I hesitated before writing this post, since it was only an isolated incident, as far as I know. But it was nonetheless disturbing.
While checking email on the weekend I heard from a client in Washington who had arranged a meeting. One participant was ill and had to cancel. When I signed into our agency computer, however, I also noticed a message from US Airways about another participant.
In short, the message said she had no-showed the flight, and they had also canceled her return. When I questioned the meeting arranger, she said, “No, she’s here.”
I called US Airways and told them she had flown. The agent said the computer showed she had not.
I didn’t know the story. Had she checked in late or had she tried to standby or had there been another issue? All of these are issues that can result in an airline mistakenly tagging a passenger as a no-show.
Our agency sales desk with supervisors is closed on the weekends, but this seemed like a simple explainable mistake. So I passed along the US Airways phone number and suggested the passenger just call and tell the airline what if anything happened.
End of problem? So I thought.
But when the passenger, an articulate and intelligent woman I have booked tickets for in the past, called the airline, they denied her request to reinstate the booking. She was told she had to go to National Airport, with her boarding pass, to prove she had flown.
Fortunately, she had the boarding pass, albeit torn, in the hotel waste basket and was able to retrieve it. And she was only a short Metro ride from the airport.
Apparently, there were no unusual circumstances.
The passenger checked in, ontime, at the airport, and made no special requests. When I called today to ask the airline if there were any notations in the record, the agent said that she now showed checked in for yesterday and the booking had been reinstated. She said she didn’t see anything else and so couldn’t comment on what had happened.
The only thing the travel arranger and I could think of was traveler’s first name: Naseem.
I can’t help wondering: Would they have done this to a Nancy?
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.)
