ceg

Hilda, forget all those posts that say you are a liar. This happened to me. I carefully made airline reservations for one date and the agent made them for a different date. I was on my way to a funeral and the date of the flight the agent booked for me orginally was a day after the funeral. Fortunately, the airline was very apologetic and change my reservations. The agents are human and they do make mistakes. Too bad your airline is being so difficult.
I have found with a lot of businesses lately that the customer service representatives are anything but customer friendly. Keep plugging away.

cmeyer54

Hilda - pls let us know how this is resolved. the airline mentality is a strange one - we've had more than a few snafus with seating, tickets etc and we also fly extensively. With a little prodding, things are been resolved but we've also hit brick walls on issues like changing to an earlier or later departure for the same day that has large numbers of open seats and been told it will cost upwards of $2000 (yes, thousand) to take that empty seat on another flight....and that was only flying 500 miles!

Loki

This is why I don't do business over the telephone. If I had to go through the airline, what I'd do is make the reservation over the phone. You can make the reservation for 24 hours without committing to purchase it. They give you some confirmation #. I then walk down the street to my local travel agency and give them my # and pay them for the ticket as they print out a documented itinerary proving what days I'm travelling. I did this for about 20 years before the internet came along. Is this method still an option?

BeachBoi

Loki.....Normally, yes..However, with some of the low fare carriers--JetBlue,Spirit,etc in order to make a confirmed reservation, you have to purchase the ticket...Book It,Buy It, Own It.....Delta is the first "major"" carrier to disallow a reservation to be "claimed" by a TravelAgent...If I call AA,United,etc and book a reservation,I can call my TA and he can issue the ticket,or as he calls it "claiming",but not with Delta...HTH....S

MoniqueU

The same thing happened with me on American. I was booked a one way flight to fly home with my kids from FLL to LAX after my kids met me in Florida. I was extremely certain I booked myself on the exact same flight as my kids. I took notes, wrote down the flight, wrote down the flight times etc. I didn't check reservations right away but did a week later, low and behold they had put me on another flight. AA told me I was SOL I had to pay the change fee. Luckily prices had dropped a bit so the mistake wasn't that costly. I will try my best to avoid AA for any reason because of this. They see all my kids booked on one flight why would I book myself on another the same day. Hello?
JetBlue for me from CA to Florida from now on.

Patrick

Sorry, Monique, but I don't understand how anybody could not check their reservations right away. I've caught mistakes before -- one e ticket was actually sent to me showing a return date before my departure date. Chances are if you catch the mistake and call right away, there would be no problem. If you are doing this by phone, you have every opportunity to LISTEN to them double check times, flights, and dates. And if you are doing in by internet, there is no reason to confirm until you can check that all the information is right. But if I were in their shoes and someone called a week or so after the fact and said the date was wrong on their ticket, I'd be wary also!

Sealygal

Well it seems that the point has been lost. Hilda needed suggestions on what to do about a situation, not to hear accusations. I guess I fell right into it when I responded back to what I thought was "unkindness". My apologies.

Back to the point...

KT

Like Howard R., I'm still confused by the original statement that the airline felt the agent had made a mistake, but that they'd charge to correct it. What exactly did they say? How did they justify charging you a change fee if they said it was their mistake?

MoniqueU

Patrick I was booking a complex trip and thought I had checked ALL my reservations. 9 people, 2 countries, 3 airlines, 2 rental car companies I think about 10 hotels and a 21 day trip. One just happened to slip through the radar on me.
Also my tickets had not been issued that was another reason I think the cost to change wasn't that much. I think? about 16 dollars or something. Not the end of world for me on only one ticket. I am just glad I checked it soon enough.
However the thought lingers in the back of my mind after Hilda's story and I am dying to know if it was on the same airline as mine if this was intentional. A way to boost profits in fact? I don't know. Buy you see these 20/20 shows where they show how stores ring you up for the wrong price on sell items and even after being notified repeatedly it continues to happen.
There is no way in heck I got my childrens flight or times confused and knew exactly what flight I wanted on and even read to her the childrens seat numbers so I could be seated next to them. When I got rebooked there were no seats all together which was actually a godsend to my MIL who had played doting grandma for awhile and enjoyed not sitting with us

