Can this trip be saved? Southwest Vacations mailed my paper tickets to the wrong address

Mistakes were made when Tushar Advani booked his Southwest Vacations trip from Chicago to Las Vegas. He admits he accidentally entered the wrong address — a simple typo that resulted in the paper tickets being sent to the wrong apartment.

Wait a second, did I just say paper tickets? What is this, 1995?

Yes, I did — and no, it’s not.

Anyway, none of that should have mattered because Southwest Vacations and its agency, Mark Travel didn’t exactly follow their own procedures, either. I’ll get to the details in a minute.

But this case raises some interesting issues, including what should happen when both parties make a mistake during a transaction. Who shoulders the blame?

After Advani finished the reservation, he had no reason to believe he’d made a mistake. He picks up the story:

As per the confirmation email we were supposed to receive paper tickets to the credit card billing address.

I did not realize I had entered an incorrect apartment number until several days before my flight. (Instead of apartment 813, I entered 913). The tickets were wrongly delivered to the resident of apartment 913, he returned it back to the concierge, and she mailed it back to Southwest Vacations.

Southwest Vacations has not received the tickets back in the mail yet.

We took our credit card statement, the printout of the reservation confirmation number and our photo IDs [to the airport] this morning and in spite of our names on the reservation, since we did not have the paper tickets we could not board the flight as we did not have the paper tickets.

We called to speak with the agent and the supervisor of Mark Travel but they kept insisting that we will not be allowed to board the flight, and that we had to repurchase the tickets.

I understand that I made a mistake in the first place by putting in the wrong apartment number, and I also realize I should have checked to see the nonarrival of the paper tickets earlier than three days before the trip. The problem I have with Mark Travel is that they say in their confirmation email “Travel documents including flight tickets for your vacation will be mailed to your credit card billing address …” why were the tickets not mailed to the credit card billing address?

Secondly, if the tickets were so important, why were they mailed in regular mail? And why did the email not mention that the mailing address that the tickets were being sent to?

In these days of travel, when boarding passes are paperless, it seems antiquated to ask for paper tickets, and then having charged my credit card and having our names on the reservation, but not allowing us to board the plane is reason enough for anyone to get mad.

He’s got a good point. The airline industry bid farewell to paper tickets back in 2008. I can’t think of a good reason why Mark Travel or Southwest Airlines would be using them, let alone sending them by regular mail.

Also, if Mark Travel promised to send the tickets to Advani’s mailing address, then why didn’t it?

Then again, Advani shouldn’t have entered the wrong apartment address, and as he notes, he shouldn’t have waited until only a few days before his flight before making inquiries about the missing tickets.

Should he go through the missing ticket paperwork as punishment for the typo, or does Southwest Airlines and Mark Travel share the responsibility for this problem?

In a survey of 600 readers this morning, a majority (just over 80 percent) said I should mediate. I will.

  • David Z

    Out of curiosity, I went to Southwest Airlines’ site and pretended to book a vacation. At what seems to be the second to the last page, it’s asking for the credit card details.

    Unlike some travel agency sites I notice, theirs doesn’t ask if the ticket should be mailed to a different address. So…I’d assume Mr. Advani indeed put in 913 instead of 813.

    Rather surprised Southwest Airlines’ system didn’t reject the transaction by indicating that wrong address number. But if Mr. Advani’s card company’s system didn’t tell Southwest Airlines that, then…I guess it really went through with no hitches.

    Just based on those observations for now, I’d say Mark Travel and Southwest Airlines did what their site and email indicated about mailing the tickets to the credit card billing address.

    As to why they did paper instead of electronic tickets, I don’t have enough info I’m aware of to comment on that…except to speculate that there probably isn’t any “penalty” or “incentive” to do e-tickets or else.

  • OTC

    I voted no, Mr. Advani admitted making several mistakes during and after the booking process, and he could have averted most of the problems by asking the resident in the other apartment if they could pass along his tickets when they recieved them.

  • John

    I voted No simply because of how you phrased the question. The Vacation company has a process to go through when tickets don’t arrive. Going through that process is not “punishment” as you worded in your question.
    There were lot’s of mistakes on the OP part on this one: Typed in the wrong address, their building returned mail addressed to them, failed to inform the travel company of an issue in a timely manner.
    The only mistake I see the travel company making is sending the tickets to the address indicated (one note on credit card address verification. It doesn’t check every part of the address but just certain key parts. I checked with my processor and this typo would have gone through the system and come back as a valid billing address since they don’t check apt number).

