A trip mixed NH and UA flights. Why UA said confirmed but ANA disagree?
Dec 21, 2011, 6:22 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2006
Programs: UA 1K/1MM; HH Diamond; GM for everything else
Posts: 544
A trip mixed NH and UA flights. Why UA said confirmed but ANA disagree?
I booked a trip for a friend coming to the US from China in early January 2012. The nonestop flight PVG to SFO or LAX will all be expensive so we decided to take PVG/NRT/SFO/LAX/PVG route for a reasonable fare. The PVG/NRT portion will be on ANA, all others are on UA.
Booked the complete trip on ua.com, paid with my c/c, got confirmation, ticket number etc., seemed all okay. However, when I login to recheck the booking a few minutes later, I saw no PVG/NRT flight listed. Called 1K desk, then was transfered to web support. Both 1K desk and web support said it is all CONFIRMED. I did not feel comfortable so I called ANA - since it was about 11pm PST I had to call ANA service desk in Japan in order to talk to a real person insteand of machine. The ANA agent told me that the booking was NOT confirmed but only waitlisted for the booking class (W), she also advised that there is no guarantee that W fare would be available for that flight. I told her that this is not acceptable. Since this will be the first flight of the trip, if it goes wrong, the entire trip could be messed up. She offered to talk to UA then call me back. I gave her my phone number with doubt: will she call me back from Japan?
In about 40 minutes, I got a call from the ANA agent. She told me that the problem has been fixed. I re-log in ua.com. Now all the flights including the ANA's PVG/NRT are listed correctly. We chatted a little more, then ended the conversation by expressed my appreciation for her care.
I wonder what would happen if I did not call ANA to clarify but accepted UA's words? With an e-receipt printed out from ua.com with all the flights shown, will the passenger be able to check in and fly those booked flights?
As a 1K for several years, I don't think that I've ever been picky to UA but for this case, I gave ANA a big ^ but UA a
.
Booked the complete trip on ua.com, paid with my c/c, got confirmation, ticket number etc., seemed all okay. However, when I login to recheck the booking a few minutes later, I saw no PVG/NRT flight listed. Called 1K desk, then was transfered to web support. Both 1K desk and web support said it is all CONFIRMED. I did not feel comfortable so I called ANA - since it was about 11pm PST I had to call ANA service desk in Japan in order to talk to a real person insteand of machine. The ANA agent told me that the booking was NOT confirmed but only waitlisted for the booking class (W), she also advised that there is no guarantee that W fare would be available for that flight. I told her that this is not acceptable. Since this will be the first flight of the trip, if it goes wrong, the entire trip could be messed up. She offered to talk to UA then call me back. I gave her my phone number with doubt: will she call me back from Japan?
In about 40 minutes, I got a call from the ANA agent. She told me that the problem has been fixed. I re-log in ua.com. Now all the flights including the ANA's PVG/NRT are listed correctly. We chatted a little more, then ended the conversation by expressed my appreciation for her care.
I wonder what would happen if I did not call ANA to clarify but accepted UA's words? With an e-receipt printed out from ua.com with all the flights shown, will the passenger be able to check in and fly those booked flights?
As a 1K for several years, I don't think that I've ever been picky to UA but for this case, I gave ANA a big ^ but UA a
.
Dec 21, 2011, 6:55 pm
#2
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 6,338
I suspect that had you waited longer all would have worked out just as nicely...
I have made multi airline bookings that took much longer than "a couple of minutes" to be finalised across all airlines...
Still, the belt and braces approach is always a sensible one in my book...
I have made multi airline bookings that took much longer than "a couple of minutes" to be finalised across all airlines...
Still, the belt and braces approach is always a sensible one in my book...
Dec 22, 2011, 5:07 am
#3
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Upcountry Maui, HI
Posts: 13,312
It does sound like ticketing wasn't complete yet.
I do the same thing you do on any mixed carrier itinerary but I don't do it immediately after ticketing, I wait at least till the next day. (I suppose I would have to modify that if I was traveling that day or the next day.)
We've all read the horror stories from people that thought they had valid tickets but it turned out the other carrier disagreed when they showed up for their flights, so that's why we all advise people to confirm that they have properly ticketed trips with the other carriers on all mixed carrier itineraries.
Anyway, nicely done and good result.
-David
I do the same thing you do on any mixed carrier itinerary but I don't do it immediately after ticketing, I wait at least till the next day. (I suppose I would have to modify that if I was traveling that day or the next day.)
We've all read the horror stories from people that thought they had valid tickets but it turned out the other carrier disagreed when they showed up for their flights, so that's why we all advise people to confirm that they have properly ticketed trips with the other carriers on all mixed carrier itineraries.
Anyway, nicely done and good result.
-David
Dec 22, 2011, 5:31 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: New York, NY, USA
Posts: 12,482
Interline bookings, paid or awards, can take up to 24 hours to confirm. @:-) I always call both booking carrier and operating carrier 24 hours later to confirm.