When a flight’s canceled, who’s responsible?

July 13, 2012

Question: I booked a ticket on United Airlines through Cheaptickets.com from Washington to Colorado Springs, Colo., recently. My reservation even appeared on the United Airlines website (I’m an elite-level customer on United).

All’s good, right? Five days before my flight, I checked and the reservation was gone. I went to Cheaptickets and the website had a note that my reservation was canceled. No notification — nothing.

I called Cheaptickets and a representative told me that United had declined to issue a ticket and the reservation was canceled. The original fare was $595, and now it’s $1,246. Cheaptickets is offering a refund only. I think they should honor my reservation.

Have you heard of this happening? What should I do? — John Rutledge, Washington

Answer: This looks like an accidental flight cancellation, a problem I’ve seen a time or two. But the question is, whose accident was it? Did you push the wrong button, did your airline, or did your online agency?

I’m inclined to rule you out. You’re a frequent flier on United, so it’s unlikely you would have accidentally canceled your reservation. That leaves the airline and your online travel agency.

Given that Cheaptickets offered a full refund, I’m guessing something happened on its end. Normally, the rules are pretty strict when you cancel a ticket a few days before your flight, so for an online agency to offer a full refund probably means there was some kind of glitch that caused your ticket to be voided.

The right thing to do, under those circumstances, is to work with the airline to honor your itinerary — even if it means your agency has to rebook the ticket at a higher fare. A refund will just make it your problem. And it isn’t your problem.

I can think of several ways you might have resolved this after the sudden cancellation. You could have appealed directly to United or sent a brief, polite email to a manager at Cheaptickets or Orbitz (both are owned by the same parent company). You can find links to all of the names and numbers on my customer service wiki, On Your Side.

I don’t think you should have to pay an extra $651 for a flight that’s already been confirmed. I contacted Cheaptickets on your behalf, and it apologized for the cancellation and rebooked your ticket at no extra cost to you.

bodega3

What do you need explained?
sershev

Doesn’t make any difference:
Step 1. I go to OTA website, make reservation.
Step 2. OTA requests credit card authorization, sends communication to airline (or ARC) computer system and creates confirmation number.
Step 3. Whoever (Airline, ARC or travel agent or computer program) issues tickets and charges credit card.
If there is a glitch between step 2 and 3, which can be due to a bank’s issue, the reservation could be cancelled.
bodega3

The OTA doesn’t request an authorize to get a confirmation number.

The internet is a dangerous thing. People who use it to buy airlines tickets don’t know how all this really works as you are using a mask. What you see on the screen could change when the actual reservation on the agency’s computer handles the issue. They then have to contact you, but what you see on the screen isn’t live.
sershev

Exactly, if you issue a ticket on behalf on the airlines, it means you have their permission to do so. The point is to make a reservation and to issue ticket are two separate steps of the process. If the tickets are not issued in timely manner the reservation is subject to cancellation and even if it is not cancelled you will not be able to take flight.
sershev

Usually there is a statement Fares are not guaranteed unless ticketed. However, it does. I am in long distance relationship and we fly every weekend. I always try to put on hold and wait till next day to see if price changes or a better flight availability etc. Often when I have reservation on hold next day the price goes up, I just pay what it was at the time it is created. Even if I am unable to put on hold, I always check next day because of 24 hr risk free cancellation in case a better option is available next day.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_HMW3OTJSBDWWRKIEKEKWWM7BEA bc

What I don’t understand if you’re an elite with UAL (as am I) why the heck would you not book directly on the carrier’s website? I’ve used sites like orbitz and travelocity to find the cheapest ticket but then I book directly at the carrier’s website. It avoids issues like this.

I’m wondering if the low fare was misquoted by someone which ultimately resulted in the reservation not being honored.

Either way, safest bet is to book directly with the carrier.
Adam_The_Man

Another Scam! The person should have gotten the ticket when they called and not had to call someone to help them. They were trying to rip this person off as usual.
TonyA_says

One more time, this time in bold…
Can anyone tell me if the OTA really issued e-tickets when and if it sent the customer the confirmation letter (if it did at all) ?.