    They post doesn’t indicate what the end result of what Mark Travel wanted the OP to do or what he was looking for you to do. Without that information, its hard to know what you need to mediate. People forget in the days of e-tickets that paper tickets have a value. You have to have the physical ticket to get on the plane (just like you’re not getting in the stadium without a concert ticket no matter what documentation you bring).

  • MikeS

    Mr. Advani can feel free to stiff the stupid concierge when it comes time for a tip. When the resident of #913 gave him the tickets, didn’t he notice the name on the address looked really familiar? He also could have saved the day with a simple phone call to Mr. Advani to come pick up the tickets.

  • http://www.sanibel-rentals.net Sylvia

    I voted yes. Yes, Mr. Advani made an error (and, I suspect, so did the concierge at this apartment building…regardless of incorrect apartment number, wasn’t Advani’s name on the envelope?)

    But in this day and age Soutwest and the agency should have had a fall back position. What if they had simply lost or had their tickets stolen on the way to the airport. Then what?

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    “I did not realize I had entered an incorrect apartment number until several days before my flight.”
    - – - – - – - – - -
    Why didn’t he called Southwest\Southwest Vacations\Mark Travel at that time to report that he had entered an incorrect apartment number instead of showing up at the airport with his credit card statement, the printout of the reservation confirmation number and thier photo IDs?

    “Secondly, if the tickets were so important, why were they mailed in regular mail?”
    - – - – - – - -
    In the past when I have received paper tickets, they were sent by mail unless my flight was less than a week away. Even if the tickets were sent by an overnight service via FedEx, UPS or USPS or by certified or registered mail by USPS, the delivery person would have knocked on apt # 913.

  • Teresa

    There are a few things we don’t know here that might have a bearing on Chris’s decision. Principally how long in advance the OP booked the tickets. Also how sure the concierge is that the tickets were returned.

    Another idle question: Didn’t the ticket envelope have the OP’s name on them? What kind of concierge would return mail to sender without looking to see if the recipient simply lived elsewhere in the building? Or is it a REALLY big building?

    Too bad Southwest and the OP weren’t able to work out a compromise solution before the trip to the airport.

  • David Z

    I forgot to include this, Chris: that paper ticket to e-ticket movement was because of IATA. I checked their site and it seems Southwest isn’t a member:

    http://www.iata.org/membership/Pages/airline_members_list.aspx?All=true

    Thus, they’re not bound to IATA’s policies and are free to do their own. Coupled with Southwest still in their old reservation system which (I think) they’re not “immediately” prioritizing in their recent earnings call, and that might explain why they’re not “completely” e-ticketing yet.

  • Leslie

    The minute any travel agency told me they would send me paper tickets for a trip, I would have hightailed it in the other direction!

    Mr. Advani shouldn’t have waited until the last minute to figure out where his tickets were at, and I think this is an appropriate consequence. I’m sure the lesson will be learned very quickly.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    “he shouldn’t have waited until only a few days before his flight before making inquiries about the missing tickets.”
    - – - – - – -
    Did he called Southwest\Southwest Vacation\MarK Travel a few days before his flight? Nothing was stated in the article that he did or what was the outcome of that phone call. If he did called, he would have probably been told that he needed these paper tickets. More importantly, he would have said that he hasn’t received his tickets yet and it is my guess that the original tickets would have been voided, new tickets issued and would have been overnighted to him.

    Based upon the comments that David Z wrote since he actually went to the Southwest Vacations webpage, I don’t see where Southwest\Southwest Vacations\Mark Travel made a mistake.

  • Susan

    Note that Southwest Vacations is NOT owned by Southwest Airlines. SWA needs the paper tickets in order to get paid by SWV for the flights.

    The client entered the wrong apt number, the concierge didn’t catch it (in their defense, how many apartments are in that building? are they expected to catch every misdelivered piece of mail?), Mark Travel is not at fault.

    Question though, if SWA was not paid by SWV for the flights, can (will) Mark Travel consider a future travel credit?

