AA Ticket Problems!! Need your suggestions

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:25:37 GMT, mtravelkay wrote:

Dick Locke wrote:

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 17:31:50 +0100, AJC wrote:


your travel agent


It's very much an open question in my mind (and others on this board)
as to whom the travel agent represents. I think that since TAs sign an
agency agreement with the airline, they are agents of the airline and
hence the airline bears some responsibility for their misbehavior.

I've only tested this theory once and it worked....when an airline
said "my agent" created a problem, I immediately said "not my agent,
it's your agent" and the problem went away.

Has this changed since with the commissions going away? Now, don't
people pay their agents?

Good question. Do travel agents still have to sign an agreement with
the airlines (or actually IATA, I think)? Is that an agency agreement?
If TA's still issue paper in the name of an airline, I think they must
be a non-commisioned sales agent. They could be a dual agent also,
representing buyer and seller but that's a position most people steer
clear of.

However, like I originally said, this is just a theory. Good legal
minds might want to comment. I think there's an agency relationship
between an airline and a TA and there's a normal commercial retail
relationship between an individual and a TA. I'm focused on the legal
meaning of the word "agent" and "agency."

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 00:48:23 +0000, Dick Locke wrote:

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 20:25:37 GMT, mtravelkay wrote:

Dick Locke wrote:

On Thu, 25 Mar 2004 17:31:50 +0100, AJC wrote:


your travel agent


It's very much an open question in my mind (and others on this board)
as to whom the travel agent represents. I think that since TAs sign an
agency agreement with the airline, they are agents of the airline and
hence the airline bears some responsibility for their misbehavior.

I've only tested this theory once and it worked....when an airline
said "my agent" created a problem, I immediately said "not my agent,
it's your agent" and the problem went away.

Has this changed since with the commissions going away? Now, don't
people pay their agents?

Good question. Do travel agents still have to sign an agreement with
the airlines (or actually IATA, I think)? Is that an agency agreement?
If TA's still issue paper in the name of an airline, I think they must
be a non-commisioned sales agent. They could be a dual agent also,
representing buyer and seller but that's a position most people steer
clear of.

However, like I originally said, this is just a theory. Good legal
minds might want to comment. I think there's an agency relationship
between an airline and a TA and there's a normal commercial retail
relationship between an individual and a TA. I'm focused on the legal
meaning of the word "agent" and "agency."

They are agents for the airline.


We had a longuish discussion about that some yours back:

http://groups.google.ca/groups?hl=en...t%26r num%3D1

A couple of questions for you. You state that you "booked" a ticket
through a travel agent. Did you purchase your ticket from the travel
agent or did you just have the travel agent book space on your
flights?

I would suggest that you request a print out of the 'history' of the
reservations that have been booked for you. AA or your travel agent
should be able to do this for you and should not have any reason to
deny this request. When changes are made to reservations, a time/date
stamp with an agent sine and location are included with each change.

Usually, a ticket number must be placed correctly into a reservation
or the airline will automatically cancel the reservation. Usually,
when a ticket is issued by an automated ticket machine, the ticket
number is automaticly placed into the record.

A PNR (passenger name record) history would show exactly who cancelled
your reservation and when they were cancelled.

It's easy to blame the travel agent, but I'll bet your reservations
were cancelled by the airlines for lack of a ticket number or that the
ticket number was put in after the ticketing time limit had expired.

Just curious - what fee did the travel agent charge you for issuing
your tickets? I'm just wondering what the going rate is in FRA for a
travel agent to issue an international ticket.


"Rajesh" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I am flying from FRA-SFO by AA in april. I booked my ticket through
a
travel agent and later i came to know that my ticket was cancelled (
after issuing) by the travel agent. The travel agent reinstated my
ticket back on the same flight after a few days. But last week, they
cancelled it again and this time my travel agent ignored to help me
as
they said that there was a problem with AA and they have to rectify.
AA reservations in FRA told me that they cannot reinstate unless the
travel agent calls them but they never called the airline and with
great difficulty i spoke with AA sales and the supervisor decided to
reinstate my tickets but on different schedules( but on the same
day).
I was suppose to fly via DFW and now i fly via ORD and i arrive
very
late night in SFO. I wanted to fly via DFW beacuse of B777 and i
booked a seat where i have a power connection. Now, nothing is
available on my new plane

I was told by AA that i will be reissued a new ticket in the
airport.
Now, i made a complaint on AA to Dublin as they cannot carry me on
the
booked flight. So, should i go to the airport and still insist that
they have to take me in the earlier flight or ask for a
compensation??. Anyway, it is not my fault as i hold a ticket with
me
for a flight Via Dallas..

I also want to ask if only 45 minutes is enough to take my
connecting
flight back to FRA in ORD

Waiting for your reply

Regards

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 01:03:59 GMT, devil wrote:

They are agents for the airline.


We had a longuish discussion about that some yours back:

http://groups.google.ca/groups?hl=en...t%26r num%3D1


And yet, we still see people here saying "not the airline's fault,
**your** agent messed up."

Dick Locke wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 01:03:59 GMT, devil wrote:


They are agents for the airline.


We had a longuish discussion about that some yours back:

http://groups.google.ca/groups?hl=en...t%26r num%3D1

And yet, we still see people here saying "not the airline's fault,
**your** agent messed up."

The discussion had more than one point of view.

Well, thanks for your answers!!

A couple of questions for you. You state that you "booked" a ticket
through a travel agent. Did you purchase your ticket from the travel
agent or did you just have the travel agent book space on your
flights?
I purchased through a travel agent and i have a OK status ticket
in my hands and i paid the money immediately

Usually, a ticket number must be placed correctly into a reservation
or the airline will automatically cancel the reservation. Usually,
when a ticket is issued by an automated ticket machine, the ticket
number is automaticly placed into the record.
Well, this is what AA told me that the ticket number was not
properly fed in to the system. But i am a layman in this field and my
travel agent doesnt want to accept this as he gave me a booking
history which showed that evyrthign was OK!! But he never gave a
booking history after the first cancellation date


It's easy to blame the travel agent, but I'll bet your reservations
were cancelled by the airlines for lack of a ticket number or that the
ticket number was put in after the ticketing time limit had expired
But, in my case both parties say that they are correct

Just curious - what fee did the travel agent charge you for issuing
your tickets? I'm just wondering what the going rate is in FRA for a
travel agent to issue an international ticket.
I got a fare for 530€ to and fro to SFO from FRA. I bought it
through www.skyways.de and it is located in Munich


"To Arms!!" wrote in message ...
A couple of questions for you. You state that you "booked" a ticket
through a travel agent. Did you purchase your ticket from the travel
agent or did you just have the travel agent book space on your
flights?

I would suggest that you request a print out of the 'history' of the
reservations that have been booked for you. AA or your travel agent
should be able to do this for you and should not have any reason to
deny this request. When changes are made to reservations, a time/date
stamp with an agent sine and location are included with each change.

Usually, a ticket number must be placed correctly into a reservation
or the airline will automatically cancel the reservation. Usually,
when a ticket is issued by an automated ticket machine, the ticket
number is automaticly placed into the record.

A PNR (passenger name record) history would show exactly who cancelled
your reservation and when they were cancelled.

It's easy to blame the travel agent, but I'll bet your reservations
were cancelled by the airlines for lack of a ticket number or that the
ticket number was put in after the ticketing time limit had expired.

Just curious - what fee did the travel agent charge you for issuing
your tickets? I'm just wondering what the going rate is in FRA for a
travel agent to issue an international ticket.


"Rajesh" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I am flying from FRA-SFO by AA in april. I booked my ticket through
a
travel agent and later i came to know that my ticket was cancelled (
after issuing) by the travel agent. The travel agent reinstated my
ticket back on the same flight after a few days. But last week, they
cancelled it again and this time my travel agent ignored to help me
as
they said that there was a problem with AA and they have to rectify.
AA reservations in FRA told me that they cannot reinstate unless the
travel agent calls them but they never called the airline and with
great difficulty i spoke with AA sales and the supervisor decided to
reinstate my tickets but on different schedules( but on the same
day).
I was suppose to fly via DFW and now i fly via ORD and i arrive
very
late night in SFO. I wanted to fly via DFW beacuse of B777 and i
booked a seat where i have a power connection. Now, nothing is
available on my new plane

I was told by AA that i will be reissued a new ticket in the
airport.
Now, i made a complaint on AA to Dublin as they cannot carry me on
the
booked flight. So, should i go to the airport and still insist that
they have to take me in the earlier flight or ask for a
compensation??. Anyway, it is not my fault as i hold a ticket with
me
for a flight Via Dallas..

I also want to ask if only 45 minutes is enough to take my
connecting
flight back to FRA in ORD

Waiting for your reply

Regards

"Rajesh" wrote in message
m...
Well, thanks for your answers!!

I purchased through a travel agent and i have a OK status
ticket
in my hands and i paid the money immediately

Do you have a paper ticket (4 flight coupons) or do you have an
electronic ticket (just have the passenger's receipt)?

Either way, check the "issued in exchange for" box on the ticket and
see if there is another ticket number there. Sometimes some travel
agents have special fares called net fares (not to be confused with
internet fares). If you pay by a credit card, the travel agent will
have to issue a MCO (miscellaneous charge order) for the price they
charge you on your credit card and show an additional collection as
cash or check to make up the difference between the price shown on the
ticket and the price they charge you and your credit card. This is a
complicated and time consuming process for the travel agent. If done
properly, the computer should place the ticket number into your
record. In some cases, the travel agent must manually put the ticket
number into your record - as below -

Usually, a ticket number must be placed correctly into a
reservation
or the airline will automatically cancel the reservation.
Usually,
when a ticket is issued by an automated ticket machine, the ticket
number is automaticly placed into the record.


Well, this is what AA told me that the ticket number was not
properly fed in to the system. But i am a layman in this field and
my
travel agent doesnt want to accept this as he gave me a booking
history which showed that evyrthign was OK!! But he never gave a
booking history after the first cancellation date

American Airlines has a nasty little robot program called SAGE that
goes through AA reservations looking for reservations that do not have
ticket numbers put into the records within the proper ticketing time
limit. If the ticket number is not there, then SAGE cancels the
reservations. Now I've seen instances where a ticket was issued
within the ticketing time limit but the reservation was cancelled
because the airline did not receive the ticketing information within
the ticketing time limit because of computer delays especially between
different reservation systems and the one used by the airline.

It's easy to blame the travel agent, but I'll bet your
reservations
were cancelled by the airlines for lack of a ticket number or that
the
ticket number was put in after the ticketing time limit had
expired

But, in my case both parties say that they are correct

Get a print out of your original reservation with the history. Get it
from both the travel agent and the airline. It used to be that travel
agents were an agent for the airlines. However, the airlines are
abandoning that relationship. If you have an "OK" ticket, the
airlines should honor the ticket. But because of the class of service
that your original ticket was booked under, I'll bet that they didn't
have anymore seats to sell in that class of service and won't overbook
that class of service to accommodate you. I'll bet if you checked,
there would be a straight "Y" class (full coach) on your original
flights. If this is the case, it's not your travel agent that is
screwing you, it is the airline for refusing to honor a ticket that
you purchased throught their "agent" and because of a circumstance
beyond your control they are having your reroute. Get your facts
documented, go to the airport a couple of days early and insist that
AA honor your original ticket. You are their customer and they should
accomodate you if there is a seat available.


Just curious - what fee did the travel agent charge you for issuing
your tickets? I'm just wondering what the going rate is in FRA
for a
travel agent to issue an international ticket.
I got a fare for 530? to and fro to SFO from FRA. I bought it
through www.skyways.de and it is located in Munich

I take it that is 530 Euros which is about 630.00 USD? Not too bad if
you consider that about 100.00 of that would probably be taxes.

Don't wait until the day of the flight to take care of your ticket!!!
Take care of it several days before your departure. Your connecting
time in Chicago are within the limits set by AA, but would not want to
take a chance of a 45 minute connecting time in the winter time!




"To Arms!!" wrote in message
...
A couple of questions for you. You state that you "booked" a
ticket
through a travel agent. Did you purchase your ticket from the
travel
agent or did you just have the travel agent book space on your
flights?

