paris; if using USAir ff miles beware if flying Lufthansa but we made it here!!!
Aug 2nd, 2006, 04:18 PM
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paris; if using USAir ff miles beware if flying Lufthansa but we made it here!!!
Just an alert if anyone is using ff miles of USAir and are booked on other airlines. Ask if you should have Paper Tickets!! We arrived at Dulles on Aug 1st. Four of us traveling with three different confirmation numbers because of varying travel schedules
Arriving at the Lufthansa counter with our e-confirmation and seat assignments we were told we had been issued paper tickets by USAir and had to present them. What paper tickets. Luckily we arrived at the airport 2 1/2 hours ahead of flight.
Going to USAir counter we are told yes you were sent paper tickets. No we were not I said. Yes you were. The only one they could tell us were sent on Sept 13, 2005. Never received them or the other two sent at different times. They could not tell us when the others were sent.
We could file a lost ticket claim and pay 100 dollars per ticket if we wanted to fly. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY PAPER TICKETS I said. I will not pay for tickets I never received and was never told to expect. By this time unknown to me but told to me later our counter person had slipped off her name tag and hidden it under some paper work because she thought we were going to get nasty!!!
Calls to USAir's divendend miles help desk was no help. By this time several people had told us we needed paper tickets and they couldn't do anything. Finally someone at the UNhelpful divendend miles number said. I'm sorry we can't do anything for you it's too close to your flight time. UGH.
This is when Jennifer, the most unbelieveably helpful person at the USAirways at Dulles (the same person who had slipped off her name tag) put her blossoming career on the line and hand wrote us FEM tickets (I think they are called) and got us on a later flight with United.
So now we have made it to Paris, will get to be wedding guests this weekend in the South of France no thanks to USAir dividend miles but to Jennifer, a compassionate employee. You can believe we will be writing a letter to USAir complimenting her but reaming their customer service at divident miles with whatever power our massive ffmiles numbers gives us (probably very little clout there at all!!)
It is cool but very comfortable in Paris. We are staying at the Hotel Claude Bernard on rue des Ecoles and I am jet lagged so taking advantage of their free high speed internet connection to post this warning.
If using ff miles be sure to ask if you will be issued paper tickets-something I thought had almost disappeared now.
If you have any quick questions about Paris I will be happy to answer while I am sleepless in Paris. I can't think of a better place to be sleepless however
Deborah
Arriving at the Lufthansa counter with our e-confirmation and seat assignments we were told we had been issued paper tickets by USAir and had to present them. What paper tickets. Luckily we arrived at the airport 2 1/2 hours ahead of flight.
Going to USAir counter we are told yes you were sent paper tickets. No we were not I said. Yes you were. The only one they could tell us were sent on Sept 13, 2005. Never received them or the other two sent at different times. They could not tell us when the others were sent.
We could file a lost ticket claim and pay 100 dollars per ticket if we wanted to fly. I NEVER RECEIVED ANY PAPER TICKETS I said. I will not pay for tickets I never received and was never told to expect. By this time unknown to me but told to me later our counter person had slipped off her name tag and hidden it under some paper work because she thought we were going to get nasty!!!
Calls to USAir's divendend miles help desk was no help. By this time several people had told us we needed paper tickets and they couldn't do anything. Finally someone at the UNhelpful divendend miles number said. I'm sorry we can't do anything for you it's too close to your flight time. UGH.
This is when Jennifer, the most unbelieveably helpful person at the USAirways at Dulles (the same person who had slipped off her name tag) put her blossoming career on the line and hand wrote us FEM tickets (I think they are called) and got us on a later flight with United.
So now we have made it to Paris, will get to be wedding guests this weekend in the South of France no thanks to USAir dividend miles but to Jennifer, a compassionate employee. You can believe we will be writing a letter to USAir complimenting her but reaming their customer service at divident miles with whatever power our massive ffmiles numbers gives us (probably very little clout there at all!!)
It is cool but very comfortable in Paris. We are staying at the Hotel Claude Bernard on rue des Ecoles and I am jet lagged so taking advantage of their free high speed internet connection to post this warning.
If using ff miles be sure to ask if you will be issued paper tickets-something I thought had almost disappeared now.
If you have any quick questions about Paris I will be happy to answer while I am sleepless in Paris. I can't think of a better place to be sleepless however
Deborah
Aug 2nd, 2006, 04:34 PM
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We used US Air ff miles last year with LU and Canada Air. To avoid your problem I asked and received paper tickets, just in case. Your experience proved me right.
