I don't see why no one would get why I think it is possible for airlines to do this somewhat intentionally. IF you book a ticket at 200 bucks coast to coast non refundable then jerk the reservations around a bit so that the customer needs to change them since it isn't the dates or times they needed you end up making a bigger profit if you charge a customer those stiff rebooking fees. It is common knowledge that many of these airlines are teetering on the brink financially and employees could be making simple "errors" to insure their companies make a bit more and they get to keep their jobs. After all it seems that the customer is the ONLY one penalized here. Not the employee that screwed up my reservation not the one that apparently did it to Hilda. The airline has the same per passenger expense profit ratio no matter what day of the week any of us fly.

Monique:

"The airline has the same per passenger expense profit ratio no matter what day of the week any of us fly."

You are obviously unfamiliar with airline union contracts...

Hilda's "situation" could not be more curious. Whenver I've confirmed reservations with ANY airline, the DAY OF THE WEEK is always mentioned along with the date and time.

At first Hilda insinuated that she would be charged to change her itinerary, but then mentioned that the FARE was different on Saturday as opposed to Friday.

She also added that she "always" checks the day before she "really" wants to fly. Eh? Why?

Then, if you click on Hilda, you'll see that she's often planning two trips at once: Caribbean/Carribean (hey, where are the "spelling police" when you need them) OR, maybe, Las Vegas (does anyone really think the shows/attractions/pools "shut down" in early December there)?

Seems to me that "Hilda" is trying to achieve a Friday Price for a Saturday "itinerary".

She refers to her "original" itinerary, but that would be the one confirmed by the airlines, NOT the one in her "notes".

It would seem here, to me, anyway, that Hilda confused the heck out of the reservations clerk. I know she had me confused before providing a few more details.

I, personally, believe that she was incredibly lucky that Northwesten was agreeable to changing her dates for ONLY the additional fare, with no fees for changing her reservations...

Anyone else?

Hilda.... Please do what Andrew and I suggested and MAIL A LETTER!! And don't hold your breath waiting for an answer to your e-mail (or your family will be traveling without you!) If you take the time to write the letter, maybe they will take you more seriously. Just be persistent. If they say "NO", then just keep going higher and higher until you get a "NO" from someone at the TOP. I'd give it at least 3 letters to the top before I'd give up.

You know, along with the "Confirmation Number", there are all those paragraphs the reservations agents recite to you during the booking process. And, I'm way sure the "tapes" would reveal same.

Yea, really good point, Monique. I'm sure that many airline employees are sitting at their desks thinking, "I'll just change the date to make sure my airline makes more money and I'm sure the customers won't notice that I've changed them to fly on Friday instead of Saturday." Yes, that makes a lot of sense.

I have followed this thread with interest and tried to resist jumping into the fray. Hilda, you sound like a very nice lady who is in a dilemma. However, I do think it's just as likely the mix-up was your fault as it was the airline's. That's why they are balking.

Initially you said they admit the error was theirs, but are charging you $200 per ticket anyway. After several people pointed out that this doesn't make sense, you admitted that the airlines are not applying a penalty, but that this is the cost of a Saturday-to-Saturday itinerary.

Although you made meticulous notes on your conversation, after some prodding, 37 posts later you admit that you also discussed a Friday-to-Friday itinerary, something you didn't mention in your original post. You requested info and reviewed flights, prices and times for both Friday and Saturday. Isn't it possible that you subconsciously and inadvertently confirmed for the wrong day?

Did you keep the confirmation e-mail? Does it indicate the date and time it was sent? If so, is it dated for Saturday, September 6 or Monday September 8? I know that dates and times of e-mails can be manipulated. If the e-mail is dated Saturday, September 6 the airline will claim they sent it timely, but that you didn't bother to retrieve it until Monday. But if the date and time on the confirmation e-mail is Monday, September 8, that could work in your favor.

I'm no fan of airlines and their punitive policies, but this is one time I don't think they are the bad guys. You have nothing to lose by pursuing some of the remedies that others have suggested, so I hope you continue to do so. Unfortunately, I think you may have to eat this one.

It's amazing!

Now we have the conspiracy theorists coming out.

The EVIL airlines are out to get us all!!!

Wow.....

I believe it's time to move on.
Have fun with this one folks!

There is not much a logical person could say after MoniqueU's post.

She wins!

Walkabout writes:
>However, I do think it's just as likely
>the mix-up was your fault as it was the
>airline's. That's why they are balking.

OK, so if, in your mind, it's equally likely to be her fault as it is theirs, they should just blame her and make her pay the change fee, eh? How about Northwest Airlines giving her the benefit of the doubt? Whatever happened to "The Customer Is Always Right"?

