UAL747 From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 7887 posts, RR: 30 Posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 10015 times:
So,
I purchased a ticket to AMS last weekend with my miles. I booked over the internet and paid a $100.00 booking fee, along with the taxes on the flight.
I had to change my plans because of my mother's surgery this week. So I called United and they said that I can do one of two things, hold my ticket without returning my miles -OR- pay an additional 150 dollars to have my miles returned to my account.
So I opted to save my itinerary. I was told on the phone that I could use my ticket to AMS anytime I wanted, and there would be no fees charged as long as I used the same itinerary.
Well, problem with that is, their award tickets only come with certain seats and flying OKC-ORD-IAD-AMS and return the same way, is difficult to find.
I DID however manage to find, (after searching through tons of blackout dates) I found the same routing, with the available dates for me.
Now, they want to charge me $150.00 booking fee, for a change in itinerary (which was originally promised to not happen) and on top of that they want to charge me a $100.00 transaction fee, or something, not sure what that is.
The tax on this ticket was $125.00 of which "so kindly" they said they would waive for me on the new booking.
In total, I would have spent $400,00 on what was supposed to be a "free ticket."
Now here comes the weird part, in my exploration to find new dates that weren't blacked out, I called United several times and, I'm sorry indians, I mean no offense, but everytime I was routed to India, even though it was only about 3:30 PM Central time. I have nothing against Indians, but I have a hard time understanding some of them, and I'm usually good at it, and they weren't understanding this entire predicament.
First, I was told that they would waive the $100.00 fee, but I would still have to pay an additional $150.00 fee, then I called back, and they would not waive the fee. It just got so frustrating that I hung up.
Does anyone work with UA that can either 1. Help me with this, or 2. Explain this to me?
I've spent so much money on United in the past year, and while I'm not anything but Elite status, it's a lot for me. All my travel with them has either been in First Class or Business, to SE Asia (Bangkok) and Hawaii.
UAL
Edit: Oh yeah, and the kicker is, just to get the miles put back into my account and forget the hell about all of this, it's also an addition $150.00. I don't get it, those are mine! And all they have to do is hit a button on a computer and wham, they are back into my account. God, I'm so mad. I don't get frustrated with airlines that much, but this is rediculous!
[Edited 2009-03-17 18:57:56]
[Edited 2009-03-17 18:58:55]
"Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy. Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy.....Okay, fine, we'll just turn 190 and Visual Our Way
CompensateMe From United States of America, joined Jan 2009, 364 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 9897 times:
1) The $100 fee is a close-in fee assessed to bookings made within one week of departure. This fee is non-refundable.
2) The taxes are refundable.
3) UA, like most other US-based carriers (I'm not sure about non-US based), has no medical waivers on award tickets.
4) You have three choices --
a) re-credit the miles: a $150 service fee applies; you'll receive credit for the taxes you paid - thus if you paid $125 in taxes, you'll owe $25.
b) change the booking: a $150 service fee applies.
c) hold the ticket (not the booking) for future use; if you change the dates/times but keep the routing (OKC-ORD-IAD-AMS), no additional fees will apply. You can make this change until one year from the date the ticket was issued, but you can travel anytime (e.g. you can make these changes in March 2010 but travel in January 2011).
(note that any changes made within 21 days are subject to a close-in fee)
It's a crappy situation to be in but I agree with the rules UA and other carriers have established. Prior to penalizing passengers for redepositing the miles (most carriers established rules this decade), it was really common for people to make dummy bookings and keep changing them. How is that fair for the millions of others searching for those seats?
Quote: Does anyone work with UA that can either 1. Help me with this, or 2. Explain this to me?
Nobody from UA's going to be able to help you waive any fees, or open award seats for you.
Quote: All my travel with them has either been in First Class or Business, to SE Asia (Bangkok) and Hawaii.
If you traveled in F/C to Asia & Hawaii "a lot" in the past year, you'd be 1K or GS .
UAL747 From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 7887 posts, RR: 30 Reply 2, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 9821 times:
Quoting CompensateMe (Reply 1): F/C to Asia & Hawaii "a lot" in the past year
Dude, I never claimed to have traveled "A LOT" to Asia or Hawaii....I've travelled twice, in first or business class and I prefaced that by saying it probably means nothing to anyone, and it doesn't. I get that....
