Air China Award Pending
Oct 4, 2016, 7:43 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 53
Air China Award Pending
I just recently booked a rather complex award using United miles that includes 2 segments on Air China. On United's website, all looks good. However, if I call Air China to assign seats, they say only the second flight is confirmed, the other is still pending and I need to call United to fix it.
If I call United, depending on the rep, they either say everything is fine, or they say it is pending, waiting on Air China to confirm.
It seems very similar to http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...a-award-space/
Currently they are both just saying to wait 24 hours and see what happens, but my confidence is not high. Assuming I wait the 24 hours (48 hours after initially ticketed), and it hasn't resolved, how should I go about getting it fixed, since both airlines just say they are waiting on the other? I guess I'm mainly looking for any keywords I might say that would let them know what needs to be fixed.
Or should I just not even worry about it since United shows it all as confirmed? All other partner flights seem fine (able to assign seats).
If I call United, depending on the rep, they either say everything is fine, or they say it is pending, waiting on Air China to confirm.
It seems very similar to http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...a-award-space/
Currently they are both just saying to wait 24 hours and see what happens, but my confidence is not high. Assuming I wait the 24 hours (48 hours after initially ticketed), and it hasn't resolved, how should I go about getting it fixed, since both airlines just say they are waiting on the other? I guess I'm mainly looking for any keywords I might say that would let them know what needs to be fixed.
Or should I just not even worry about it since United shows it all as confirmed? All other partner flights seem fine (able to assign seats).
Oct 4, 2016, 7:48 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LHR (sometimes CLE, SFO, BOS, LAX, SEA)
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 5,895
Yes, it's a problem. Doesn't matter whether the united.com view of the reservation sees the space confirmed -- the operating carrier view of the reservation needs to show the space is confirmed.
Can you view the reservation on Air China's web site? When I have booked Air China award space I have been able to use Travelsky's web site ( http://www.travelsky.com/tsky/ ) using
* the United eticket# or the Air China PNR (call CA for it if you don't see it on united.com view of the reservation); and
* various forms of the passenger name exactly as they appear on the eticket (LAST/FIRST for someone named First Last or sometimes LAST/FIRSTQMR for someone named Mr. First Q. Last, or experiment)
CA ticketing should not take a long time. Call UA and CA tomorrow and ask them to reconfirm the space is held; if CA says the space is not confirmed, call UA and have them fix it ("CA says the space is not confirmed in their system, please fix") and if necessary hold a three-way conference call
(I have never done this).
The language to use with a UA phone agent tomorrow (if needed) is something like "Hello, I made an award booking online yesterday and the ticket was issued, but I called the operating airline to confirm the reservation and they said that the itinerary was not fully confirmed. Can you please contact them and help resolve this problem?" You don't necessarily want to give a phone agent TOO much info up front -- this can confuse them, especially if you're not exactly right about the details.
Can you view the reservation on Air China's web site? When I have booked Air China award space I have been able to use Travelsky's web site ( http://www.travelsky.com/tsky/ ) using
* the United eticket# or the Air China PNR (call CA for it if you don't see it on united.com view of the reservation); and
* various forms of the passenger name exactly as they appear on the eticket (LAST/FIRST for someone named First Last or sometimes LAST/FIRSTQMR for someone named Mr. First Q. Last, or experiment)
CA ticketing should not take a long time. Call UA and CA tomorrow and ask them to reconfirm the space is held; if CA says the space is not confirmed, call UA and have them fix it ("CA says the space is not confirmed in their system, please fix") and if necessary hold a three-way conference call
(I have never done this).The language to use with a UA phone agent tomorrow (if needed) is something like "Hello, I made an award booking online yesterday and the ticket was issued, but I called the operating airline to confirm the reservation and they said that the itinerary was not fully confirmed. Can you please contact them and help resolve this problem?" You don't necessarily want to give a phone agent TOO much info up front -- this can confuse them, especially if you're not exactly right about the details.
Oct 4, 2016, 7:52 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 53
I did find the travelsky website yesterday (they actually already reissued this ticket once to even get an Air China PNR), but I can only ever get an error message:
由于当前查询人数较多，无法提取到您的信息，请稍后再试！
Maybe I should try in the middle of the night?
I did actually almost have a 3 way call going today, but by the time Air China answered, the United rep was gone
. Think I spent over 2 hours listening to hold music this afternoon.
由于当前查询人数较多，无法提取到您的信息，请稍后再试！
Maybe I should try in the middle of the night?
I did actually almost have a 3 way call going today, but by the time Air China answered, the United rep was gone
. Think I spent over 2 hours listening to hold music this afternoon.
Oct 6, 2016, 8:24 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 53
So I think I'm up to about 7.5 hours spent on this, and it still seems to be not fixed. The latest update is that United was able to confirm and select seats on the Air China segments. When this happened, the problem segment started appearing on Asiana and EgyptAir's websites (it was missing before), so this led me to believe it was fixed.
However I called Air China immediately after, and they still say I am waitlisted, but now with a seat assignment. They also tell me there's 5 more seats available at that booking class, so no reason for waitlist. They also confirmed that in it's current state, I will not be allowed to board.