I don't quite get why a few of you are taking such an accusatory tone toward Hilda, who simply came asking for advice. If you read her posts carefully without jumping to conclusions, her story is consistent. If for some reason you don't believe her, why make such a stink about it?

Andrew

Before Hilda actually mentioned "Northwest", she stated that she flies the airline regularly. Therefore, she and her family must have a reasonable number of frequent flyer miles. Now, I'm not suggesting she dip into those miles to make the correction from Friday to Saturday flights, but if she is a good and loyal customer of Northwest, wouldn't someone in management be interested in that piece of information, and as a courtesy to her make the changes.

The longer Hilda waits to resolve this the less likely that there will be seats available on Saturday in the same class of service.

AAFrequentFlyer, you beat me to the punch with your conspiracy theory comment. One can only chuckle at the ludicrousness of some of the comments!
I also find it fascinating how people can strongly come to the defense of or soundly criticize someone whom they know nothing much about except what she posts!

Always always always get the name/ext# of the person taking your reservation. This will be important if problems arise later.
Don't waste your time writing a letter (just yet)and then sit around waiting for a reply..you most likely may not ever get one.
Go to the airport and speak to a Rep. for the airline...supervisor if possible.
Normally I fly w/ DL, but once I made a soft reservation w/ NW.
With NW, if you don't call to cancel a reservation after a certain amt. of days they charge you for the tickets...which I had never experienced w/ any other airline. Most of them cancel automatically if you don't call to book a reservation.
They actually charged 600$ to my card.
After calling/talking to the NW Rep.all charges were removed.
Maybe I got lucky, but apparently there are NW people willing to help.

Kiki...just curious..what is a "soft" reservations? And you gave the airline your credit card before you were ready to commit?? I would say that is a huge mistake.......just my opinion tho...

There is no reason to place blame regarding Hilda's dilemma. She needs to take the good advice given her by all of us and put it to use. It doesn't matter if she is partially to blame or not. If the airline wants to make it right, they will, she just might have to be persistent.

Hilda, I truly hope you get this resolved to your satisfaction.

And to those of you who wonder what happened to "The Customer is Always Right" apparently don't realize there are alot of people out there who actually DO fib about things to get refunds, freebies, etc. A salesperson told me once that someone actually wore a piece of underclothing and then returned it with the tag still on and said they hadn't worn it....YUCK!! There have also been times when I accused a store of not packing an item, and then found it at home later...oops. Nobody is infallible and anyone can make a mistake.

It's just a thought folks. I still have zero explanation as to why I was booked on the 10 am flight and my kids were booked on the 1 pm flight. I was specifically calling to book only the 1pm and flight and we even booked me a seat next to my children. It was a long reservation we went over it many times. And yet low and behold I was booked on a different flight. Why if as you said the reservations agent is sitting there in front of a screen reading information back to me that she has inputted did it happen to me as well? There never was any talk of any other flights other then the one my kids were on.
When I called back and asked what was going on and explained there was no way I would have asked to be on a different flight then my children and my MIL they seemed to understand the logic but still were rude to me, wouldn't pull the phone call and still charged me.
I have an rare last name so it was quite easy for her to verify I had 5 relatives on the next flight out.

And as for the airlines and the employees doing it intentionally well yes I do think it is possible. Most anything is.

Like I said, I'm used to dealing w/ DL.
NW told me they needed my card # to hold reservation.
What they did NOT tell me was that they would charge me for tickets if I failed to call and cancel.
Mistake on their part, not mine.
Problem solved because they were in the wrong.
Rep.even stated this problem has occured many times and NW was in the process of changing the policy.(Just what I was told)
Whether it's wise or not to give out a card# for reservation to airline,hotel or otherwise is for each individual to decide.
Good luck Hilda.

I want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and suggestions. I will followup on your good ideas. I am overwhelmed at the response and the time everyone spent reading these issues. Several people shared stories that are are similiar to mine. I am not infallible, I cannot be 100% certain of anything but I am over 99% certain I booked Saturday to Saturday flights from Ohio to Tampa at the preferred price. The agent did read the flight dates, days, times and price when she gave me the confirmation number. I am stupified as to what happened here. As far as using frequent flyer miles to correct this situation, I had a similiar thought as we have lots of banked miles. I will ask if I ever get to speak again to anyone at NWA. I do feel bad some individuals think I changed my story or commented on other topics I have posted on. My initial post was very short, I had no idea if anyone would even read it, much less respond. As time goes on, I have elaborated in response to questions raised. Thanks again.

