elisaz

It is the night before we are scheduled to depart from ORD to KEF on 6/29 UA 912. At 9:30 PM I got an email saying that my flight is ready for check-in. At 9:38 PM I got an email saying that my reservation has been cancelled. I did NOT cancel the reservation and no one else knows the confirmation number!!!!! The flight was not cancelled and the rep keeps telling me that the reservation says it was cancelled on the web but I was not even by a computer. The agent reinstated my reservation and I was able to see it in my app but a minute later I got another email saying it was cancelled. Why is this happening?!?!

WineCountryUA

What is UA saying? Your time is better spend now working with UA

Note UA can lock a reservation from cancellation, needing a pass code to change. Escalate to supervisor to get that done.

You don't have any other reservation for tomorrow?

Mwenenzi

Has the flight been paid for?
Cash paid ticket?

elisaz

Ticket paid for with travel credit. UA is saying their records show "the reservation was cancelled on the web". On hold now. My fare was about $600 whereas now the price is $1,200 could that have something to do with it? How do I prove I did not cancel the reservation?

The agent just told me that "you don't need the confirmation number just the names of the passengers to modify a reservation". Great, thanks United I feel very secure. FYI, no one else knows the names/confirm code,

angetenar

The change in price has nothing to do with it; prices naturally increase close to the departure date. UA theoretically should be able to see the IP addresses that you've been using, as well as the IP address that did the cancellation online (if that is what actually happened). Did you try to check in?

elisaz

I tried to check in through the app after the first time it was reinstated and by the time I got the passports out I received an email saying it was cancelled. They keep trying to reinstate it and it keeps showing as "cancelled". The rep mentioned there was no way to password protect a reservation basically saying that if anyone has your info the can cancel. I find that hard to believe and if that is true, incredibly unsafe.

angetenar

Yes, if you have the confirmation code and name, that is enough information to cancel the reservation. I agree that this is incredibly bad from a digital security standpoint.

You mention that the flights were reinstated? But the agents were unsuccessful? Have you tried escalating to a supervisor? UA (and the airline industry as a whole) have been aggressively hiring so a lot of phone agents may be newer and lacking in experience.

jsloan

It's true, and for the most part, it's not particularly unsafe. The airline can generally get things back to normal. The only real exception -- and the reason that this has been a problem in the past -- is if you're booked in a premium cabin that's otherwise full. An unscrupulous person could delete your reservation to free a seat. There were claims that this would happen to passengers flying on some Chinese airlines, although I haven't heard about it recently. Besides that, the biggest problem you're likely to face is lost seat assignments.

It's intentional, BTW, and it's left over from the time when people had a travel agent. The agent had to be able to make arrangements on behalf of the passenger, so the system was built to facilitate that.

It's odd that it keeps happening, assuming that you ever successfully had a ticket in the first place (you got a receipt including a ticket number starting with 016?)

A good agent can move your ticket to another PNR and reinstate it there, in case someone has found your old PNR and is playing games with you. Expect this to involve the help desk and possibly a supervisor, though.

The flight is currently showing J0 Y4, meaning there are four seats available for sale; if possible, I do concur with your plan of trying to fix it tonight rather than waiting until you arrive at the airport. However, I'm not really sure what you could do beyond what you are doing.

"Incredibly bad?" What are the consequences? It's not like anyone can steal funds, rebook your travel for anyone else, etc. And if some bad actor were to start trying to cancel random tickets in order to get their last-minute passengers aboard, they'd leave quite the paper trail. The consequences are passenger stress, which I don't mean to downplay, but which doesn't really register when it comes to threat severity.

elisaz

Update: I was able to get the agent to make a note on the reservation to say that it cannot be altered without providing the full CC number, date of birth, and name of passengers. So far so good, no cancellation emails so thank you for suggesting that. I am unable to fully check in and get boarding passes as the passport info was not provided in advance but can still see the reservation. Safe to say I will not be sleeping but refreshing my reservation. Thank you everyone!

Weird side note: As soon as I hung up the phone with the agent, I got two missed calls from "Fly Hbbs Yr Tck". I picked up the second call saying "hello" and was hung up on. Maybe I did get hacked?! I have already changed my United password.

WineCountryUA

There have been some mentions of this over the years and also mentions that some have been told it does not exist.

One specific mention I could find is dated
https://onemileatatime.com/someone-d...-travel-plans/ While AA related, in the comments there is a UA case

Concern if will this block online cancellations

Google search the number?

Did you ever call a "United Reservation" number found by a google search before this, some are not United and can be a problem.

Scammed by a fake UA call center {Consoldiated}

elisaz

In regards to "Concern if will this block online cancellation", is there anything else I can do given that the UA agent said there is no "password protection" option? I suppose I could ask to move the reservation to a different record locator but I am nervous to mess things up.

jsloan

I can't think of anything else, and I agree that's not something to be taken lightly. In fact, I doubt you can even get anyone to do it for you unless you get another cancellation. They'll probably just assure you that the reservation can no longer be cancelled.

WineCountryUA

UA has hired a lot of new agents that may not be familiar with all the arcane system capabilities (if it still exists). You could try to escalate to a supervisor if this occurs again.

vsadda

I am confused How is that going to help? It will only help if someone calls in to make a change - that too if the agent is alert enough to look at the note. I fail to see how that will stop from someone from cancelling the reservation online.

mahasamatman

I have personally done it, though it was several years ago before the merger.