You cannot begin to investigate this without knowing this plain and simple fact.
Also you might have noticed the OP never claimed that his credit card was charged anything at all . Even if the OP says the OTA is offering a full refund, I want to make sure his credit card was charged in the first place. All he is saying is that the *new* ticket would cost $651 more.

If OTA got his money (charged the card) then the OTA is responsible for producing the ticket.

Note it is possible that e-tickets were issued by the OTA but the transmission of TKNE got screwed up. If this happened, the airline would not see that the reservation was ticketed and will cancel it after 24 hours. The OTA can blame the GDS for transmission issues and try to make the GDS company eat the cost difference of the ticket.

So, Chris would you kindly get more facts, please …
Tony
TonyA_says

You are missing another step – Step 4.
TKNE transmissions.
Eros Hermes

I think we need more information.
Why was the OP’s itinerary cancelled? Did UA cancel OP’s ticket because maybe the OP jumped on an error fare and is now expecting UA to honour it?
Otherwise, whoever cancelled it without *just* reason should be responsible.
TonyA_says

The fare looks fine. Well within UA’s W-class fare for WAS-COS.
WASCOS-UA 13JUL12 $$ AA DL F9 US
US TAXES VARY / SEG/PFC CHARGES MAY APPLY
LINE FARE   RT   FARE TRAVEL DATES TKT DTE RTG AP MIN/   BKG
NBR CODE   OW    USD   EFF    DISC FST/LST NBR DT    MAX CDE
1 SE21SCN R 468.00 20APR2   -       -     815 ## SU/ - S
2 WE143CN R 536.00 20APR2   -       -     815 ## V/ - W
3 WR7CN    R 562.00 25APR2   -       -     815 ## – / - W

Don’t think that is the problem. Must be something else.
Joel Wechsler

This is not technically accurate, at least with respect to bricks and mortar agencies. When a ticket is charged to a credit card, the money is collected by the card issuer and remitted to the airline in question which will in turn pay it to ARC as part of their settlement of what is owed back and froth. The charge on the credit card statement will show the airline as the entity which made the charge. I dion’t know how this works with the OTAs but I assume it’s the same.
sershev

For my upcoming travel I purchased ticket on expedia for travel on A3. Aegean cancelled flight. Expedia contacted me and gave two options: full refund or travel next day. I declined because if I get refund I need to buy a new ticket which is more $$ now, can’t travel next day due to a risk for international flight misconnect. I asked expedia to rebook with LH. They declined. I called Aegean they re-issued tickets and put us on LH flight. Aegean air and lufthansa websites both display new tickets and new itinerary. Expedia still listing a cancelled flight. I called expedia they confirmed new tickets has been issued but said the airline took over control of the reservation.
TonyA_says

Ha? Why do we need ARC for as agents? ARC is the USA settlement for all travel agents. If I sell a ticket for cash, who collects money in my bank account – ARC, correct ??? Isn’t that what happens on Tuesdays???
sershev

Could it be a bank issue? We all agreed tickets are issued some time (from seconds to hours or even days) after the reservation is created. When the ticket are issued the payment is settled. If there is a bank computer glitch the payment is not received and reservation si cancelled.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_EUTS4TUFMGQZAZLOWGCYXX7D6E Roger M

My thoughts exactly! I always book through united.com.
bodega3

Booking directly with the carrier, they can issue those tickets any time. It is their product and they can override the system.

Tickets issued through a OTA or brick and mortar agency, the credit card company issues us an approval code, the amount is held against the card, but the settlement doesn’t happen until ARC gets the report and takes care of it on their end.
bodega3

No, Expedia can’t do what you were asking as in an exchange. They can cancel, put in for the refund, then start from scratch with LH. My hands were have been tied on this too. What the carrier can do is up to them as it is their product.
TonyA_says

With all due respect, you need to stop speculating and go by the book.

We know a reservation was created. He saw it on the carriers site.
Do we know if an e-ticket was issued from the OTA’s side. If so what is it?
If no e-tickets were issued, did the OTA or ARC still charge the OP’s credit card?
If e-tickets were issued, were TKNEs transmitted back to the airline(s).
Finally, if TKNEs were transmitted and recorded by the airline, who actually cancelled the reservation?