hilda

I am overwhelmed with all the posts, helpful ideas and kind thoughts.
To summarize again, I made Saturday to Saturday reservations this past Saturday to Florida, I have Dates 3/13 to 3/20 and a confirmation number on my notes. This is my last entry in my notes from the actual phone call to book the trip. The agent read the confirmation # , dates and flight times to me and I wrote them down. I was told a confirmatory email would be sent. It did not arrive until Monday ( yesterday), I called right away to report the error.Initially, I was not tremendously alarmed as I thought this could be corrected by speaking to a supervisor. Althought I had a cordial discussion with this supervisor, nothing is resolved. She told me the agent made an error but to correct it I have to pay $200pp to keep the itinerary I booked. None of this adds up. I sent an email to the airline ( and it is not a fly by night airline, it is not one of the new budget airlines) and am waiting a response. I called the airline 800# second time and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told there is a supervisor "denial" in the records and "no one overrides a supervisor". I asked for a corporate #. I was given a number ( not an 800# ) but told it is very difficult to get through on this line. I plan to try dialing shortly. I am not a novice traveler. We take half a dozen pleasure trips each year and often fly this airline. I am careful with itineraries and dates. The booking agent did read me back the itinerary Saturday to Saturday before we hung up. I do not think it is fair to have to pay $200 pp extra to keep the itinerary they told me I had. I will let you know how this is resolved. At this point I am skeptical it will be in my favor. Thanks again

KT

I'm still trying to figure out how they could say that it was their mistake but you have to pay more. Just a thought. Is the $200 really a change fee? Or are they saying that you were given the wrong days, but that the fare is simply higher for the right days? If it's the latter, it's not a penalty -- it's what you would have paid if they'd given you the right days.

hilda

KT, the extra $200pp is the price they say applies to the Saturday itinerary that I booked on Saturday for a good price. No penalties are being applied. I just called the corporate "customer service " number. This was not helpful as the Audix system stated to contact the #800 reservation line for problems with current reservations. I have done that twice already! . I selected another Audix prompt at the corporate number, option 3 for lost luggage, I held on the phone 10 minutes then hung up. I am not posting the name of the airline in case they monitor message boards like this. I do not want to hurt my chances of a favorable outcome. I am waiting for the email response to my concern.

BeachBoi

hilda........The airlines dont watch travel boards.......nothing will happen if you post the name of the airline.....you might find a savvy traveller here who might actually be of more help of they happen to be a frequent traveller with some sort of status or "in".....just a thought...

Leona

I've been following this thread since early this a.m. and I've tried not to get involved, but now I'm totally confused.

Did you book Sat to Sat because you thought the fare would be lower (as you just said in your last post); or was it to accommodate your daughter's school schedule, as you said in an earlier post; or was it to secure condo accommodations, as you said in an in between post? If they quoted you a fare based on one set of dates and they have offered to adjust the fare to accommodate your revised dates, what's the problem? They are not charging a change fee, they are simply charging the going rate for the dates you requested.

Patrick

I'm still trying to figure out some of the above posts. Could anyone explain what possible reason an airline would have to "deliberately" book the wrong flights or dates for a customer? Is it suggested that this is something that certain airlines due just out of meanness or because they think it's fun? I can understand only two reasons why a flight would be booked wrong: either there was misunderstanding between the booker and the bookee, or there was a simple mistake. I can't imagine why the agent would sit there and deliberately book the wrong flight.

hilda

My quoted price last Saturday evening for this itinerary, a companion fare on Northwest airline, was $229, the same rate was available for Friday and Saturday. On the phone, I chose Saturday so my daughter wont miss school prior to spring break. Also we prefer traveling on Saturday and that gives up the option of looking into a Condo for a week's stay. I always get a quote for the day before and the day I really want to travel. The agent read me the confirmation # with Saturday to Saturday travel dates- after I gave my Visa and completed the transaction. Then we hung up and I started looking for the confirmatory email which didn't come until Monday.
The airline is Northwest Airlines. The price is pretty good but not a killer price into Tampa, which is a pretty competitive route from where we live. I have no idea what happened, none of it adds up in my mind. The booking agent was very helpful and pleasant. I have asked everyone to pull the tape recordings they supposedly make to "insure customer service". Northwest says they do not pull tapes.
My issue seems to have hit a chord and it is interesting to me that several others have similiar stories to tell.

michelleNYC

Just a thought... maybe there was a mis-understanding when you asked for the rate for Friday and Saturday. Seems to me that if you are purchasing *anything* from *anyone* that if they admit it is *their* mistake, you should not bear the consequences (financial or otherwise). Again, just a thought.....

Andrew

Hilda, I'll repeat what I said earlier: don't rely on phone calls and emails. Write a paper US mail letter to Northwest.

Considering that Northwest has a 24-hour "change your mind" policy and they were two days late in sending your itinerary, I'm surprised they are bulking at all about changing your ticket without a fee.

Andrew

djkbooks

Hilda: I'd say you're on your own here. As you provide additional details, I can surely understand the "situation" better.

puddy

What city are you flying from?