The nicest ending to this story, however, was the fact that no ff miles were ever deducted from my account.
The nicest ending to this story, however, was the fact that no ff miles were ever deducted from my account.
Aug 2nd, 2006, 04:44 PM
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kemi, what made you have had the foresight to ask for paper tickets. I thought they were either valued like gold and seldom given out or like dinosaurs which had dissappered almost totally. It would have never crossed my mind to question our e confirmation. I checked on our reservations every two months and not once did anyone say anything about paper tickets.
On August 24th my husbands return plane went from being AirCanada to USAir. Neither the recorded message nor the person I spoke to said anything about paper tickets. What I repeated over and over, if we had these paper tickets we would have had to taken them to a ticket counter in person to exchange them. We certainly would have received a red flag with that. The words paper ticket never entered any conversation, ever. Deborah
I would love it if they didn't remove our ff miles but not if it is at the expense of Jennifer who was chastized by her supervisor after the deed was done. Deborah
On August 24th my husbands return plane went from being AirCanada to USAir. Neither the recorded message nor the person I spoke to said anything about paper tickets. What I repeated over and over, if we had these paper tickets we would have had to taken them to a ticket counter in person to exchange them. We certainly would have received a red flag with that. The words paper ticket never entered any conversation, ever. Deborah
I would love it if they didn't remove our ff miles but not if it is at the expense of Jennifer who was chastized by her supervisor after the deed was done. Deborah
Aug 2nd, 2006, 05:33 PM
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yes, we have paper tickets, we are treating them like gold. We will check to make sure all is correct with them before our return as Jennifer said she had forgotten how to write paper tickets and made several errors before giving them to us
We were just too tired to seek out both Lufthansa which andrea and johnny are flying aon their return and usair for ron and I when we got to CDG. I wasn't sure which terminal their ticketing counters were and information was so far from where we exited at Terminal 1 on our arrival.
Our daugher has a great attitude. She just said Mom we are here, we will be at the wedding, I'll worry about our return when we get to the airport with lots of time to deal with problems August 9th. Deborah
We were just too tired to seek out both Lufthansa which andrea and johnny are flying aon their return and usair for ron and I when we got to CDG. I wasn't sure which terminal their ticketing counters were and information was so far from where we exited at Terminal 1 on our arrival.
Our daugher has a great attitude. She just said Mom we are here, we will be at the wedding, I'll worry about our return when we get to the airport with lots of time to deal with problems August 9th. Deborah
Aug 2nd, 2006, 08:55 PM
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<b>F<font color="red">I</font>M</b> tickets...
...stands for <b>F</b>light <b>I</b>nterruption <b>M</b>anifesto.
I ask to be "FIM"ed at the least problem of any flight I'm on (for example, if there is a risk of missing a connection).
Best wishes,
Rex
...stands for <b>F</b>light <b>I</b>nterruption <b>M</b>anifesto.
I ask to be "FIM"ed at the least problem of any flight I'm on (for example, if there is a risk of missing a connection).
Best wishes,
Rex
Aug 2nd, 2006, 09:24 PM
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I learned just yesterday (from my boss) that if you book internationally on travelocity or expedia, and your flight involves 2 different carriers, they HAVE to issue paper tickets. just something to look for...
Aug 2nd, 2006, 10:01 PM
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Paper tickets outside of the US still exist. They will be phased out completely end of 2007. Until then, flight confirmations should be checked as usually they will state whether an eticket or paper ticket is issued.
Aug 3rd, 2006, 12:17 AM
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odin, most curious as our confirmation never mentioned ANYTHING about the paper tickets. I, with all my research, was both clueless and taken off guard. I think my heart nearly stopped at the ticket counter when they asked for the paper tickets.
I told my family that my heart must be very healthy as the four hours at the airport put a definite strain on it by the stress.
Paris is cloudy and cool today, a high of 70 degrees with sprinkles all day. When checking the weather forecast weather.com and msn weather were about 15 degrees different consistently. msn had the more accurate forecasting FYI Deborah
I told my family that my heart must be very healthy as the four hours at the airport put a definite strain on it by the stress.
Paris is cloudy and cool today, a high of 70 degrees with sprinkles all day. When checking the weather forecast weather.com and msn weather were about 15 degrees different consistently. msn had the more accurate forecasting FYI
Deborah
Aug 3rd, 2006, 03:43 AM
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DeborahAnn.
It is my understanding that Lufthansa always issues paper tickets.