  • Carver

    I voted yes. Primarily because I am very troubled by the travel agency using paper tickets. Domestic paper tickets have gone the way of the dodo and dinosaurs. Accordingly in the e-ticket world travelers have expectations that are not consistent with the use of paper tickets. For example, I arrive at the airport with my two empty hands and photo ID and I’ll get a boarding pass. And if I lose the boarding pass after check-in, I can get another one reprinted without any hassle whatsoever. In fact, I can even get an electronic boarding pass on some phones.

    These are the expectations of travelers in 2010. Keeping track of paper tickets is generally no longer part of the domestic travel experience.

    Given that the OP knew that his credit card had been charged, he assumed that the tickets could be reissued at the airport. I think that’s a reasonable assumption.

  • Christophe

    I’m surprised that an airline cannot issue a duplicate paper ticket at check-in if the ticket was paid for and the reservation existed in their system ! But I’m not even sure the question was brought to their attention !!!
    It seems to me that the travel agency is less than helpful in resolving the issue and wanted to pocket the cash from a second reservation !
    So yes, you should take the case !

  • David Z

    @Carver

    I heard one ought not to assume because it tends to make an ass- of -u- and -me. :)

    Then again, Southwest Airlines’ site did indicate what to expect prior to purchase, didn’t it? We can reasonably assume whatever we think is reasonable, but…having assumptions, expectations, etc. that’s not exactly founded on tangible reality tends to create issues like this, no?

    One could essentially blame Mark Travel or Southwest Airlines for whatever perceived wrong here. But…they did what they so-called advertised, didn’t they?

    While it’s a good customer service move to bend their rules, one draws the line somewhere. Apparently this is where they draw theirs.

  • Bill

    yes, the passenger and the concierge made some errors. However, the difference between 1980, when they always made you buy a new ticket, and now is that they check ID, so the chances of someone using a “lost” ticket should fall entirely upon the airline. with modern computer systems, it is also easy to prevent someone from stealing them and getting a refund. Paper tickets should be replaced for a reasonable processing fee.

    The old argument of someone else using or getting them refunded is moot.

  • Tom

    This is another story about people who lack the skills to use the Internet. Put in the wrong date, the wrong destination, the wrong address, the wrong name etc. and you are in for big trouble. If you aren’t good at using the Internet and aren’t good at proofreading what you type into the computer, you really need to use a travel agent. Sure, the websites are powerful, quick and efficient, but many people don’t have the skills are the brainpower to use them. Plenty of people use the Internet who have very low skills. Until somebody invents a computer program to protect people from themselves, they really shouldn’t use the computer to make irreversable purchases. Earlier I mentioned people in their 80s as one catagory of folks who may need to be supervised on the Internet. I wonder if somebody with the first name of Tushar has limited English abilities?

  • Aaron

    I voted yes. Okay, Mr. Advani made a lot of mistakes… but he did pay for his ticket, and in this age of computers, it seems amazing that the airline couldn’t verify his ID and reprint his ticket at the airport, and that his travel agent was so unwilling to help.

  • Kyle

    Wow, tough crowd; One typo and you have to buy new tickets. That sems pretty harsh to me. There must have been something that they could have done to void the old tickets and issue new ones. I voted yes.

  • Carver

    @David Z

    I beg to differ. In everyday life, one must make assumptions based upon prior dealings and common experiences. To do otherwise would be to create havoc and confusion resulting in fear and trepidation.

    To reiterate my point. Mark Travel should not have issued paper tickets. Mark Travel unnecessarily complicated the OPs life, for no discernable benefit to the OP.

    Paper tickets for domestic travel is almost non-existent. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that Mark Travel receives some benefit by issueing paper tickets. That’s what troubles me about this entire transaction

  • Abhi

    I voted YES because this is where Chris comes in the picture. This is the other side of the ‘fat finger’ discussions that we have had on this blog. OP made an honest mistake. He did not try to bend or break any rules. He did not try to take anyone else’s money or undue concessions. He paid for tickets in full. If the system can not get him what he purchased, he needs help to resolve the issue, from someone who has the ability to do so, a.k.a. Chris. Southwest airlines customer service should have been able to help OP with a better solution than just making him purchase another set of tickets, especially when it didn’t cost them a buck (a quarter may be based upon printing costs). That’s not customer service, that’s bureaucracy and red tape type of service.

    I see a lot of misleading conclusions on here saying OP made a lot of mistakes. Technically, the only mistake he made was hit 9 instead of 8 when typing his apartment number. The rest of the so called mistakes are only recommended practice type of follow ups.