Andrew: I do think there is a good possibility that the error was Hilda's based on the info she has given. That's not an accusation, simply an opinion. I do also, however, sympathize with her plight. That's why I suggested she continue to pursue the remedies you and others have suggested to her.

Hilda: I appreciate your frustration and I hope that you are able to resolve this satisfactorily. As I said in my first post, you sound like a nice lady who is in a dilemma. Good luck to you.

Well, Hilda, either you are absolutely certain of your "original itinerary" dates, days of the week, times, PRICE, or you're not. It would seem that you're not. I would guess that your notes are just not complete or detailed, and that you were shopping price, along with dates. Nothing wrong with that, except that you apparently confused the two. To be "99% certain" is just not the same as being absolutely positive that you knew what you were doing and confirmed same. It's just that "preferred" price pops up over and over again.

I, personally, think you should be grateful that Northwest is willing to change your tickets to your "original itinerary" dates at the going price, without charging you a fee for changing your tickets.

I know this post has been dead for a couple of days, but I checked flights for the dates you gave and found prices to be about the same as you originally had thought you purchased. Without knowing the airport you are flying from, I checked Cincy, Columbus, and Cleveland and found prices to range from $234 (on AA and Delta (n/s) in Columbus) to $238 in Cleveland and Cincy (including AA and NW, although most NW were $286).

So, not sure where the $420 price is coming from but the point is you should be able to work something out. If there actually was a mistake made on the booking by NW, then at the least you should be able to get a refund and book another airline if you want.

We all do make mistakes and some people do lie (gasp!). We can't tell for sure about Hilda's story, but we can make suggestions given our own experiences. Here's my long story:

I had a travel voucher from a refund to use toward a ticket within one year on Delta. I offered to take my niece with me ATL-BOS over a long weekend to visit colleges. I checked flights online for outbound late Thursday evening and Friday morning, preferring Friday, but willing to go on Thursday if big difference in fare (limited seats at discount price). I had to ticket in person because of voucher. I checked online and saw little availability on Friday, but open Thursday night. So I called phone reservations agent who told me she was new somewhere in the conversation (warning sign). We reviewed the dates/days of week and times I wanted to check and she was delighted to tell me after checking Thursday and Friday that two sale price seats were available on the Friday a.m. flight. I had written notes, confirmation number, and she read back the reservation (although I couldn't remember later if she said both day and date or just date--my mistake here for room for confusion). I booked and dropped by the Columbus, GA airport the next night to ticket. The counter agent started to ticket, then stopped midkeystroke to check in people for departing flight, then to handle problems. She must have started over four times. My two reservations made at one time were not linked in the system so she had to search separately. She tore up the first tickets she printed and started again (another warning sign). What I thought would be a 5-minute stop turned into an hour at the airport and I had to dash out and jump in the car to make a long drive that night. (My mistake not taking out my reading glasses and reviewing the printed tickets).

A few days later when my niece and I went to ATL, the gate agent said, these tickets were for yesterday, Thursday. Nothing to be done except pay walk-up fare and change fee or rebook for the next weekend. Got in line for customer service while calling discount airline on cellphone--same price. When I got to the agent and explained, saying we wanted to pay the fees and go on next available flight (we had appointments and my niece was practically in tears), the agent was puzzled. She said the reservations were still not linked and that my computer record showed Thursday and my niece's showed Friday on the flight that hadn't departed yet. So, she charged me one change fee and increased fare and sent us to catch the original flight.

Back to the gate--the plane is delayed at least an hour for mechanical problems. I took the opportunity to find a red jacket and ask him to look at the computer records and explain to me how this could happen--two tickets booked at same time by one person for same trip ending up on different days. He also said the reservations weren't linked, looked like one was changed but one was not, just couldn't believe I had booked them both and ticketed both at same time. Finally, saying it all just didn't make sense, he authorized a refund of my increased fare and change fee.

We were hours late into BOS and had to dash for an appointment, so that night before we went to hotel I went to airport ticket counter and made sure I got my refund before something else was changed in the computer record.

So, did I make mistakes and cause some of my own confusion by checking flights on two dates? Yes. Did I book two tickets departing on two different days? No. Did I let the problem grow by not taking the time to doublecheck what the one agent told me and what the other agent printed? Yes. I've never really figured out what happened. I think the initial reservations agent booked us on two different days and read back the one on the right day. My niece thinks the distracted agent actually changed one of the reservations when she was ticketing. I don't think the red coat had any idea, but I was so persistent yet polite that he thought it wasn't worth investigating or arguing.