Of course, I wouldn't have known differently except that the ball was not dropped in my case and the tickets were issued.
Like you, I never would have looked for them.
Enjoy Paris.
It is my understanding that Lufthansa always issues paper tickets.
Of course, I wouldn't have known differently except that the ball was not dropped in my case and the tickets were issued.
Like you, I never would have looked for them.
Enjoy Paris.
Aug 3rd, 2006, 04:04 AM
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Lufthansa doesn't always require paper tickets. We had United award tickets this summer that included travel on Lufthansa and there were not paper tickets involved. And last year, my poor mother was sure we would not be allowed to leave Moscow on LH because we were arriving at the airport with just a slip of paper - but no problems.
Does your itinerary, at some point, involve travel on a LH partner or subsidiary, such as AirDolomiti (I believe it has some flights to southern France)? If so, a paper ticket might be required because of that segment. Our LH tickets to Naples last year (issued by United) required paper because of one AirDolomiti segment. But if that's the case, the reservation agent should have known - so no ideas there.
Glad you got there and have a great trip! I'd love to be in Paris right now, but instead I'm sitting on a conference call (working hard, you can tell
).
Does your itinerary, at some point, involve travel on a LH partner or subsidiary, such as AirDolomiti (I believe it has some flights to southern France)? If so, a paper ticket might be required because of that segment. Our LH tickets to Naples last year (issued by United) required paper because of one AirDolomiti segment. But if that's the case, the reservation agent should have known - so no ideas there.
Glad you got there and have a great trip! I'd love to be in Paris right now, but instead I'm sitting on a conference call (working hard, you can tell
).
Aug 3rd, 2006, 04:11 AM
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Here's is a quote from the Dividend Miles Program "details" section:
Paper tickets for award travel on e-ticket eligible reservations will be issued only upon request and will be subject to a $50 surcharge. Once your reservation is made, your award tickets will be mailed to your account address on file. Please allow up to three (3) weeks for processing and mail delivery.
Question is, were the flights on Lufthansa e-ticket eligible?
Paper tickets for award travel on e-ticket eligible reservations will be issued only upon request and will be subject to a $50 surcharge. Once your reservation is made, your award tickets will be mailed to your account address on file. Please allow up to three (3) weeks for processing and mail delivery.
Question is, were the flights on Lufthansa e-ticket eligible?
Aug 3rd, 2006, 04:35 AM
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This is not a matter of paper vs e-ticket. This is about either US or LH screwed up your ticket.
There's a current thread on the airline forum about Swiss International not recognizing an award reservation made by UA. Similar stuff.
It can easily happen to this case.
There's a current thread on the airline forum about Swiss International not recognizing an award reservation made by UA. Similar stuff.
It can easily happen to this case.
Aug 3rd, 2006, 04:47 AM
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Often reward tickets that are not code share on partner airlines are issued as paper tickets. Of course this should be CLEARLY explained by the booking agent or, if booked via the net should be made clear as well.
Aug 3rd, 2006, 04:53 AM
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I'm so sorry to hear about this!
We too were issued paper tickets for an upcoming trip to Croatia. We are flying British Airways for every flight segment, and I purchased the tickets through aa.com. However, I was never told that we should expect paper tickets. A few weeks after I booked the flight online the paper tickets showed up in the mail. We could have easily ended up in the same boat as you had the tickets not arrived.
Tracy
We too were issued paper tickets for an upcoming trip to Croatia. We are flying British Airways for every flight segment, and I purchased the tickets through aa.com. However, I was never told that we should expect paper tickets. A few weeks after I booked the flight online the paper tickets showed up in the mail. We could have easily ended up in the same boat as you had the tickets not arrived.
Tracy
Aug 3rd, 2006, 07:48 AM
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-------Uh....did you not read what I quoted...IF paper tickets HAD been issued then a CHARGE would have been levied and I somehow doubt the OP would have forgotten that------
Uh, partner awards and standard US airways awards are not the same thing. You are quoting for standard awards. Yes I did read what you said. It does not apply for Star Alliance awards.
Uh, partner awards and standard US airways awards are not the same thing. You are quoting for standard awards. Yes I did read what you said. It does not apply for Star Alliance awards.
Aug 3rd, 2006, 07:50 AM
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---Paper tickets for award travel on e-ticket eligible reservations will be issued only upon request and will be subject to a $50 surcharge. ----
Lufthansa star alliance award = not eligible for e-ticket = no charge for paper tickets.
Lufthansa star alliance award = not eligible for e-ticket = no charge for paper tickets.