    As many people who would trumpet their typing and proofreading skills, can look back and find that they too have made typos. Only the effects have different magnitudes. Just reading this blog would show you a lot of typos and grammatical mistakes. To conclude about one’s ability to use computer and internet efficiently based upon a typographical error would be a gross injustice done by an inconsiderate mind.

  • Raven

    I voted yes simply because I’m troubled by the issue of the paper tickets. Why is ANYONE using paper tickets???

  • Carver

    @Tom

    Your post implies that you have achieved perfection. You do notmake mistakes or even simple typos. However, people living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. You typed:

    “many people don’t have the skills are the brainpower to use them” misusing ARE for OR.

    –and

    “they really shouldn’t use the computer to make irreversable purchases” misspelling irreversible.

    Both are grade school errors.

    Does that mean that you lack the brainpower to use the internet?

    With regards to the OPs name, I don’t know where you live, but one’s name presents no information whatsoever about one’s English proficiency.

  • barbie45

    I vote yes. The travel agent method of paper tickets is obsolete. True the OP made an error but the tickets could have been reissued.

  • David Z

    @Tom

    I doubt a travel agent is really needed for this since Mr. Advani inadvertently input the wrong address number. After all, both a travel agent and Mr. Advani are human.

    To err is human, no? Too bad to forgive isn’t always divine.

    (Geez, I’m on sayings mode today…)

  • Brian C

    I personaly blame the concierge. I live in a concierge building and our concierge knows every owner on a first name basis. How could the concierge get the package and send it back and NOT look at the name on the address label and put it together with another resident? If a package is delivered and has the wrong recipient wouldn’t you think, “hey maybe this belongs to someone else in the building”?

    That aside, I say mediate…any company still sending out Paper Tickets deserves to take the blame when there’s an address discrepancy.

  • sally

    The concierge, cannot take much of the blame, however, that was the last point at which the tickets could have been saved. He should not have been so quick to return the tickets and there is no defending his action. I would be furious, misdirected mail is sometimes a serious matter and easily correctable.
    I think Mr. Advani should just file the missing ticket claim.
    Four mistakes. Murphy’s Law to the max.

  • Teresa

    @Carver — Hear, hear. Your response to Tom is right on.

    Ultimately, the OP paid for the tickets, and they simply got lost on the way to him, though he does bear some of the responsibility for that. It is awfully harsh to make him bear the entire burden of the tickets’ disappearance and to refuse to provide the service he paid for. It would seem like something could and should have been worked out. The only question I still have is about the events timeline here and whether he was proactive enough in trying to resolve the problem.

  • Chicky

    Yeah, the concierge should have known who this guy was, and should have delivered the package, no doubt. I voted yes because the OP isn’t trying to get something to which he isn’t entitled, or something he didn’t pay for. His travel agency basically refused to work with him, and that’s not his fault. Yes, he made some missteps, but of the kind most of us have made. And, as other posters have noted: paper tickets? For real? Good grief.

  • http://Dorothy4mkay@msn.com Sasha

    While it is easy to mistype a address by one number, I think the real mistake was for the op not to keep a very close eye out for the tickets and when he did not receive them in an timely manner, he had , I think, the responsibility to find out why.

  • Joe Farrell

    The real question here is why the concierge in your building did not know who you were . . . . I mean – someone sends you something addressed to the correct name and address with the difference being Apt 913 instead of 813 – your concierge has the mail turned into him – and he does what with it? He sends it back. S/He does not check to see if perhaps someone else in the building with the same address – thats what gets me. Whats the point of the concierge service?

    This is one of those incredibly stupid bureaucratic issues where someone says they cannot when the issue is that they WILL not.

    As for credit card address matching? The AVS system matches three NUMBERS – street number in the address, zip code and CVV code on the back – they do not match apartment or box numbers -

  • VJ

    @Tom

    Identifying the English language abilities based on a person’s name is mean and offensive. By the way, you should learn to proofread your own comments as well. Here is what you wrote : “Sure, the websites are powerful, quick and efficient, but many people don’t have the skills are the brainpower to use them.” It just goes to show that typos are very common and happens to every one once in a while.

  • Susan

    Southwest Vacations and Southwest Airlines are not the same company. Southwest Vacations sells vacation packages that include an air ticket on Southwest Airlines, along with a packged hotel room or car rental, etc. Southwest Airlines is not responsible at the airport for providing new boarding passes or air tickets for the passenger(s) since the initial air tickets were not purchased directly from the airline.