Is it possible that this latest update will just take some time for Air China to see? I waited on hold for about 30 minutes before talking to Air China.
Otherwise I really don't know what to do. I have told United 3 times now that they need to call Air China, but they always seem to do something else instead while I'm on hold for 30 minutes+ (or hang up before Air China answers), then come back and claim it's fixed. Do I just tell the United rep to please hold while I call Air China and wait on hold for 30 minutes for them to answer?
If I just decide to fly this itinerary as is since United claims everything is good, will United take care of me when I end up stuck in Beijing?
However I called Air China immediately after, and they still say I am waitlisted, but now with a seat assignment. They also tell me there's 5 more seats available at that booking class, so no reason for waitlist. They also confirmed that in it's current state, I will not be allowed to board.
Is it possible that this latest update will just take some time for Air China to see? I waited on hold for about 30 minutes before talking to Air China.
Otherwise I really don't know what to do. I have told United 3 times now that they need to call Air China, but they always seem to do something else instead while I'm on hold for 30 minutes+ (or hang up before Air China answers), then come back and claim it's fixed. Do I just tell the United rep to please hold while I call Air China and wait on hold for 30 minutes for them to answer?
If I just decide to fly this itinerary as is since United claims everything is good, will United take care of me when I end up stuck in Beijing?
Oct 6, 2016, 8:53 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,470
So I think I'm up to about 7.5 hours spent on this, and it still seems to be not fixed. The latest update is that United was able to confirm and select seats on the Air China segments. When this happened, the problem segment started appearing on Asiana and EgyptAir's websites (it was missing before), so this led me to believe it was fixed.
However I called Air China immediately after, and they still say I am waitlisted, but now with a seat assignment. They also tell me there's 5 more seats available at that booking class, so no reason for waitlist. They also confirmed that in it's current state, I will not be allowed to board.
Is it possible that this latest update will just take some time for Air China to see? I waited on hold for about 30 minutes before talking to Air China.
Otherwise I really don't know what to do. I have told United 3 times now that they need to call Air China, but they always seem to do something else instead while I'm on hold for 30 minutes+ (or hang up before Air China answers), then come back and claim it's fixed. Do I just tell the United rep to please hold while I call Air China and wait on hold for 30 minutes for them to answer?
If I just decide to fly this itinerary as is since United claims everything is good, will United take care of me when I end up stuck in Beijing?
However I called Air China immediately after, and they still say I am waitlisted, but now with a seat assignment. They also tell me there's 5 more seats available at that booking class, so no reason for waitlist. They also confirmed that in it's current state, I will not be allowed to board.
Is it possible that this latest update will just take some time for Air China to see? I waited on hold for about 30 minutes before talking to Air China.
Otherwise I really don't know what to do. I have told United 3 times now that they need to call Air China, but they always seem to do something else instead while I'm on hold for 30 minutes+ (or hang up before Air China answers), then come back and claim it's fixed. Do I just tell the United rep to please hold while I call Air China and wait on hold for 30 minutes for them to answer?
If I just decide to fly this itinerary as is since United claims everything is good, will United take care of me when I end up stuck in Beijing?
Oct 6, 2016, 8:55 am
#6
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: BOS
Programs: Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott/SPG/Hilton Gold, PreCheck + Clear
Posts: 2,306
Otherwise I really don't know what to do. I have told United 3 times now that they need to call Air China, but they always seem to do something else instead while I'm on hold for 30 minutes+ (or hang up before Air China answers), then come back and claim it's fixed. Do I just tell the United rep to please hold while I call Air China and wait on hold for 30 minutes for them to answer?
If I just decide to fly this itinerary as is since United claims everything is good, will United take care of me when I end up stuck in Beijing?
If I just decide to fly this itinerary as is since United claims everything is good, will United take care of me when I end up stuck in Beijing?
The key phrase you or the UA rep need to hear from CA isn't whether the reservation is ticketed, but whether you're confirmed.
Oct 6, 2016, 9:55 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Unfortunately, Air China is the least reliable *A partner when it comes to honoring Mileage Plus award bookings.
There have been reports since 2014 of fully confirmed and ticketed segments being mysteriously cancelled with no warning or explanation:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ed-hacked.html
I wouldn't rely on Air China award tickets to get you where you want to go, no matter what the computer shows your booking to be now. You should have the Mileage Plus service center's # when you travel, and be prepared to get emergency rebooking assistance. Travel interruption insurance is also a must when flying award tickets on Air China.
There have been reports since 2014 of fully confirmed and ticketed segments being mysteriously cancelled with no warning or explanation:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ed-hacked.html
I wouldn't rely on Air China award tickets to get you where you want to go, no matter what the computer shows your booking to be now. You should have the Mileage Plus service center's # when you travel, and be prepared to get emergency rebooking assistance. Travel interruption insurance is also a must when flying award tickets on Air China.
Oct 6, 2016, 10:23 am
#8
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: IAD...and loving it?!
Programs: UA Platinum (1MM Gold), HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 858
Google Translate is your friend: "We are unable to extract your information due to the high number of current queries. Please try again later!"
