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Airline ticket switcheroo

October 6, 2003

Q: I shopped around for months to find a fare I could afford to fly my dad and his wife out to see their grandson. I got a great fare on United Airlines through Expedia and booked a ticket online.

Since then, things have gone downhill. I inadvertently used my stepmother’s nickname rather than the name on her ID and have had nothing but problems trying to get it fixed. United told me that she most likely would not be able to board the flight unless the name on her ticket matched the name on her ID exactly.

I contacted Expedia about changing the name and they told me that they couldn’t because of United. I called United and they pointed the finger back at Expedia. I talked to a supervisor at Expedia who noted in the reservation that they have no problem changing the name, and they contacted United, who refused to give them permission.

I called United back and spoke with a supervisor who told me I would have to cancel the first ticket and buy a new one under the new name, after paying a $100 penalty. I agreed. After talking to the ticket agent, and going through the motions, including giving my credit card number, she came back on the line and told me that I would have to do it at the airport, which is a 45 minute drive from here.

At that point, I just wanted to cancel the ticket and buy another one. That turned out to be even harder. United would charge me a penalty and offer me a credit for a future flight, but not give me my money back.

I understand that this is an error on my part, but I don’t know what to do next. Any suggestions?

– Melissa McCuiston

A: You’re not the only traveler who has booked a ticket that can’t be used. I get a lot of requests for help from readers who bought a ticket with a wrong name, wrong date or even the wrong destination. They want me to fix it when the carrier refuses to help.

Normally, when the tickets are bought online, it’s an open-and-shut case. I contact the carrier. It offers to show me records, including screen-shots, where you made your purchase, and there’s not much that can be done about it. You booked the tickets. They’re yours.

But this case was little different. First of all, the name on your stepmother’s ticket was very close to the name on her ID. It was inconceivable to a reasonable observer that anyone but your stepmother would be using the ticket.

You also acknowledged your error – something so few passengers do that when it happens, you really pay attention.

I contacted United with your problem, and it agreed that these were unusual circumstance. I emphasize this because I know the airline doesn’t want to get into the habit of changing ticket names for any passenger who asks, and I’m not able to handle every such request as a troubleshooter, either.

United says tickets must match IDs for safety reasons, which is why it gave you the runaround when you wanted to change your stepmother’s name. “We would let her on the plane,” an airline spokeswoman told me. “But there are security issues.”

I’m not going to argue with United about safety. But I asked the Transportation Security Administration – the federal agency responsible for airport security – what would happen if I showed up at a checkpoint with an ID and ticket that didn’t match. It told me that I’d be subjected to additional screening at the airport checkpoint, but allowed through.

So why do airlines insist that the ID and ticket match? If it isn’t a security consideration, then what is it?

United changed your stepmother’s ticket at no charge to you, which I think is extraordinarily generous, given the carrier’s stated policy. But I hope the airline considers changing its rules to be more flexible. I’ve always favored transferable airline tickets, which may not make sense for an airline’s revenues, but would be a customer-friendly rule that would go a long way to improving air travel.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

2 comments

  • Carver Farrow

    Airlines operate under rules that would be flatly illegal in most industries. It’s really a shame that we have been conditioned to accept terms in the conditions or carriage which have no legitimate economic purpose beyond extorting money from the traveling public.

    Some of the more ludicrous examples include

    Non-transferable tickets
    Forfeiture if you miss the flight and fail to call
    Fees for making a telephonic reservation when there are no other alternatives

  • Tim Williams

    Mr. Christopher Elliott:

    I read an article of yours, that reminded me of a recent problem we experienced, and thought maybe you may be able to help or have some advice for us.

    I’m going to paste a copy of what I sent to the online travel agency and their response, which I also sent on to the two airlines involved. I also called British Airways and NWA customer service, to ask them to help resolve this. BA responded (I’ve included that also) NWA has not.

    This is what I wrote to the online ticketing agency Vayama.
    ________________________________________

    I am wanting some type of restitution for what appears to have been a mishandle reservation. I have spoken with Kate a supervisor at your business, who said it was a British Airways issue and that Vayama was not at fault.
    I called BA and spoke with Denise and after reviewing the situation, she said it was Vayama’s issue because they had not properly made a reservation that linked the fights. She pointed out that the flight from MSP to ORD using NWA was the booking agent’s responsibility to have it linked and entered correctly. BA is partnered with American Airlines and would have used them for that portion of the trip had they booked the trip.

