redeyedgirl

My sister used expedia and booked my niece from PGV greenville nc instead of gsp greenville sc then through dca and on to cak
she is trying to leave tommorrow and then back on the 4th of jan
when she called us air they gave her the basic cost of fare difference and change fee speil
If they would just let her throw away the first leg and she could at least drive to charlotte, but as you know if you dont hit your first leg all others are cancelled any chance if she just showed up at gsp looking cute and sad the gate agents could reroute her- or should we just keep calling usair until someoneany idea, thoughts? thanks so much
takes pity on this 18 year old trying to get home for the holidays

Singleflyer

Maybe they will take pity and throw in a tutor to teach ere to read the purchase before purchasing the ticket.

We all make mistakes, but why should an airline correct it for free?

tommyleo

Interesting strategy, except I doubt she would be able to get to the gate since she'd first have to get through security with a BP from the wrong originating airport.

She could show up at the ticket counter to try to get her BP printed, and then she'll have to act really surprised that her ticket isn't from the correct city.

tommyleo

Maybe because the ticket was purchased with the belief that the correct ticket was being purchased? US should honor the ticket, only charging any difference in the fare at the time the incorrect ticket was purchased.

redeyedgirl

thank you yes I meant the ticket agent not gate agent and I think that would be right to at least charge something

mister880

I would love to know how this turns out.. Have you tried calling 800 number for US Airways? Maybe Expedia might be able to help?

dcpatti

How long ago was the ticket booked? If it was booked less than 24 hours ago you can just cancel for a refund. If more than that, I'm afraid she will be out of luck, and I don't have a ton of sympathy as my corporate travel engine will occasionally substitute airports and I will think I am booking a ticket to Orange County but accept the purchase to LAX, resulting in a brutal commute down the I-5, always at rush hour. Or book me to depart IAD and return DCA. It is the buyer's responsibility to know what they are buying.

alexphj

if within 24 hours, you can do a free change and pay the price difference

DCAorBust

How upsetting. We've all overlooked something at some point. It's not a mistake she'll make again, I'm sure. I've seen a misconnecting college-aged girl's uncontollable sobbing open the door and re-extend the jetway to a closed-out aircraft...but this situation is a little different because the situation was not beyond the passenger's control AND it will be very hard to show up at GSP and act "dumb" since the record is likely now full of notes about today's calls and what your sister/niece was advised.

I'd consider trying a number of things at this point:

First, she could change the flight and pay the ransom. If she does, she should immediately send an email to customer relations begging for a refund of the change fee due to the circumstances. She won't get a refund, but might get a voucher for future travel to encourage her to fly US again, which could be helpful if she's flying back and forth again in the next year.

Alternatively, you could buy another reservation on another airline that has a 24 hour cancel policy [US has such a policy, but you should not hold two reservations on them for the same day--this is a violation of their ticketing and could cause both to cancel]. She'll have this in her back pocket if necessary. Then, keep calling US to see if she can get the re-route and/or show up at the airport with the sob story. If she gets it, great--cancel the other ticket. If she doesn't then either pay the ransom as above and cancel the new ticket--or--cancel the old one to preserve the remaining value on it for use in the future, and just fly the new itinerary. If you do the latter, I'd email US and again beg for the change fee refund as above.

bkafrick

There are too many scenario's where a customer might say they "believed" they were buying the "correct ticket".

"I thought I was booking for July, and instead choose June"
"I thought I was booking for 7AM and instead choose 7PM"
"I thought I was booking for 2010 and choose 2011"

At what point does responsibility rest with the person buying?!

And, go to expedia, and put in "Greenville" in your departure city... It prompts you for SC versus NC (and actually also asks if you want Greenville, Mississippi!!)... This isnt an easy mistake to make. You have to consciously choose the wrong state. The SC & NC arent even next to each other because MS is in the middle of the choices.

Sparrow_Hawk

This is why I NEVER use expedia. It interjects a third party into a situation. Airline rules & policies are bleeped up enough without adding in a third party to muck things up even more.

Truth is I DO NOT trust Expedia as I've witnessed to many of their agents lying when there is a problem.

It's a tough call in my mind for US to bend a well known rule for one person. If travel is tomorrow there is likely little I could do with my contact to work out an amicable solution. Plus I'm not certain I support doing anything. This a hard lesson for her to learn and I feel for her situation.

merrickdb

While not US (and I am EXP), I booked a flight for the wrong day on AA from RDU to BOS after coming in from NRT on a separate ticket and didn't realize it for a couple of weeks. AA changed me to the day I'd meant to book and didn't charge me a dime. Sometimes airlines can be nice.

HereAndThereSC

I once booked a ticket, ex-FLO, and accidentally picked FAY as the return. I tried to change that ticket at no cost at NUMEROUS points (pre-departure, at the US club, on the phone, at the gate, etc), and they would never budge even though I am CP with US.

Unfortunately, live and learn.

HTSC

PHL

Since the ticket was booked with Expedia, call them. Otherwise, cancel the ticket, get a credit, eat the $150 change fee and book a new one.

I agree that mistakes are made, but I don't believe it's the airline's obligation to fix potentially millions of customers who make similar mistakes. I think if she picked up the error quick enough, she could have called Expedia for immediate resolution.

JJeffrey

If the OP's sister/niece is prepared to pay the change fee & new fare, then I'd at least first go to GSP (early) and see what happens.

Worst case, the check-in agent charges you the change fee & new fare to reissue the ticket from GSP. This is the same as you'd pay by calling to change it beforehand.

Best case, you get a sympathetic agent who puts you on the flight out of GSP for no fee, or possibly waives the change fee and just charges the fare difference, etc.

That of course assumes decent availability on the GSP flight.

I'll echo merrickdb's comment above, while it's certainly not US's obligation to change the ticket sometimes airlines can be nice. I ran into this years ago flying AA DFW-RDU, a very inexperienced traveler next to me had been booked by his TA to fly to Fayetteville (NC) instead of Fayetteville (AR). He didn't realize it until midway through the flight, once we landed in RDU I took him to the Admiral's Club where they rebooked him back to AR for no charge.