Oct 6, 2016, 11:09 am
#9
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
Programs: TK ELPL (*G), AS 100K (OWE), BA Gold (OWE), Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 7,763
This happened to me last month with a ULN-PEK-SIN booking. PEK-SIN was showing HL (waitlisted) status in CA's system despite the fact that my ticket was correctly issued.
Luckily, there were still seats available on day of departure, so they just cleared the waitlist and let me board. If there were no seats, I would've been denied boarding without compensation since my reservation was incorrect.
However, the agent told me that if such a thing ever happened again, I should contact the Air China ticketing office and tell them that UA has already issued the ticket but there is a glitch so CA needs to clear you off the waitlist. Apparently, they can escalate it to Inventory Management to solve the problem.
UA will not be able to help you, apart from cancelling and rebooking based on current award inventory.
Luckily, there were still seats available on day of departure, so they just cleared the waitlist and let me board. If there were no seats, I would've been denied boarding without compensation since my reservation was incorrect.
However, the agent told me that if such a thing ever happened again, I should contact the Air China ticketing office and tell them that UA has already issued the ticket but there is a glitch so CA needs to clear you off the waitlist. Apparently, they can escalate it to Inventory Management to solve the problem.
UA will not be able to help you, apart from cancelling and rebooking based on current award inventory.
Oct 6, 2016, 12:13 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 53
I'll give mentioning Inventory Management a shot. As far as reissuing, I believe at this point I'm on my 4th ticket already.
Oct 6, 2016, 12:42 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: SEA/ORD/ADB
Programs: TK ELPL (*G), AS 100K (OWE), BA Gold (OWE), Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 7,763
They printed the PNR at checkin to show me.
If you ask the NYC Air China office to email you what they're seeing on the PNR, they're typically happy to do it in my experience. Seeing that the PNR says what they said it says isn't really going to help you though..
If you ask the NYC Air China office to email you what they're seeing on the PNR, they're typically happy to do it in my experience. Seeing that the PNR says what they said it says isn't really going to help you though..
Oct 6, 2016, 1:33 pm
#12
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LHR (sometimes CLE, SFO, BOS, LAX, SEA)
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 5,895
This happened to me last month with a ULN-PEK-SIN booking. PEK-SIN was showing HL (waitlisted) status in CA's system despite the fact that my ticket was correctly issued.
Luckily, there were still seats available on day of departure, so they just cleared the waitlist and let me board. If there were no seats, I would've been denied boarding without compensation since my reservation was incorrect.
However, the agent told me that if such a thing ever happened again, I should contact the Air China ticketing office and tell them that UA has already issued the ticket but there is a glitch so CA needs to clear you off the waitlist. Apparently, they can escalate it to Inventory Management to solve the problem.
UA will not be able to help you, apart from cancelling and rebooking based on current award inventory.
Luckily, there were still seats available on day of departure, so they just cleared the waitlist and let me board. If there were no seats, I would've been denied boarding without compensation since my reservation was incorrect.
However, the agent told me that if such a thing ever happened again, I should contact the Air China ticketing office and tell them that UA has already issued the ticket but there is a glitch so CA needs to clear you off the waitlist. Apparently, they can escalate it to Inventory Management to solve the problem.
UA will not be able to help you, apart from cancelling and rebooking based on current award inventory.
Oct 6, 2016, 9:40 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 53
I think I'm about to just give up on fixing this and hope for the best. Two times I got United to call Air China tonight, first time United disconnected before Air China answered (this happened a couple days ago as well), second time it seemed like I was hung up on after about an hour of holding. The second person promised to call me back if anything happened to the phone call, but that never happened.
I think I'm pretty close to 10 hours spent on the phone for this ticket now and I don't know how much more HUCA I can take. Is there any agency I could complain to to have any effect, or am I out of luck since this is for travel outside the US?
I think I'm pretty close to 10 hours spent on the phone for this ticket now and I don't know how much more HUCA I can take. Is there any agency I could complain to to have any effect, or am I out of luck since this is for travel outside the US?
Oct 6, 2016, 9:44 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,470
I think I'm about to just give up on fixing this and hope for the best. Two times I got United to call Air China tonight, first time United disconnected before Air China answered (this happened a couple days ago as well), second time it seemed like I was hung up on after about an hour of holding. The second person promised to call me back if anything happened to the phone call, but that never happened.
I think I'm pretty close to 10 hours spent on the phone for this ticket now and I don't know how much more HUCA I can take. Is there any agency I could complain to to have any effect, or am I out of luck since this is for travel outside the US?
I think I'm pretty close to 10 hours spent on the phone for this ticket now and I don't know how much more HUCA I can take. Is there any agency I could complain to to have any effect, or am I out of luck since this is for travel outside the US?
Oct 6, 2016, 9:51 pm
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 53
United, Asiana, and Egyptair all show the flight as Confirmed. It's only when I call Air China that they tell me the one flight is Not Confirmed. According to them I'm currently waitlisted with a seat assignment.
Checking Saudia now, it shows the two CA flights as:
Status: Paid
Coupon: Open for Use
Checking Saudia now, it shows the two CA flights as:
Status: Paid
Coupon: Open for Use