    Here is a description, of the situation. We arrived at MSP at 2:30 and when attempting to check in using the NWA reservation number ORRL8P it wouldn’t work and we were sent to the NWA ticketing counter. The Ticketing counter personal said there is a reservation, but no ticket issued, we called Vayama and explained the situation to the agent, he gave us basically the two numbers NFH97W and ORRL8P to try to check in. After attempting to check-in again, I called Vayama again and was able to get the ticket numbers 1257564097647 and 1257564097649 which when given to the check-in person, this still didn’t allow them to issue a ticket/boarding pass. We returned to the ticketing counter (this whole time I have stayed connected on the phone to the Vayama supervisor) they attempted to use the ticket numbers, but were still unable to issue a ticket. They commented that the ticket was BA stock and there was a missing link between this flight and the rest of the flights. The NWA personally called BA to help resolve this, but was put on hold for 45 minutes. During this hold time, the NWA agent found a way to manually link the ticket, but by this time the flight to ORD had been missed.
    The NWA agent said they could book us on a later flight to ORD, but the BA fights would also need to change, he called BA to see if this could be arranged, he spoke with a BA agent by the name of Mary Ann, she was able to get them on the later flight, but there was a surcharge of $309 for each ticket.
    This additional $618 is what I want refunded, it was a booking problem on your part that cause the delay, which then cause the need to change flights.
    I would expect you to review what the mistake was, why it happened and to refund the $618. I hope this helps your company to prevent this from happening again to other customers. I would only recommend the use of Vayama to others if you resolve this by getting to the bottom of the problem and correcting the mistake.

    Please respond to this e-mail address or you may call me at 320-212-4687.

    Your quick response would be appreciated.

    Dear Tim,

    Thank you for choosing vayama.

    I did forward this information, as well as your booking, on to our Rate Desk and Escalation Department for review. We were able to determine that this mistake was not an issue caused by vayama. However, because both airlines are stating otherwise and are not accepting any type of responsibility, we need some sort of explanation in writing from Northwest Airlines indicating that there was a problem with the ticket while checking in.

    In the e-mail you sent to us, you stated that the Northwest agent found a way to manually link the ticket, but by this time the flight to Chicago had already been missed. This appears as though the check-in agent didn’t really know how to handle this type of ticket and that the ticket was valid, as they were able to check you in after some time.

    Also, can you confirm if you were able to check-in online for the Northwest flight or attempted to? When I go to their website, it does show confirmed and ticketed there as welll. So, for Northwest to say it is not valid would be incorrect.

    I see that when we were contacted via phone we were able to give you your ticket numbers over the phone. At that time, Northwest was able to access your reservation and confirm you on the next flight. Because of their delay, it resulted in you missing your British Airways flights. Northwest should have been responsible for protecting you to your final destination or at least working with British Airways to prevent you from having to pay anything because of their inability to check you in our access your booking.

    In addition, the information that British Airways gave about how vayama shouldn’t have issued the ticket with a Northwest flight is inaccurate. This is a valid combination of airlines that we are able to ticket and would not have anything to do with problems checking in. It is true that they may have preferred American Airlines as the carrier, however that would not negate or make the ticket you purchased invalid.

    If you are able to obtain something from Northwest Airlines stating there was a problem at check-in as a result of negligence on our part, etc. we can continue to research this further. If not, it seems as though this error was made by that airline directly and I would submit a claim with their Customer Relations Department for reimbursement.

    Let me know if you have additional questions.

    Sincerely,

    Jessica S

    Dear Mr Williams

    Thank you for taking the time to speak with me on Friday.

    I am sorry that both of your sons were not able to travel as planned and I apologize for any inconvenince that was caused.

    I was able to investigate your claim. Although I am not able to determine what prevented the information from being transmitted from the travel representative, and while neither computers, nor booking agents are perfect sometimes mistakes do sometimes occur. For these reasons, it is the booking agent’s responsibility to assure booking details are correct and accurate, to avoid a situation such as your son’s experienced.

    While I do regret your family’s experience, I am not able to refund the additional collection that was correctly charged. I hope this will not affect your decision to fly with us in the future.
    Thank you for giving me the opportunity to investigate your claim and to respond to you personally.
    Sincerely
    George Chandler
    British Airways Customer Relations
    Your case reference is:7538223
    Please do not reply directly to this email as direct replies are sent to an unmonitored mailbox and cannot be actioned. Please use the link in ‘How To Contact Us’ below to reply to Customer Relations
    **************************
    HOW TO CONTACT US
    **************************
    While we endeavour to offer you as full a service as possible, we are unable to respond to direct replies to this email.
    If you have a particular query with regard to this case, please click on the link below to submit a reply to British Airways Customer Relations:
    http://www.britishairways.com/travel/webforms/public/en_gb?eId=120001&wfpId=custrelreplies&case=7538223
    Please quote your case reference 7538223 in any correspondence with us.
    However, if you have a general query about British Airways, you can ask your question online. Click on the link below to go to ‘Your questions’:
    http://ba.com/askba

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