KLM issues
 

I've been trying to book flights with KLM yesterday and today and every option I choose returns an error message on Orbitz that the flight is either no longer available (can't be true because I was able to view the seats on the plane on Saturday and there were plenty of seats left) or that I need to book directly with the airline, which I don't want to do because it will cost alot more (I already checked).

so, am wondering if anyone here knows if there is an issue with KLM? are they working on the database again? I'll try again later and hope to book my flights soon but am hoping someone here knows what is up.

thanks!

Could it be that Orbitz no longer have seats available at the price you saw? They may have only had a limited number which ahve now been sold.

I can think of other possibilities.

They either canceled the flight or reprogrammed the fare bucket based on demand to optimize the revenue.

I was able to buy a AMS-FCO late morning flight ticket earlier this year, but the same flight is no longer available at Orbitz. It is still available at KLM at much higher price.

For this, I am deducing that airlines remove popular segments, at least temporarily, for people on certain itinerary but offer only what they rather want to sell to booking sites. They might reoffer the segment back to you in the future if they feel doing so increases the revenue compared to offering you an alternate route.

Try other sites as well. Go to www.kayak.com and enter your itinerary, and you may be able to get it in some other way. I wouldn't count on it, but it's worth a try.

I am probably wrong but when KLM was partners with NWA (who have been taken over by Delta) I thought if one was booking from the USA for a KLM flight one only had access to the KLM flights via the NWA website. I never tried to book via Orbitz or kayak however. Isn't KLM now partners with Delta? I can't keep all the airline changes straight! Have you checked out the Delta website? I am probably not much help but just a thought.

yep, KLM is now part of Delta so that's why I was thinking maybe they were working on the database between the two entities. I started at kayak.com and the one flight I want is shown thru Orbitz. maybe I'll check the Delta site. I just know when I checked the KLM site the price was quite a bit more. maybe I'll check expedia too...

Post back and let us know what you find out, tobyo.

Delta and Northwest res systems were formally merged into one(Delta's) on Jan.31st this year so it should show all options with the two and with those of the SKYTEAM.

ah...interesting...expedia does not show any KLM flights available! I think they must be working on their database between Delta and KLM.

okay, thanks everyone for your replies. I will just sit tight and try again. We're not leaving for 3 months yet so I have a little time. just anxious to get my flights booked already :)

3 months is not that much time. What route are you trying to get, for what days? Maybe posters here can help you.

I checked Delta's site and the flights we wanted are there but of course they cost more than the price at Orbitz. like $600 more, egads. but it shows the same thing I saw on Saturday via Orbitz, same seat availability in otherwords. I just can't imagine they won't have these available again on Orbitz. so....again, will sit tight and check later, then tomorrow, then the next day and so on. such fun ;)

we're leaving from the twin cities (former NWA and KLM hub, is it still w/merger with Delta? hmmm) on May 14 and going to Barcelona.

our return flight will be from Madrid on 5/30. We were hoping to stop in Paris on our way to Barcelons but that flight is now too expensive and that's why we chose the flights going thru Amsterdam to and from.

thanks for any help!

oh yea, we prefer to make only one stop. This trip will be long enough w/o making add'l stops.

and by twin cities I mean Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Try 1800flyeurope.com and www.vayama.com also.

I'm back and the problem persists. I just don't understand why the discount ticketers (Orbitz, vayama, kayak) list the flights and when I go to choose them, an error appears. on every site that I've listed here. I'm trying to be patient, but....

..that has happened to me many many times. they tempt you with a price but you can't buy it.happens all the time. I agree with a previous poster who said perhaps their allotment of seats has been sold.. they just haven't removed it from their base yet.

clear all cookies and start over. good luck.

clear all cookies? hmmm. how about I just try on another computer?

Why don't you just try calling Orbitz's 800 # that is posted on their website and book it with them by phone?

just tried calling them and he had the same issue, and suggested I try later or tomorrow. or, I could just find a different set of flights. will mull it over some more...

Just a note... KLM is not owned or managed by Delta. Have you tried the KLM website? I would try there and quit messing around with Delta.

tobyo, this is what I see. If you get the flights on the KLM website (MSP-AMS-BCN on the outbound, and MAD-AMS-BCN on the inbound), then the price is about $1140 USD total per person. It looks like with consolidator sites, you can get a fare for about $900 all-in per person, but it would probably involve two stops on the outbound and one stop on the inbound (Iberia and AA). The cheapest price on Delta is $1264 USD total. On Orbitz you can get a combination of Delta and Air France, but again with two stops, for about $1016 per person total.

I'd say forget about the Orbitz prices that disappear. They probably reflect a real price in the database -- for which 0 seats are allotted.

Several questions to consider:
How much are you willing to pay to avoid two stops?
Are your dates at all flexible?
Are your cities at all flexible?

Unfortunately I really have no sense of when you should buy the flight, or what you can reasonably expect the price to be. I just know MSP tends to have high fares, unless you are lucky.

Remember that the seat map chart has no relationship to whether the flight is full or empty, because tickets can be sold without any seats being assigned.

This happens all the time with KLM. Clearly, they have a fare published but Orbitz has trouble seeing that there is no availability. I don't think it is nefarious, but it sure is frustrating.

I am not terribly concerned about the price, it's more the actual flights that I want to book. and it seems every combination that I choose that involves KLM, the same thing happens. I did check KLM's website and the price was much,much higher than I wanted to spend. $1140 is doable so maybe I'll check that out again later.

thanks so much for all the replies and help!

thought I'd post an update to let whoever would like to know, the outcome.

After trying all week to book a few different combinations of flights on Orbitz, cheaptickets, and a few others I can't recall with NO luck whatsoever.....oh wait, there was ONE time that I actually was able to book ONE combination but hubby wanted me to wait to see if we could book the ones we really wanted. never happened. so I ended up giving up and called Delta because I wanted to see if they had discounts for child fares. well....they sure did! but I guess only on certain flights and the one we wanted flying thru AMS to and from would have cost us just over $7000!! um, don't think so!! so, we ended up with flying thru AMS on the way there and JFK on the way home for a much more reasonable rate. but, get this. when the guy was booking our flights HE had issues with one of the KLM flights :D This all ended up taking nearly an hour to complete and he felt bad saying it was Delta's fault it took so long so he issued us each a $50 voucher that we can use only online. Free luggage costs perhaps? anyway, I'm so glad I finally go that done!! and only ending up spending about $600 more than I wanted but prices have gone up in the last 2 weeks so what can you do? I did not want to wait any longer! plus if I take the $150 off of that, I only spent $450 more than I wanted. It's all good.

thanks again for all the responses, really appreciate it!!