Travelocity and United Combined to Make Things Difficult in PA

My Experience:

In addition to the trouble I had with Travelocity renting a car while I was in Philadelphia with my son in April, I had an additional problem with Travelocity combined with United Airlines.  The problem came at the end of the trip with the flight out of Philly.  Back when I was making my reservations through Travelocity, I had to check flight availability before I could book and pay because my son needed to fly from Missoula to Denver to meet me then both of us fly together to Philadelphia which we reversed on the trip back. 

I checked the flights and wrote down the flight numbers and times so I could make sure we were synced up and together for the Denver to Philly and Philly to Denver flights. I also confirmed seats availability.   In addition, I needed to make sure there was a reasonable layover time between the Missoula/Denver and Denver/Missoula flights.  After doing all this, I booked and paid for my son’s flight first since it was more complicated.  When booking my flight I was unable to find the United Philly to Denver flight I had booked for my son just minutes earlier.  What I found was a US Airways Philly to Denver flight leaving at exactly the same time as the United Philly to Denver flight and assumed it was the same flight.  I tried to find information on the Travelocity website to confirm but there was nothing.  I also checked United and US Airways websites but they were no help.   I went ahead and booked and paid for the flight assuming they had to be one and the same.

When we arrived at the Philly airport on Monday morning after a fantastic week where my son’s team won the U16 Tier II National Hockey Championship, I asked the United Airlines ticket agent behind the counter if the United Airlines and US Airways flights listed on my itineraries were the same flight since they were leaving for Denver at the same time.  She looked at them quickly and said they were not and started clicking away at her computer.  She told me it would cost $75 to change flights getting my son and I together on the same flight.  I told her go ahead and as she was in the middle of making the change she realized her error and told me the original flights were the same.  I asked her about refunding the $75 charge for changing flights since it was her error but she said it was too late because she already cancelled my flight and charged me. We went back and forth for a few minutes nearly causing a scene but she would not budge.  Since we were in an airport filled with security, I backed down and reluctantly accepted the $75 charge.  The agent printed us our boarding passes and we went to the concourse.

In the concourse we had a quick breakfast and while eating I took a look at our boarding passes and noticed the United agent had put my son and I on an earlier flight to Denver then the one I had booked through Travelocity.  Fortunately I looked at the boarding passes early enough that it didn’t create any problems but it still frustrated me the that the agent didn’t tell me about the change in flights.

A few days after the trip, United sent me a survey.  I filled it out and explained how the ticket agent didn’t understand the United and US Airways flight were the same flight and how she charged me a $75 fee to change flights even after she realized she made a mistake.  I asked for United to refund me the $75 and how unhappy I was with the ticket agent. 

What Travelocity Should Have Done:

Travelocity should have better information on their website explaining when airlines have cooperative agreements between airlines on some flights.  There should also be consistency when booking to minimize confusion. The flight should either always be a United flight or a US Airways flight, for example.  It shouldn’t change between each booking.   I booked the United flight first and minutes later when I was trying to book the same flight for me the flight was changed to a US Airways flight.  Travelocity should also have a way for people to book multiple flights and pay for them all at once.  They may have that option but I was unable to figure out how to do it.   

What United Should Have Done 

First: The ticket agent should have been better trained and know that Untied and US Airways have a cooperative agreement on some of their flights.  She did not seem to know what I was talking about and was genuinely surprised when she realized the the United and US Airways flight were the same flight. 

Second:  The ticket agent should have not charged me the $75 fee for changing flights when she realized it was her error.  It is incredible to me she didn’t even think she should refund me the $75 and argued with me defending the charge.

Third: The ticket agent should have told me she changed the flights to an earlier flight.  Had I not looked at the tickets to confirm our gate, I would have thought the flight was the later flight I had originally booked weeks before and missed our flight.

Fourth:  I filled out the United Airlines survey a few days after the trip explaining what had happened to me and how the Ticket Agent made a mistake and still charged me the $75 fee.  Like Travelocity, I have heard nothing back from them.  If an organization goes through the trouble of sending out a satisfaction survey, they should respond, especially if there was a problem and the customer is not happy.  By not responding, I can only assume they don’t care about their customers or have too many complaints to be able to handle them.  Not a good impression to leave with an unhappy customer.  I will do everything I can to use another airline from now on.  Unfortunately, I live in Denver and United is  the main airline and difficult to avoid. 

Summary:

Travelocity and United should adopt a strong and sincere customer service culture.  United needs to train their Ticket Agents to where they understand the cooperative agreement with US Airways.  Ticket Agents should also be trained and given the power to correct mistakes they made.  I got the impression she was unable to refund me the $75 but she could have been simply unwilling.   Airlines are notorious for poor service and treating customers poorly.  Only one, Southwest, seems to really care about their customers and they are the only ones that seem to make a profit year after year.  Other airlines would do well to learn something from Southwest.  It’s shocking and disappointing they don’t.