Travel Troubleshooter: A missing reservation on United
He buys his airline ticket on United, but his flights are on US Airways and Air Canada. Or are they? When Michael Watanabe checks his reservation, he finds that half of his itinerary is missing without a trace. And United is telling him not to worry about it. But he's worried. What should he do? Michael Watanabe, Philadelphia startclickprintexclude--> Let's start with code sharing. For readers not familiar with airline-speak, a code-sharing flight is operated by one airline in partnership with another. Practically speaking, that meant you bought a United Airlines ticket but never flew on a United plane. Instead, two of your flights were on Air Canada and the other two were on US Airways. That makes perfect sense for an airline, because it doesn't have to operate as many flights, and can piggyback on a partner's plane. But it makes no sense for a passenger. I mean, it's a lot like ordering a Coke and getting a Pepsi. Code sharing is, as many industry critics have pointed out, fundamentally dishonest. And it also leads to problems like yours. Which brings me to call centers. Phoning an airline for this kind of problem is a terrible idea. Unless you tape the call (which is time-consuming and impractical) there's no record of what someone may or may not have told you. A letter or e-mail is far more useful, because it establishes a paper trail. A supervisor can promise to call back and get away with never doing it. But if the promise is in writing, you're much more difficult to blow off. Call centers are also troublesome because they're often outsourced to companies and staffed with people for whom English is a second language. Don't even get me started on that. While it is impossible to avoid code-sharing partnerships, you can stay away from the phone. Remember: e-mail or letters usually work best when you've got a problem with an airline. I contacted United on your behalf. A representative got in touch with you and explained that there was an "error in the United reservations computer speaking to the US Airways reservations computer" and they found your reservation. Have a great trip. |
