fti

Are these employees really the idiots they appear to be? I booked an award ticket last year (which I ended up having to cancel due to an involuntary schedule change) and they booked the wrong date in one direction. Fortunately I caught the mistake before ticketing.

Three days ago I booked a ticket to Europe, being very specific that I wanted business class. In fact, the agent told me that only the transatlantic flights were business, the connecting flights within the US were economy which I could live with.

I checked online today before calling to issue the tickets and all segments are coach. My phone call to USAirways confirmed this.

And they want to charge me $40 for this non-service? I am glad I rarely fly USAirways (most miles came from AmEx or USAirways promotions). But that doesn't justify their pathetic customer service.

John

fti

Well, I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. I was disconnected from the first person who told me that all flights were in economy class. Talked with a second person for several minutes who only dealt with domestic flights, even though I told her at the start of the conversation I was dealing with international business class. Finally got a person who knew what she was talking about who said that indeed I was in business class for the transatlantic flights. I did call each airline involved however (LH to FRA and UA to ORD) to confirm this.

So all's well that ends well but now I understand why airlines lose millions of dollars. With customer service like this, I would lose money too!

John

IADCAflyer

Yep, no kidding.

Very similar to my situation earlier this week. Agent tried to charge me 15,000 miles per segment for an upgrade award when the rule states that the 15,000 applies to the entire leg of the trip.

ArizonaGuy

For what it's worth, checking your reservation online won't help if it's with *A partners. The US website will show coach for the *A partner legs whether you're in Y, C or F.

If you call the partner airline and get a seat assignment, at some point the US website will reflect that, but still say coach. It's shown me seats 1A and 3J on a UA 777 to be coach before, which is a tad annoying.

As for phone agents not being very helpful - I've had very little difficulty (meaning I've had good luck) with agents knowing what they're doing finding me the international C or F availability I've sought. Though I know there are some real gems of inexperienced ones - that's just a case of saying thank you, hanging up and calling back to get someone else.

Oh, and unless something's changed - if you book an international C award, the domestic legs on 2 class aircraft should put you in F, not in Y, provided inventory is available. Somebody screwed that up, I think. 80k miles to sit in Y? No way.

planeluvr

Correct but get the PNR code from each partner you are flying so you can keep an eye on the reservation.

fti

Only a regional jet from MSP to PHL with no F. I know it is not pretty but I will take it for the chance to fly C on LH across the pond. And the date is the date I want/need. Plus, it leaves late enough in the morning for me to drive 2-1/2 hours from my hometown to MSP. So all in all, it is a good option. And I wanted to have it ticketed before the yet-higher fees set in about mid August.

Glad your experience with US has been better than mine. Since my initial posts I spoke with a total of 6 people today at US, only the last of which was helpful. So not just hang up and call again, but hang up, call again, hang up, call again, etc, etc. I have truly been spoiled by the NW platinum elite customer service phone line.

John

fti

I actually got that from one agent and called both LH and UA to confirm business class.

pieper

Check this recent thread and the example Notux4me gives. Says it all, best advice


http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=839561

desert traveler

Basic question here: We are booked for award travel next year on 3 differet airlines (US,UA and LH). Do I need to call each for the PNR?

kudzu

If you haven't gotten seat assignments on partner airlines already, call each one at their general number for seat assignments, and request their PNR for future reference.

dknn

I booked a BCN-FRA-BOS-PHL-ATL with the domestic portions in coach b/c the agent said if the segments were in first, it would fare the entire trip at 125k. The international portions are in business.

The agent even confirmed with a supervisor and stated b/c the use of partner airlines are involved, that is the way it is. However, if I was flying Envoy, then first class would be included.

It has already been ticketed. Am I out of luck with getting the domestic portions in first class?

KevAZ

The information provided by the US agent is wrong (as usual) but good luck trying to get it fixed; it's clear that US has taken all power to serve customers away from Cust Service Reps.

I had the same problem last December on a Business PHX/LAX/BKK/SYD leg - my wife (fake Gold) and son were in First, while I (real Gold) was left in coach. US Cust Svc's reply "nothing we can do about it". We all got crammed into coach on the return from LAX/PHX.

US hasn't a clue about how to empower employees to correct company mistakes. I see US' customer service as the weakest link and they have yet to hire the right management and empower them to correct the problems.

dknn

Playing agent roulette, I was able to find an agent to change my domestic portions to first class.

KevAZ

Great to hear! But playing Agent Roulette with 5 bullets in the cylinder can be painful.

penncare

When US completes the booking, the agent will be able to provide the US record locator and the record locators for UA and LH. What US cannot do is assign seats. You can go to UA's website and select seats whereas for LH, go to www.checkmytrip.com to view your LH confirmation but you will need to call LH for seat assignment.