Upgrade waitlisted Incorrectly, any Recourse?
 

I booked my MCO-ICN-NRT-MCO rountrip a couple of months ago in "H" and requested upgrades each way using miles. The outbound cleared immediately, as did ICN-NRT, but the NRT-MCO was waitlisted. I have continued to call back to check on the upgrade and each time was told it was still on waitlist for my return on 6/30.

However, just yesterday I discovered the the 1K desk had mistakenly put in the upgrade request for NRT-MCO on 6/24 (my outbound date) rather than the correct date of 6/30. (The confirmed economy seating was for 6/30 and clearly in the record as such from the beginning). Each time I called (7-8 times) I specifically asked for status on the waitlist on 6/30 but noone at 1K ever caught the mistake. Unfortunaltely, in the mean time it appears that several other flyers' upgrade reqeusts have cleared NRT-SFO on the 30th (don't know whether they also have 1K status or not) and there are now no upgrades available and the flight is fully sold in business.

Is there any recourse that I have. (The mistake was CLEARLY on the 1K desk side.) I did write to the 1Kvoice regarding this. any other suggestions?

You could try asking them to re-route your return onto different flights/dates where upgrade space (or at least the possibility thereof) exists. If the facts as you state them are properly documented in your PNR they might do it without re-faring the ticket or charging you a penalty.

It's unfortunate that the 1K desk consistently made this mistake. The agents are usually very detail-oriented, but my experience is that they don't catch every potential error in an itinerary. Sometimes this is in my favor; sometimes it's not.

You probably don't have any other recourse besides 1K Voice, other than writing a separate letter to Customer Relations that stresses the inconvenience this repeated error has caused you.

Good suggestion!

How could you be on an upgrade list for a flight that you were not scheduled for?

The obvious question to me--This is not a nonstop from MCO-ICN, right?

I'm assuming that the MCO-ICN and back are direct flights (with a stop en route), as I don't know of any carrier that flies from Orlando to Seoul nonstop. Keep in mind, something that may be 'bogging you down' from the upgrade is the fact that if there's no upgrade space on the domestic portion, they will not split the flight and upgrade to you on the international portion--it is an all-or-nothing situation. Plus, think of the miles/segments you lose because of booking a direct (but not non-stop) flight in lieu of 'connections'.

How could they have mistakenly put in an upgrade request for 6/24 NRT-MCO when you were going the other way and were not booked on a NRT-MCO flight on 6/24 ? And how were you getting from MCO to ICN---i.e. SFO-LAX & NRT??? And how many segments were you confirmed on (H fare) using 30,000 miles, each way, and ALL the way?

You're a 1K you should know to check your itineraries often on line to verify that things aren't screwed up. By the time you get to 2K however, you have a valid excuse to be senile! ;)

Too many things left out of this to be writting letters IMHO!

Checking "My Itineraries" or requesting an e-mail or a fax in the future may be the answer!

It's an easy mistake and it happens often.

Talked to the 1K desk again today and a supervisor sent it over to inventory managment to see what they could do. I requested both opeining up another revenue seat on the existing flight (there were 3 remaining as of earlier today) or the no-charge re-route on a different routing.

The itinerary is as follows each segment booked in "H"

6/24 UA291 MCO-SFO
UA893 SFO-ICN
6/30 UA800 ICN-NRT
UA852 NRT-SFO
UA292 SFO-MCO

The two outbound flights confirmed when upgrades were originally requested as did the ICN-NRT leg. The final two legs were the ones waitlisted, both on the wrong day.

We'll see what happens with inventory managment.

Who booked the flights originally? If it was United, they owe you big. I wouldn't let up on them until they make it right.

O,K,, I'll finish the statement----


How could you be on an "Upgrade" list for an incorrect flight and date, and wait weeks or months to verify that it was correct or incorrect?

How could you not know that these things happen all the time if you're a 1K?

How can you just take the word of 1K res agents, usually in Detroit, who 55.52346% of the time could care less if your itinerary is correct or not?

How could you be concerned about your upgrade status and not look at "My Itineraries" on www.ual.com, to verify that things are in fact "CORRECT"?

How come "every time" something goes "hay wire" it's letter writing time?

How come some of the burdon never belongs to the traveler, especially if one is a "road warrior"?


How come??? :confused:

It's a toss-up on whether you can get any accommodation. Generally, no one is very sympathetic about an upgrade problem and no one ever seems to believe that anythign was ever checked on multiple times. :)

Good luck with getting something done and getting into C, but I would strongly advise that you personally inspect your itineraries on united.com after booking and periodically leading up to flight time on all international trips.

Yes, double checking on-line is always a good idea. I had a similiar thing happen, where I had changed dates of a trip and when I double checked it was the right date, but the wrong month for my return flight. Actually making my return flight before my outbound flight.

Well, it sounds like the OP did call in to check on things. Maybe s/he didn't ask the right question in this particular circumstance, but how could anyone know what the question should have been? :rolleyes:

Oh, and if Jim1542's question is as stupid as you seem to think, then we're all in a lot of trouble. I guess one would normally assume that, even with its known flaws, the reservations system simply wouldn't let an agent put in upgrade requests on random flights for which there is no itinerary.

fiat_owner

Actually, I think that a RA can waitlist us for just about ant class on any flight on any day that the RA enters. Think about it....