came in 23 minutes after the initial codeshare booking reminder.

Mar 26, 2015, 3:57 pm

Kacee

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2013

Location: PHX

Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)

Posts: 56,459

There have been many, many reports of SK itineraries failing to ticket when purchased through UA.

Mar 26, 2015, 4:19 pm

Tor Viking

Join Date: Dec 2005

Location: NORWAY

Programs: UA Gold-1MM, SAS Diamond

Posts: 742

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kacee

There have been many, many reports of SK itineraries failing to ticket when purchased through UA.

I must admit I have succeeded and failed booking through United. Failed most of the time.

Mar 26, 2015, 4:40 pm

o mikros

Join Date: Dec 2010

Location: PDX

Programs: kayaker

Posts: 851

This issue has been discussed many times before. Often the ticketing fails to complete if the price goes up between when you make the booking and when the UA back-end tries to issue the ticket. It's best just to call in and ask a CSR to manually force the ticket through; most of them are so used to the glitch that they've got extensive experience and will know exactly what you're trying to do. Good luck!

Mar 26, 2015, 7:45 pm

sbm12

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: PSM

Posts: 69,232

Quote:

Originally Posted by Explore

Now on Delta, that foreign carrier ticket would count toward the PQD requirement if I'm not mistaken.

Indeed. You likely would have earnt somewhere between 50-100 MQDs on DL for the fare, depending on fare class.

Mar 26, 2015, 8:05 pm

#10

kirkwoodj

Join Date: Apr 2009

Location: Houston

Programs: UA GS 2.6MM & Lifetime UC, Qantas Platinum, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Platinum, HawaiianMiles

Posts: 8,697

Use miles or buy through SAS website. Essentially a LCC for LHR-ARN IME.

Mar 27, 2015, 12:47 pm

#11

Explore

Original Poster

Join Date: Aug 2001

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE, AA EXP MM, UA Gold MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, HH Dia, IHG Plat

Posts: 4,777

Quote:

Originally Posted by o mikros

Well, the problem is worse than that. I tried to make another booking on united.com, and it's clear they're quoting a price that is not seconds or minutes out of date, but DAYS out of date. For several days other sites (Kayak, Expedia etc.) have been quoting around $257 for the connecting itinerary I want, but United continues to quote $235. Interestingly, Google Flights also teases with a quote in the same range as United, but when you select the SAS link to book it, SK comes back with the higher fare.

Maybe the problem is with SAS systems? Can an IT specialist weigh in?

Mar 27, 2015, 1:15 pm

#12

o mikros

Join Date: Dec 2010

Location: PDX

Programs: kayaker

Posts: 851

Quote:

Originally Posted by Explore

For several days other sites (Kayak, Expedia etc.) have been quoting around $257 for the connecting itinerary I want, but United continues to quote $235. Interestingly, Google Flights also teases with a quote in the same range as United, but when you select the SAS link to book it, SK comes back with the higher fare.

In that case, book the ticket on UA.com some afternoon and then call in the following morning to force ticketing through if it hasn't already happened. They should be able to do so.

Keep us posted on your progress!

Mar 27, 2015, 1:44 pm

#13

sbm12

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: PSM

Posts: 69,232

Quote:

Originally Posted by Explore

...but United continues to quote $235. Interestingly, Google Flights also teases with a quote in the same range as United,

United uses ITA to power its booking engine, same as Google Flights does. And ITA will, from time to time, have cached inventory issues with some airlines. I used to see it all the time in trying to price TK fares.

Mar 27, 2015, 2:20 pm

#14

Explore

Original Poster

Join Date: Aug 2001

Location: SFO

Programs: AC SE, AA EXP MM, UA Gold MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Titanium, HH Dia, IHG Plat

Posts: 4,777

Quote:

Originally Posted by o mikros

I ended up booking through Expedia, and the 24-hour cancellation window has expired. When I did raise the issue to United Web Support the first time, they spent half an hour researching it, but couldn't offer an explanation as to why the purchase hadn't ticketed. They said they couldn't honor the quoted fare, and I would have to pay the new fare. No apologies from anyone - typical United attitude.