There is a very strict process agencies go through. No need to speculate. Let’s just get the facts from Elliott.
TonyA_says

Very good observation. Lots of elite folks are active members of FT and MP and are very good at gaming (or tricking) the system.

If you look at UA’s fare structure for WAS-COS, the cheaper fares ($5xx) require at least 7-day advanced purchase. I have seen OTAs make a number of errors with ADV requirements and fare classes probably because they CACHE their flights like a vending machine. It’s possible they missed a validation step (ie autotprice) right after you click Select and Buy.

It would be interesting to know when he actually bought the “ticket” and how far away it was prior to departure. But I am with you, why would an ELITE buy from cheapticket? UA online should be the same price since this is a published fare.
TonyA_says

It is possible the OTA is selling a 7-day adv fare with less than 7 days prior. That would be an error. And if found out later, the OTA may void it so they will not lose money.
Another possible error is they were selling W or S class fares without seat availability. Then they realized later, the ticket would cost more so they voided the sale.
Who knows what can go wrong with these vending machines ???
Unfortunately we have to speculate because of lack of facts.
bodega3

The question begging to ask is, Why didn’t the OTA contact the OP? It does make you wonder if the ticket number didn’t transmit, otherwise, the OTA stays on the bottom rung of customer service.
TonyA_says

I assume the TKNE transmission is automated. Maybe they do not check for acknowledgments.

The OP (since he is an elite) probably knew to look for the eticket number in his United Reservation. I am surprised he did not go there and print his e-ticket receipt. That is your proof you have a ticket.

Something fishy here !!!!
RetiredNavyphotog

Good point. Always book directly on the airlines you are flying.
bodega3

Ok, I just read the poll. Chris, you really need to talk with ‘real’ ticketing agent before posting a poll regarding airline tickets.

An airline ticket can only be voided within 24 hours after the ticket was issued. This doesn’t affect the PNR. The segments remain. After 24 hours, a ticket must be canceled, which means the reservation is canceled. Two very different types of transactions.

Therefore, you poll means nothing the way it is worded.
bodega3

Better yet, use a good ticketing travel agent. Why? Because what you see on the airline’s website isn’t live and or complete with all available flights. Websites are not regulated, but our GDS’ are.
emanon256

My thoughts exactly too. Especially since UA often won’t let you upgrade or earn miles when its bought through a discount site, even when its a regular published fare.
emanon256

They did offer a full refund. It’s not ideal, but its defiantly not a scam.
http://elliott.org Christopher Elliott

I’m sorry you don’t like the poll. These surveys are meant to gauge opinion on the site, and I don’t claim they are anything more than a conversation-starter.
bodega3

It doesn’t make sense Chris and if you issued tickets you would understand.
Joe Farrell

its a good thing then you don’t have badges cause we don’t need no stinking badges . . . .
Joe Farrell

more facts don’t matter here Tony – the OTA simply paid up. Story is over -no one else is going to get anymore information.
TonyA_says

joel, if the travel agent simply enters the ccard of the customer as a FOP, ARC processes the data transaction but does not collect the money from the cc company. The cc company pays the airline that validated the ticket. The airline is the merchant and pays the fees to the cc comp. The cc comp also applies any holdbacks against the airlines account.
On the hand, if the agency does not enter the customers cc card, then the agent owes ARC money. ARC will collect from agency and remit net amounts to airlines.
I do not know how Cheaptickets collected payment. In shershevs case it looks like ARC simply processed the transaction and the cc company paid the airline directly. Sorry for the confusion. Very busy day.
TonyA_says

My main concern is we do not know if tickets were even issued at all. By asking about VOIDED tickets, then we have to assume that tickets were issued, otherwise there was nothing to void.
But the OP said UA refused to issue tickets. So there was nothing to void ? I am scratching my head.
TonyA_says

Chris, the title is also a bit confusing because the flights were not canceled per se. The booking or reservation was canceled. The last few mornings were difficult. Need stronger coffee.