I'm just frustrated with all of these fees and penalties.
I'm not asking anyone to open up any seats or waive any fees for me, but rather give me advice or if there is anything around it.
I know the typical thing to do here on a.net is get bashed when someone criticizes anything about airline procedure, but some of it is really crap, but I should expect if from some...
Anyway, thanks for your input.
UAL
ALSO, I did not hold the seat for more than 24 hours. According to the seats available on all of these segments, they were wide open at the original booking. So, I doubt anyone was hurting for a FF mile seat.
[Edited 2009-03-17 19:24:15]
"Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy. Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy.....Okay, fine, we'll just turn 190 and Visual Our Way
UAL747 From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 7887 posts, RR: 30 Reply 3, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 9784 times:
Quoting CompensateMe (Reply 1): a) re-credit the miles: a $150 service fee applies; you'll receive credit for the taxes you paid - thus if you paid $125 in taxes, you'll owe $25.
Yeah, if that is so, then I also have to pay the 126.00 taxes on the new ticket if issued, so technically, it's not $25 dollars.
"Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy. Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy.....Okay, fine, we'll just turn 190 and Visual Our Way
Joeljack From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 787 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 9704 times:
I just call and am really nice and usually I get what I want.
Try this:
1) call and if someone from India answers the phone, I hang up and call back until I get somebody from the states.
2) ask nicely, be friendly, strike up a conversation and the person on the other end will be much more likely to help you out. (agents from India NEVER help you out, they go by the rules straight up)
3) If you aren't getting anywhere, say something to the affect of how many trips and how many dollars you have spent in the past year and you have 2 or 3 other Int'l trips this year that you originally planned on flying United but would be looking to take your money elsewhere ya da ya da. Say that very nicely.
Don't expect to get out of the $150 redeposit fee or the $150 dollar change fee. I would shoot for just paying the $150 fee to change the flight.
If you don't get what you want, ask to speak to a supervisor and go through the same points VERY nicely. I've had very good success with getting what I want, even if it's against the rules (I also am elite though).
Reality From United States of America, joined Apr 2007, 346 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 9630 times:
Quoting UAL747 (Thread starter): they weren't understanding this entire predicament.
Well, I didn't understand everything you were saying either after reading your initial post.
In these cases it is just best to pay the fees that United has in place. As pointed out above, all the airlines have these kind of rules. In the future, familiarize yourself with the rules and regulations, however unfair you may think they are, and then you will know how to play the game and you won't be angry if you have to change your plans at the last minute. You'll know what fees and penalties to expect.
CompensateMe From United States of America, joined Jan 2009, 364 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 9608 times:
Quoting UAL747 (Reply 2): I know the typical thing to do here on a.net is get bashed when someone criticizes anything about airline procedure, but some of it is really crap, but I should expect if from some...
I'm not trying to "bash" you and I'm sorry if you feel that way. I'm sure you've spent a lot of money with UA to earn those miles, but you haven't spent enough to reach the established 1K/GS tiers which would be required to waive these fees.
You knew, or had access to, the fees/rules prior to purchasing the ticket. And if your mother really did abruptly need surgery within days of you purchasing that ticket, I feel for you -- I've been in similarly circumstances before. But the fact is that most airlines have dumped death/medical fare waivers (except on most international tickets) because too many people took advantage of them. It's not hard to fake a death certificate/doctor's note/hospital note and airlines don't have the resources to check up on every one.
Quoting UAL747 (Reply 3): Yeah, if that is so, then I also have to pay the 126.00 taxes on the new ticket if issued, so technically, it's not $25 dollars.
It would depend on how you use those miles. There's a lot of awards (domestic, Hawaii, much of Asia, etc.) that have low taxes. If you really want to go to AMS, try finding the routing at a later travel date.
Phelpsie87 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 498 posts, RR: 3 Reply 7, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 9418 times:
Quoting UAL747 (Reply 11): I'm not looking for a way out of this, per se, but it just makes me irritated that there are so many hidden fees, and they really don't explain why they are there.
While not "hidden," they are certainly hard to find when looking through the 20 page thick Contract of Carriage...I do feel for you there.
Having worked under UA for several years, I have seen many people in your situation and could never explain to them why...however, working at a small station, we sometimes would bend the rules (we knew it was BS too)
So, my suggestion...if you are within reasonable distance from OKC and have some time to do this, it MAY help. Go to the airport and speak with a real person (no offense India Call Center) and explain the situation. The agent will be able to pull up your itinerary, and then be able to look at dates and flights with open Award Seats. There is a special function of FastAIR that agents can use to look at only Mileage Plus Redemption seats. Perhaps being able to explain while looking at flights might help in understanding on both sides of the table.
Also, I could have sworn that somewhere along my training I remembered hearing that a pax may change their MP itineraries 1 time without additional fees. Current UA employees, help
UAL747 From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 7887 posts, RR: 30 Reply 8, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 9399 times:
Quoting Phelpsie87 (Reply 14): So, my suggestion...if you are within reasonable distance from OKC and have some time to do this, it MAY help. Go to the airport and speak with a real person (no offense India Call Center) and explain the situation. The agent will be able to pull up your itinerary, and then be able to look at dates and flights with open Award Seats. There is a special function of FastAIR that agents can use to look at only Mileage Plus Redemption seats. Perhaps being able to explain while looking at flights might help in understanding on both sides of the table.
Thank you for the KIND and helpful advice, it's much appreciated!
UAL
"Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy. Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy.....Okay, fine, we'll just turn 190 and Visual Our Way
FrmrCAPCADET From United States of America, joined May 2008, 1315 posts, RR: 1 Reply 9, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 18 hours ago) and read 9306 times:
And understand that airlines that are going broke, or close to it, the customer is the enemy. If you get that in your head, it will make what happens understandable. You are not a valued customer. Your are the foe. Washington Mutual, a bank, treated customers that way.
Buffet: the airline business...has eaten up capital...like..no other (business)
DeltAirlines From United States of America, joined May 1999, 8501 posts, RR: 15 Reply 10, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 17 hours ago) and read 9143 times:
DL has fees like this:
Fee to book tickets within 20 days of departure ($75-$150, depending on how far out in this period) - Waived for Platinums
Redeposit - $100 (Platinums get 2 freebies a year, then it's $50 per redeposit)
Same-day travel changes - $50 (waived for Golds/Platinums)
Partner fee (assessed when on an airline that isn't Delta or Northwest) - $25
International origination surcharge - varies, but often in the $100s.
It can add up if you're not a top-level Frequent Flyer (I know UA has waivers for 1Ks/Global Services on many of their fees like the aforementioned DL ones).
For example, I'm looking at an award ticket to Europe in the fall. It will cost me the following fees:
- $25 partner fee due to intra-Europe segments on Air France/KLM
- About $200 in taxes (regular 9/11 tax, PFCs here in the States, UK Immigration tax, the bogus Premium Cabin tax that everyone sitting in Business gets hit with - about $80 alone!), etc.
- If I change anything, I get two free waivers. After that, it's $50 a change.
Zrs70 From United States of America, joined Dec 2000, 2612 posts, RR: 11 Reply 11, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 9021 times:
Any agent that wants to charge a $150 change fee is misinformed. As long as the OP keeps the same routing, there is no change fee. Period.
Ptugarin From United States of America, joined Sep 2006, 318 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 11 hours ago) and read 8774 times:
On a side note, I noticed that UA has bumped the Saver award redemption policy by 5000 miles on international flights;
Europe/South America - 55,000 up from 50,000
Hawaiii - 40,000 up from 35,000
Asia - 65,000 up from 60,000 (Not sure about this one - was it ever 60,000?).
I have used my miles to travel to EZE just two months ago and it cost me 50,000. Now I tried to book and they wanted 55,000 so I looked at the chart and here is what it looks like;
Colts001 From United States of America, joined Mar 2009, 88 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 7 hours ago) and read 8050 times:
One thing from my personal experience is you need to be prepared before calling the call center meaning if you know beforehand the exact changes you want and the associated fees with that, it is easy to talk to the rep to waive some fees but if you call them and ask for 10 different options you are not likely to get much help.
Phelpsie87 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 498 posts, RR: 3 Reply 15, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 6661 times:
Quoting UAL747 (Reply 8): Thank you for the KIND and helpful advice, it's much appreciated!
Not a problem UAL...let me know how it turns out. If I was still working for the airline...I would have been happy to do it myself.
Rscaife1682 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 293 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 6318 times:
Quoting FrmrCAPCADET (Reply 9): And understand that airlines that are going broke, or close to it, the customer is the enemy. If you get that in your head, it will make what happens understandable. You are not a valued customer. Your are the foe. Washington Mutual, a bank, treated customers that way.
This is why I do not miss working customer service.
This comment in no way helps with this problem. If you take this angle you will get nothing from anyone
Egcarter From United States of America, joined Aug 2007, 158 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 6318 times:
Quoting Ptugarin (Reply 12): On a side note, I noticed that UA has bumped the Saver award redemption policy by 5000 miles on international flights;
The new award levels were announced last Fall to commence January 1, 2009. We were all warned!
UAL747 From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 7887 posts, RR: 30 Reply 18, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 6119 times:
Quoting Rscaife1682 (Reply 16): This is why I do not miss working customer service
I used to work for Dell in a position that was different, but similar in someways. A lot of the Dell policies were honestly just to make a buck, and it isn't explained very well to the customer. Again, the customer can read through the 20 pages of fine print, but even then, it's sincerely confusing, even for a sales representative. I didn't understand all of the Dell policies and I worked for them!
And I don't know why, but the Indian call centers are irritating. They are quick to shut you down if you have a complaint, even if you are cool about it. Working in this type of thing, I know to keep my cool and be very polite, and most definitely I am. But, the Indian call center were very short with me, would NOT let me speak to a supervisor at all, and just kept saying the same thing over and over.
In all honesty, I was just frustrated last night, and stressed about my mom's surgery she had this morning. Just got back with my mom and set her up in bed with some DVD's. I think what made me upset, and again, I can be upset and sound sweet as candy, is the fact that when I cancelled the booking, I wasn't told about the rebooking fees, and I guess it doesn't make sense to me that by also changing a routing, it's an additional 150.00. It would seem like it would cost United less money to fly me from OKC-IAD-AMS rather than OKC-ORD-IAD-AMS, the latter being the original routing, but they now have award seats available straight to ORD. And being that there are more segments on OKC-ORD-IAD-AMS, it's harder to find the exact routing with available seats due to the fact there are just more flights.
UAL
"Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy. Bangkok Tower, United 890 Heavy.....Okay, fine, we'll just turn 190 and Visual Our Way
FrmrCAPCADET From United States of America, joined May 2008, 1315 posts, RR: 1 Reply 19, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 6002 times:
Quoting Rscaife1682 (Reply 16): This is why I do not miss working customer service.
This comment in no way helps with this problem. If you take this angle you will get nothing from anyone
Ryan - because I am aware that some airlines treat customers as the enemy (note: I said airlines, not the poor schmucks who deal with customers) I am always polite, even when the person I am dealing with has been wrong. And I did not indicate that one should ever treat service personnel like the enemy. They don't make the policies. And I stand by my claim that excessive charges for using air-miles is an 'enemy' oriented policy. If you are being awarded miles you should receive them, with charges for whatever personal service you need, and that costs the airline money.
Buffet: the airline business...has eaten up capital...like..no other (business)
Access-Air From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 1937 posts, RR: 22 Reply 20, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 5824 times:
Quoting UAL747 (Thread starter): but everytime I was routed to India
, even though it was only about 3:30 PM Central time.
Well, the secret to NOT being transerferred to an off shore air line reservation office for NW or DL or UA or the like, is to always select INTERNATIONAL for your itinerary.....It has never failed for me and I am a travel agent. 99.9999999999999999999% when you do this you get someone stateside that knows what they are talking about and is easily understandable....
No offense here, but I too find it quite irritating that US Domestic Airline reservations lines ring to el-cheapo call centers in the Philippines, India or elsewhere....Place where these people know el-Zilcho about domestic anything in the US....