  • flutiefan

    I’m not reading all the responses on here (lack of time), but having a roomie who worked for SWA allows me an “insider’s view”. SWA does not own Southwest Vacations, they are contracted out. There is a push for Mark Travel Corp to move to e-tickets out of convenience, but the way the tickets are packaged & priced currently prohibits this. Every package is personalized and therefore the tickets themselves don’t necessarily have the same value.
    Aside from that, yes, it is clearly stated that the traveler will receive paper tickets. They even say to contact SWVacations/Mark Travel if you haven’t received them. Not very hard to do. At that point, SWV/MT will either overnight new paper tickets or they will add notes to the reservation with instructions for the ticket counter agent to process the tickets. They are very reasonable and flexible…but you gotta follow directions, people.
    You cannot just show up to the airport with your “proof” that you have tickets. I don’t show up at a Broadway play box-office with my Visa statement and demand they let me in, even though I don’t have hard-tickets with me. It doesn’t work like that.
    In addition, the counter agent cannot simply issue a boarding pass off of a reservation that is flagged as “Ticketed”. That’s not how their system works, and the agent would get fired for doing so. That paper ticket has a value to SWA, and they don’t get paid if they don’t turn it into SWV/MT. It’s not bureaucratic and it’s not an issue of “could but wouldn’t”. And don’t get me started that “people can’t use other people’s tickets nowadays.” They can and they do. I will not print how it’s done, but believe me it is. So an accountable document like a paper ticket is just that…an accountable document.

    I’d have voted NO simply because the OP didn’t take the time to contact anyone, and just showed up expecting something. He made the original mistake, he should’ve been the one to take steps to correct it.

  • Carver

    @Susan

    Perhaps. Perhaps not. That would really depend upon the relationship between Southwest and Southwest vacations and hot they held themselves out. We don’t have enough information to make such a determination.

  • David Z

    @Carver

    Well, we’ve just seen here what can also happen when one makes an assumption based on previous experience. Especially when it comes to travel, things can rather change.

    While SWA/MT “shouldn’t” issue paper tickets, they did state as upfront and clear as possible what to expect. Obviously one ought not to use that service if they don’t find it agreeable.

    A potential problem I’ve noticed is when one experiences a company do something in a certain manner, they tend to expect a competitor to do it in a similar or same way. Then they tend complain if things don’t happen the way they probably expected, even if that competitor or so did state how they do things their way.

    And as flutiefan later commented that I also overlooked when I tested SWA’s site yesterday, they also stated to contact them if the tickets haven’t been received. Mr. Advani’s “assumption” of taking his card statement, confirmation printout and IDs (unfortunately) didn’t help him and later lead to all this, even though all that was arguably avoidable.

    If I were to suggest how to handle something like this in the future, I would say to simply…ask. Because if they won’t, who will?

    At any rate, I wish Chris and Mr. Advani good luck and hope this gets resolved somehow.

  • Geoff

    NO NO NO NO NO. He screwed up and needs to pay the consequences. Travel agents don’t make that kind of error. I use my address that automatically popultes correctly. Quit messing arround with computersa dn deal with humans. ASTA travel agents are smarter than you!

  • Preston McKinney

    Southwest Vacations still issues paper tickets and mails them to either the travel agent or client depending how the trip was booked. If the client would had used a travel agent, he would have been told that paper tickets would have been issued and the travel agent would have been able to assist him on lost tickets better than trying to deal directly with Mark Travel. This just shows the value of the travel agent for a trip that cost exactly the same if you use a travel agent instead of thinking you can save money by booking direct.

  • David Z

    @Geoff & Preston

    Search through Chris’ blog, and you’ll find various examples of travel agents who (unfortunately) screwed up their clients’ bookings.

  • Yoyoyo

    Your concierge is no better than a monkey.  Is your rent somewhat inflated above market rate to justify paying this monkey’s salary?  If so, I would move immediately.

  • Anonymous

    We experienced a double booking due to misinformation provided by Southwest Airlines and Southwest Vacations.  Five months later, the issue remains unresolved.  Although Southwest Airlines has tried to help, Southwest Vacations has been completely uncooperative and their representatives have often been rude.  We will never use Mark Travel or Southwest Vacations again.