IMO, this is an important case since it should remind everyone to look for a valid 13Digit Eticket number or an eticket receipt immediately after paying for a booking.
TonyA_says

LOL. We need money. Not bagdges. Plate is empty, o food :-)
TonyA_says

Joe, in that case we do not learn anything. The key is how to avoid this from happening again.
jim6555

It puzzles me as to why is a passenger who holds elite status on United is booking his domestic flights through an online agency? Third party agencies almost never save anybody money on domestic travel. I will sometimes check prices at online travel sites and then look at the same itinerary at the airline’s site. The quote from the airline is usually the same. Had this passenger booked his travel at united.com and received a confirmation, there would have been no attempt to charge a higher fare if the reservation was accidentally deleted by the airline.
Dave_Z

“The airline ‘declined’ to issue a ticket?” WTF does that mean?

I got this issue a few times in my travel agency days. Mostly, it’s the travel agent/agency who issues the ticket if the flight is purchased through them.

Without being too technical, the travel agent/agency has to submit whatever requirements the airline wants. Class of service, correct taxes, everything that meets the airline’s ticket rules.

If the travel agent/agency eventually sends the details where, say, the class of service is no longer available, the airline “declines” issuing a ticket or having a ticket issued for that. It’s not totally accurate, but that should give you an idea.

Usually it’ll take too long to find out who or what did wrong. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help the customer with the clock ticking and prices likely to go up.

Personally, the one “responsible” is the one you contract directly with. Then, one pushes as far as s/he can go.

DavidZ
Dave_Z

Is everything really a “scam” to you, judging by your previous posts?

DavidZ
Dave_Z

I guess a takeaway from this is: no ticket number except for “e-ticketless” airlines if any, no actual confirmed reservation.

DavidZ
Dave_Z

Actually I think Chris’ opinion poll is adequately reasonable. I may know a tad more about ticketing (but less than you guys, I’m sure) than the average fliers, but I don’t necessarily expect them to know these things.

If anything, it’s just the wording in an attempt to capture the issue as accurately as possible. Probably “canceled” is a more acceptable general term than “voided”, because the latter is used more by airlines and travel agents for the “specific” scenario of canceling bookings without issued tickets.

Anywho, the point there is who’s supposedly responsible if a screw up occurs. Usually depends on the screw up, though.

DavidZ
TonyA_says

Agree.
You really use an agent for SERVICE. Some folks do not have the time and inclination to do the searching process.
INTERNATIONAL travel is different and a bit more complicated so agents can really be helpful.
But if we are talking about is pricing, then what is left today are Ethnic destinations and an airline ticket consolidator will probably offer the lowest prices.
TonyA_says

Happened to me, too, with Cathay Pacific. They were offering a lower price online than the net cost of a travel agent so I decided to buy online. After I entered my credit card, I waited forever for the confirmation numbers. Called my Card company and the airline did charge about 7k. Called the airline and someone in Canada transfered me to Hong Kong. Told me the system goofed and I had to repeat the process again. The problem was I had to demand first to get my money back. So it is definitely possible an online process can get your money without you getting tickets.
TonyA_says

Dave, if you look closer at some GDS, they offer APIs usually in XML for developers. I surmise that a programmer can create a program that mimics what a travel agent goes through to sell a ticket. But what happens to an online ticketing engine when an external process returns an unexpected result?

In this case, either a ticket was originally issued by the OTA and then voided by the OTA. Or, a ticket was never issued at all and the reservation was auto cancelled. Or worse, ticket issued but the coupons not transmitted to the carrier so the airline auto canceled.

All fingers point to OTA and not the airline.

I have never worked for an OTA, but I assume that they are very large and can get a low merchant fee from their card processors and so they can charge the credit cards themselves and settle in net with ARC. I am guessing that they did charge the OP’s card, so they are responsible for producing the ticket.

So yes WTF do they mean when they said the AIRLINE refused to issue a ticket.
AUSSIEtraveller

not the agents fault !!!

+

They’re getting a measly 5-8% for the booking & that’s only on the fare not the taxes & charges.
TonyA_says

It’s a big fat ZERO we get on domestic fares and most European fares.

Share: