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Booking Class Issue

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 20:58
by Littlejohn
I have a flight tonight, but not with VS. Due to the very ill considered travel policy of my client, they booked me in Y [n]. However not being able to face an overnight at the back of the bus i upgraded my ticket to Business outbound. Being a tight wad, I did not book business coming back. Looking at my booking on line it deffo says D out and Y back. However, I had to pick up my tickets at the airport, and looking at those it seems to say D back [y]. Specifically in the middle section of the hand written tickets it says LHR - AUH, EY 304 D 30KG. And then to LHR (presumably the return portion) it says EY 301,D, 30kg.

Now the question is am I getting my hopes up unrealistically, will they spot the discrepancy when I return, and do I stand a chance bluffing it out when I try and check in for the return?

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:01
by MarkJ
Originally posted by sailor99
I have a flight tonight, but not with VS. Due to the very ill considered travel policy of my client, they booked me in Y [n]. However not being able to face an overnight at the back of the bus i upgraded my ticket to Business outbound. Being a tight wad, I did not book business coming back. Looking at my booking on line it deffo says D out and Y back. However, I had to pick up my tickets at the airport, and looking at those it seems to say D back [y]. Specifically in the middle section of the hand written tickets it says LHR - AUH, EY 304 D 30KG. And then to LHR (presumably the return portion) it says EY 301,D, 30kg.

Now the question is am I getting my hopes up unrealistically, will they spot the discrepancy when I return, and do I stand a chance bluffing it out when I try and check in for the return?


I would imagine the system will have the correct info in - but its always worth the bluff. Saying that you thouh you had paid for both legs - in fact you were "sure" you had - etc etc etc etc

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:02
by Jonathan
If it says D then you should be fine! Good Luck anyway..

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:03
by Littlejohn
Had already thought about the "my secretary has booked it, and if he has put me at the back he is looking for a new job" line. But they may have heard it before :)

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:18
by RichardMannion
A hand written ticket? Or is that hand written amendment slip that is attached to the ticket?

Will be an intersting one - if it says Economy online then that is what their system will show when you check-in, so you could try and argue the toss with them. Another way to check would be to look in the back-end GDS - depending on whom the booking is made through - so checkmytrip.com (Amadeus), viewtrip.com (Galileo). mytripandmore.com (Worldspan) or Virtuallyther.com (Sabre).

Thanks,
Richard

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:19
by Littlejohn
Hand Written. Their back end (? - check my booking online) says Y

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:29
by RichardMannion
Methinks you are in Y then!

Put on your best unhappy look :D

Thanks,
Richard

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:36
by Scrooge
The other thing to look out for is the amount you are billed,im guessing to your VS cc,if t's the mount for a one way upgrade,playdumb,if it's double the amount you thought..then I guess it's down to you.

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:44
by Littlejohn
""D'oh I'm so dumb"

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 21:49
by Scrooge
Do you know if the check-in people are Eithad employee's or outsourced? Something tell's me employee's

PostPosted: 02 May 2006, 22:02
by Littlejohn
No, they use SAS landside with Etihad employee supervision. The supervision is very visible, right down to a personal intro at check in. They then tell you they are going to help you check in, which is exactly what they do.

Knocks the spots of VS, although it pains me to say so.

Doors closing so have to go.

PostPosted: 03 May 2006, 10:35
by Monkey
Hope you enjoyed your Etihad Business class flight as much as I did.

Fab service isn't it!

PostPosted: 03 May 2006, 10:39
by Scrooge
It sounds like great service so far,can not wait for the TR.

PostPosted: 03 May 2006, 14:06
by ChuckC
Sailor,
Interesting problem. I wonder whether you may have paid a RT upgrade in error. Well, let's hope so.

Keep us posted, please!

Chuck-

PostPosted: 03 May 2006, 15:08
by mcmbenjamin
Sailor I think you will be in Y :(. They could be a bunch of IATA rules, etc. but ...

PostPosted: 21 May 2006, 10:18
by Littlejohn
Just thought you may like to know how this turned out. You may recall I had to pick up a hand written ticket at the airport and when they hand wrote the ticket they accidently put the return class as business rather than Y.

I had to change my fight date, so went to the local Etihad office today. They took my "business" ticket, looked up my booking, then looked puzzled. "The class is not the same on your booking as your ticket" says the agent. "Are you supposed to be traveling in business?" Thinking fast on my feet, I simply said that my secretary had booked it, and that I was sure she would not have booked my into first class ;). "That's fine" he said and promptly changed my booking to business. Then he pre-books a limo at collect me at this end, and another to take me home at the other end, and pre assigns my seat.

Sweet! [y] [y]

PostPosted: 21 May 2006, 10:26
by GatorBaiter
Jammy [y]

PostPosted: 21 May 2006, 10:34
by MarkJ
Originally posted by sailor99

"That's fine" he said and promptly changed my booking to business. Then he pre-books a limo at collect me at this end, and another to take me home at the other end, and pre assigns my seat.

Sweet! [y] [y]


They always say that those who have already got plenty continue to get more!![:I]

PostPosted: 21 May 2006, 19:21
by buns
Sailor 99

Nice one[y][y] It certainly does help to think on your feet - must remember that next time I am at a check in or similar[:w]

And I used to think when I played Monopoly that "Bank makes error in your favour" was merely a pipe dream:D:D

buns

PostPosted: 21 May 2006, 19:50
by Bazz
Well you certainly got a result Jeremy, and the bonus of the limo as well, well done mate!

PostPosted: 21 May 2006, 20:51
by Littlejohn
Guilt got the better of me. I thought about it and, although it would be great to get a freebee at Etihad's expense, it is still dishonest. So I gave them a ring this evening, explained what had happened, and admitted all. They checked my booking, saw what the mistake was, then told me not to worry about it, thanked me for ringing to tell them, told me that it was their mistake so they were going to leave me in busines, and finally confirmed that the limo will collect me at 11:30hrs nevertheless. And all this with out reference (that I knew of) to a supervisor.

Quite honestly I am flabbergasted. I will be making 6 trips over the next 3 months to Abu Dhabi. I had considered using VS to Dubai, but after this incredibly generous (and I might say far sighted) action Etihad have every one of those flights.

Any VS lurkers, take note how easy it is to have your pax poached by an new and hungry customer service department.

PostPosted: 21 May 2006, 20:52
by preiffer
Top marks Etihad [y]

Crikey! Well done mate.