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Attempted to change award ticket online - maybe not in limbo?

Attempted to change award ticket online - maybe not in limbo?

Old Mar 5, 2020, 10:27 am
  #1  
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Attempted to change award ticket online - maybe not in limbo?

Notwithstanding the myriad sources who advise against attempting to do so, I none the less went ahead and attempted to change an award reservation for an upcoming (April) ORD-AMS travel with a companion using the united app. The change was from my originally booked ORD-MUC-AMS on LH to ORD-ZRH-AMS on LX.

Unlike other instances when I've been unable to confirm 'phantom' or other inventory and all I receive is the 'your reservation is processing' e-mail, this time I received an E-ticket Itinerary and Receipt e-mail containing Ticket Numbers and was able to log on to LX and generate an e-mail confirmation from them, also with ticket numbers and their own PNR.

Pulling the reservation up in UA app, however, shows "This flight segment cannot be confirmed, please contact United Reservations for assistance." I called reservations who said that LX did not confirm the seat and transferred me to web support who said the same. Hung up (actually requested that they not touch the reservations while I check with LX) but did not call back yet. Given global travel circumstances, I'm not in a huge hurry to get this resolved.

Any thoughts from the FT brain-trust? Mods please merge this if necessary.

Thanks!
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Old Mar 5, 2020, 10:30 am
  #2  
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Originally Posted by onthesam
Unlike other instances when I've been unable to confirm 'phantom' or other inventory and all I receive is the 'your reservation is processing' e-mail, this time I received an E-ticket Itinerary and Receipt e-mail containing Ticket Numbers and was able to log on to LX and generate an e-mail confirmation from them, also with ticket numbers and their own PNR.
Did the ticket numbers change, or were they the same as on the original receipt?
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Old Mar 5, 2020, 1:05 pm
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Originally Posted by jsloan
Did the ticket numbers change, or were they the same as on the original receipt?
Upon review it appears 1 ticket number changed and the other one did not.
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Old Mar 5, 2020, 1:15 pm
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Originally Posted by onthesam
Upon review it appears 1 ticket number changed and the other one did not.
That's a really bad sign. I can't even imagine how that would be possible, but a ticket number that hasn't changed wouldn't be valid for the new itinerary. You likely have one passenger with a ticket for the LH flights, but no reservation on them, and one with a ticket and reservation for the LX flights, but which LX might drop at any time due to the bad state of the other ticket. I would try to get this sorted out sooner, rather than later, and understand that there's a nonzero chance you'll end up on UA flights.
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Old Mar 5, 2020, 8:05 pm
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Originally Posted by jsloan
That's a really bad sign.
Hah -- thanks for the optimism ! Actually, when @jsloan says something is a bad sign, I respect that. Thanks for chiming in.

If your theory is correct it sounds like LX may have dropped my ticket and reservation prior to my call this evening as the agent insisted neither pax had a confirmed seat on LX, a story which jives with the inventory available at the time I called. After some light banter with the agent and a few minutes of hold music, and despite a lack of visible (to me) award inventory, the agent was able to get us back on both original LH segments with two new ticket numbers issued.

Interestingly, on UA.com everything looks good, including the ability to select seats on LH, except that the 'View Receipt" button generates an eTicket Itinerary and Receipt that still shows the LX flights, but now with the new ticket numbers.
When I pull the record up on LH, it shows both the LH and LX flights...

Last edited by onthesam; Mar 5, 2020 at 8:14 pm
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Old Mar 5, 2020, 8:44 pm
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Originally Posted by onthesam
Hah -- thanks for the optimism ! Actually, when @jsloan says something is a bad sign, I respect that. Thanks for chiming in.

If your theory is correct it sounds like LX may have dropped my ticket and reservation prior to my call this evening as the agent insisted neither pax had a confirmed seat on LX, a story which jives with the inventory available at the time I called. After some light banter with the agent and a few minutes of hold music, and despite a lack of visible (to me) award inventory, the agent was able to get us back on both original LH segments with two new ticket numbers issued.

Interestingly, on UA.com everything looks good, including the ability to select seats on LH, except that the 'View Receipt" button generates an eTicket Itinerary and Receipt that still shows the LX flights, but now with the new ticket numbers.
When I pull the record up on LH, it shows both the LH and LX flights...
The last part you can definitely ignore. Once a reservation shows up on United it usually sticks with the old receipt/ticket. If you're super worried you can call United and ask them to email you a copy of the latest ticket associated with your PNR. They will do so and they'll also be able to confirm if the segment show "HK" or "OK" status. The fact the online receipt is pulling up old flights is actually not a big cause for concern so long as you were already emailed the new tickets and they are new ticket #s with the correct flights.

-RM
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Old Mar 5, 2020, 9:43 pm
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No concern at all. In fact, I'm now chasing a redeposit after cancelling that itinerary (showed refund of 0 miles). I was able to book the LX seats using new miles as the flights showed I5. All very strange and kind of a pain.
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Old Mar 5, 2020, 9:45 pm
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Originally Posted by onthesam
Hah -- thanks for the optimism ! Actually, when @jsloan says something is a bad sign, I respect that. Thanks for chiming in.
I'm flattered. 😊 Happy to help.

Originally Posted by onthesam
If your theory is correct it sounds like LX may have dropped my ticket and reservation prior to my call this evening as the agent insisted neither pax had a confirmed seat on LX, a story which jives with the inventory available at the time I called.
Well, the reservation, anyway. The one ticket that already had a new ticket number had been changed to the LX flights, but it's entirely possible that LX dropped the reservation because the tickets were out of sync. (In general, everything on the same PNR needs to be identical).

Based on your latest update, it seems like things have worked out -- and that's actually a great lesson for people for the future. If you have enough miles to hold both reservations at the same time, that's the way to go. Just cancel the first one after the second is confirmed.
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