I would suggest that you request a print out of the 'history' of
the
reservations that have been booked for you. AA or your travel
agent
should be able to do this for you and should not have any reason
to
deny this request. When changes are made to reservations, a
time/date
stamp with an agent sine and location are included with each
change.

Usually, a ticket number must be placed correctly into a
reservation
or the airline will automatically cancel the reservation.
Usually,
when a ticket is issued by an automated ticket machine, the ticket
number is automaticly placed into the record.

A PNR (passenger name record) history would show exactly who
cancelled
your reservation and when they were cancelled.

It's easy to blame the travel agent, but I'll bet your
reservations
were cancelled by the airlines for lack of a ticket number or that
the
ticket number was put in after the ticketing time limit had
expired.

Just curious - what fee did the travel agent charge you for
issuing
your tickets? I'm just wondering what the going rate is in FRA
for a
travel agent to issue an international ticket.


"Rajesh" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I am flying from FRA-SFO by AA in april. I booked my ticket
through
a
travel agent and later i came to know that my ticket was
cancelled (
after issuing) by the travel agent. The travel agent reinstated
my
ticket back on the same flight after a few days. But last week,
they
cancelled it again and this time my travel agent ignored to help
me
as
they said that there was a problem with AA and they have to
rectify.
AA reservations in FRA told me that they cannot reinstate unless
the
travel agent calls them but they never called the airline and
with
great difficulty i spoke with AA sales and the supervisor
decided to
reinstate my tickets but on different schedules( but on the same
day).
I was suppose to fly via DFW and now i fly via ORD and i arrive
very
late night in SFO. I wanted to fly via DFW beacuse of B777 and i
booked a seat where i have a power connection. Now, nothing is
available on my new plane

I was told by AA that i will be reissued a new ticket in the
airport.
Now, i made a complaint on AA to Dublin as they cannot carry me
on
the
booked flight. So, should i go to the airport and still insist
that
they have to take me in the earlier flight or ask for a
compensation??. Anyway, it is not my fault as i hold a ticket
with
me
for a flight Via Dallas..

I also want to ask if only 45 minutes is enough to take my
connecting
flight back to FRA in ORD

Waiting for your reply

Regards

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 06:55:59 +0000, mtravelkay wrote:

Dick Locke wrote:

On Fri, 26 Mar 2004 01:03:59 GMT, devil wrote:


They are agents for the airline.


We had a longuish discussion about that some yours back:

http://groups.google.ca/groups?hl=en...t%26r num%3D1

And yet, we still see people here saying "not the airline's fault,
**your** agent messed up."

The discussion had more than one point of view.

Still, it's pretty clear that the agents are agents for the airlines.

To Arms!! wrote:


Get your facts
documented, go to the airport a couple of days early and insist that
AA honor your original ticket. You are their customer and they should
accomodate you if there is a seat available.

Don't wait until the day of the flight to take care of your ticket!!!
Take care of it several days before your departure. Your connecting
time in Chicago are within the limits set by AA, but would not want to
take a chance of a 45 minute connecting time in the winter time!


What is the purpose of using a travel agent if the customer has to go to
the airport to argue the issue?

"mtravelkay" wrote in message
news
To Arms!! wrote:


Get your facts
documented, go to the airport a couple of days early and insist
that
AA honor your original ticket. You are their customer and they
should
accomodate you if there is a seat available.

Don't wait until the day of the flight to take care of your
ticket!!!
Take care of it several days before your departure. Your
connecting
time in Chicago are within the limits set by AA, but would not
want to
take a chance of a 45 minute connecting time in the winter time!


What is the purpose of using a travel agent if the customer has to
go to
the airport to argue the issue?


He probably got a better fare than AA offered or even perhaps the
internet sites offered. Regardless of the source of the ticket
whether it be from a travel agent or an internet site, if the ticket
say "OK" in the status box it should be honored by the airline and not
jack THEIR customer around. And that is the entire point - the
passenger should not have to go to the airport to argue the issue of
the airline refusing to accept a ticket with "OK" in the status box.