JMBResona

So I was booking a flight for a family member yesterday, and because I priced the trip through ITA Matrix, I ended up booking through Priceline via BookWithMatrix. In retrospect, this was probably a bad idea, but the fare codes lined up, everything looked set on the UA website, and so I went ahead and waitlisted an upgrade.

This afternoon, I was woken up by phone calls from Priceline, which informed me that "someone tried to upgrade the ticket," and because "the ticket has a change fee which has to be paid," I would have to call United and straighten things out. Obviously I didn't think it was worth my time telling the Priceline agent exactly what a GPU was, so I hung up and called 1KVoice. At that point I checked online, and while the GPU was still showing as deducted from my account, it wasn't appearing on the reservation itself.

According to the UA agent, the GPU was showing as "redeemed" which was why it was removed from my reservation, although it still showed economy.

I was able to get the GPU redeposited, and reapplied, but I was wondering--is this a common occurrence when booking through third-party websites? I'm not sure that they removed a confirmed upgrade (hopefully not), but it seems at the very least, Priceline did something that wound up removing the GPU from the reservation. Can they even do that? How do I prevent this from happening again if the upgrade eventually clears (fingers crossed)?

jsloan

Yes, an OTA can cancel an upgrade request. I'm not really sure why they would, but they can. UA waives reissue fees when GPUs clear. I suppose Priceline could try to charge you an agency fee for doing a reissue.

Sykes

Agencies can't reissue to PZ or PN so United has to handle the revalidation. No idea what the Priceline system is doing there, but they can indeed cancel the waitlisted segment.

jsloan

Good point; that makes sense. Thanks for clarifying. ^

JMBResona

I'm still technically within the 24 hour window. Is it worth the hassle trying to cancel the ticket and rebooking it directly through the airline, clawing back the GPU and the E+ upgrade? I completely forgot that ua.com can now handle Premium Economy tickets at booking...

jsloan

You'd have to check with Priceline to see if they offer 24-hour cancellation. Airlines are required to do so, but OTAs are not.

If they offer it, I would cancel the ticket just to avoid having to deal with Priceline again.

Often1

PL's system likely looks at this as a revenue protection matter because it would generally collect a fee for the ticket reissue. A PL front line agent likely has no idea what a GUC is as PL has no ability to handle it.

The mess here would occur if one booked through PL, then applied a GUC, had PL revoke it and by the time one calls UA, there is no availability.

All the more reason to avoid OTA's like the plague.

Kacee

Anyone with the passenger name and the PNR can cancel a GPU request, or the ticket itself.

physioprof

Every time I am reminded of this absurd security hole, it horrifies me anew.

jsloan

"Horrifies" you? A malicious actor could... cancel your reservation. That's it, really. I mean, I guess they could book you on a replacement flight if they happened to want to pay your change fee.

In order for this to hurt you, you'd need to have someone who knew your name and PNR and needed your seat, because the flight was sold out. The chances of this happening seem pretty low. (If the flight's not sold out, the airlines can just restore the reservation).

Meanwhile, the fact that this does work this way allows people to manage travel for others. Not everyone is a self-service traveler.

physioprof

Yes, it horrifies me, and nothing you said changes anything. As far as "allows people to manage travel for others", there are vastly more secure ways of implementing that function.

Sykes

Just treat the record locator like you'd treat a password. It's not really that bad. The biggest problem I see is that airlines don't really educate the consumer about the fact that the record locator is sensitive information.

jsloan

There really aren't more secure ways of implementing that conveniently. Do you really want to have to provide personally-identifiable information to verify your identity every time someone needs to make a travel decision on your behalf? If you're traveling in a group, do you need each person's consent individually?

You're welcome to your own horror , but, personally, I just don't see the cost in the cost-benefit analysis here. I mean, as a matter of perspective, I don't think I've seen one single anecdote, either here or in the mainstream media, about someone whose reservation was cancelled maliciously.

As an aside: although it is illegal to do so, anyone may fill out USPS Form 3575 on your behalf (assuming, of course, that you live in the US). If they know your name and address, they can have your mail forwarded to a location of their choosing. That offers a lot more opportunities for exploit than a PNR does.

Well, passwords aren't printed all over the place the way that PNRs are. It's fairly easy to get someone's PNR, especially on the day of travel. I'm just not sure why I'd want to do that except out of spite.

cfischer

PL offers even more than 24 hours to cancel for free. Agreed, the hassle is not worth it.
That being said I have used GPUs numerous times on agency-issued tickets and have never had an issue w/ that at all.

mahasamatman

You can call United and ask for the PNR to be password-protected (at least you used to be able to do this). I've done it a couple of times when my information was compromised.