As for your frequent flyer problems......All I can say is that the fees are very ignorant and the airlines are trying milk ever cent out of their clients that they can and all they are doing is pissing everyone off.....They just dont get it....
DesertAir From Mexico, joined Jan 2006, 1304 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 5476 times:
The airlines have figured out that they can make a profit from tacking on fees or everything. A couple of summers ago I had to repost AA miles after a death in the family make the reward trip impossible. I was charged $100. Travel has to be planned very carefully to avoid unnecessary fees.
For domestic travel I am a faithful Sothwest flyer...no fees, no fees....
Lufti5525 From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 11 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks ago) and read 5117 times:
I fly LAS-HKT every year. I would like to fly an American carrier,(UA) but there are always problems. If I check in LAS, they will charge me a bag fee to there gateway Even though I am on an international ticket. I now go WN to LAX and one stop CX to HKT. I know that they are not suppose too, but it will happen....
F1eddie From Ireland, joined May 2007, 454 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (2 years 10 months 4 weeks ago) and read 4900 times:
Quoting CompensateMe (Reply 6): But the fact is that most airlines have dumped death/medical fare waivers (except on most international tickets) because too many people took advantage of them. It's not hard to fake a death certificate/doctor's note/hospital note and airlines don't have the resources to check up on every one.
Wow i cant believe this. My mum and i just last week had to drop flights so she could go to see her brother. EI will completely refund us the money. I am even more surprised that even FR will do this. Im surprised that full service carriers will not do this!
.
P.S oh hope you get sorted and your family member is OK!!!
[Edited 2009-03-18 15:21:55]
Flown on EI, FR, BMI, TG, PG, FD, JQ, DJ, LA, NZ, SQ, DL, LX, LH
United1 From United States of America, joined Oct 2003, 4761 posts, RR: 8 Reply 24, posted (2 years 10 months 3 weeks 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 4726 times:
Quoting Lufti5525 (Reply 22): If I check in LAS, they will charge me a bag fee to there gateway Even though I am on an international ticket
None of the US airlines that fly to Asia charges you to check in bags if your on an itinerary with an international segment.
Sorry to hear about your mother illness, best wishes for a speedy recovery.
As others have mentioned try calling a few times in a row and see if you get routed to one of the US based call centers, selecting "international" also helps when calling. Also If you happen to have Premier status with MP try calling the Premier line, you have a higher chance of getting a US based representative then UAs general number.
Semper Fi
25 Azncsa4qf744er: The top tier on UA for the general public is 1K. GS status is only by invitation only
26 Travellin'man: All these fees are how the airline devalues its excessive amount of frequent flyer miles. Give it more time, and there will be so many fees for using
27 Tango-Bravo: Is that even a possibility if you don't have the phone # given only to the upper echelons of UA's caste system? And isn't it also necessary to check
28 DocLightning: You know, I've also had a few reward flights on UA. It strikes me that if they're advertising award flights as "free," which I think they are, and the
29 Tango-Bravo: UA will only "get the message" when more of the vast number of people who feel the same way "walk the walk" instead of just "talking the talk." As I
30 UAL747: Oh, on the subject of the "Mileage Plus Visa" One of the options that one US based agent, (seeing as it was about 3AM central time, so I REALLY don't
31 SQ_EK_freak: Delta/Northwest B744's don't have PTVs in coach.
32 Brons2: You'd have a pretty easy and short connecting flight to DFW out of OKC on AA.
33 Brilondon: I'm not surprised that FR will refund you the farenbut will they refund you all the extra charges?
34 Shanxz: More like cargo, than just ATMs I think. Very sad state of the US airline industry. Someone needs to shake them and tell them that they're in the hos
35 Ptugarin: Is this a temporary or permanent measure? Is this a market trend, or UA is the only airline to have done this?
36 UAL747: Well, I tried several times with United to get the fees waived, and finally, I got my mother's doctor information, date of surgery, and hospital detai
37 KL642: Thats alot of money! Last month I flew NW/KL MSP-ORD-AMS-DTW-MSP in first/world business classes. It cost me 100,000 Delta Skymiles and $225.67 total
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