Of all the mistakes in the travel industry, day and date mistakes are probably the easiest to make.
Among a reduction in the number of calendars, the fact that most Americans are overloaded and the fact that few of us type as well as we think, especially in a touchscreen age, I’m actually sometimes amazed that there aren’t more problems.
In this case, a client told me he needed to make a trip to Frankfurt, and be back for an October 28th meeting. This meant he needed to fly back on the 27th. But between the first read and actually booking the reservation, I managed to book the return reservation for the 28th.
And when the traveler saw the itinerary, he said it was perfect and to go ahead and issue. That was in June of this year. Today, when he looked at his ticket while booking a train ticket, he noticed the mistake. This was a 50-day advance fare with at least a $400 change fee.
The good news — the return was available in the right class of service. But, technically, it couldn’t even be changed until after next week’s departure, by which point it could sell out.
Now, clearly this wasn’t Lufthansa’s mistake. I got careless in reading the date and the traveler got careless in approving the reservation. I was hoping that at least the airline would allow me to change the reservation now for the $400 fee, instead of waiting and hoping.
So, I contacted our sales representative (Lufthansa is one of an increasingly shrinking number of airlines that has sales representatives for individual agencies) and told her the story. I also sent her the original email trail. She said she’d look into it.
And as it turned out, less than six hours later, she came back with a waiver, for the entire change fee. Which meant we could reissue the ticket for no charge, to the date he wanted.
Now, in this case, since the flight involved had plenty of space, it was a comparatively easy fix. But, as travel agents and travelers alike know, the fact that a fix might be in theory easy doesn’t stop most airlines from refusing to waive penalties. (Even though, as in this case, the goodwill engendered will certain make the traveler, and me, more likely to book Lufthansa in future.)
Are there any lessons out of this, other than needing to be especially careful when booking penalty fares? The answer is yes.
First, it can help to have booked through a travel agent. In this case, the mistake was mine for making the original reservation and his for not seeing it, but travelers who book direct can and do make the same mistakes. (In fact, our agency gets a few calls a month from people who have booked flights with the airline, and want us to fix it. We can’t help them for tickets we haven’t booked.
A travel agent can and should go to bat for you in such situations, especially when they’ve been involved in the mistake. Most agents will try to help even if the mistake was 100% the traveler’s.
If you are using an agent, it also helps if the agency has a good relationship with the carriers you book. In our agency’s case, I am happy to tell clients up front with which airlines we have preferred relationships. Does that mean such an airline can solve all problems? No. But, it means there’s a better chance of getting any problem fixed. In this case it really helped that we have a good relationship with Lufthansa and their sales representative.
Finally, if possible, check your reservation carefully as soon as it is ticketed. Whether or not an agency has a relationship with an airline or even when you book online, there is a 24-hour window for cancellation. Almost anything can be undone within that time frame. After that, it gets more complicated.
Again, since there is so focus on airline problems on this blog, kudos to Lufthansa for coming up with a solution. They made a good client, who is a frequent flier to Europe, and one of their travel agents, who books a lot of travel to Europe, very happy.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
