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Geez. This is one reason I like Southwest: easy to change your flights, and NO rebook fee! They do fly SFO-PIT, but you already booked, so best of luck with Travelocity (ugh).
Geez. This is one reason I like Southwest: easy to change your flights, and NO rebook fee! They do fly SFO-PIT, but you already booked, so best of luck with Travelocity (ugh).
@jeffeb3: They do. I think this is a ESL gaffe, though. I don't have a clue what the Indian (or whatever) word is for \"funeral\", so if the situation was reversed I'd screw up too. Still, you'd think they'd train these people to know about funerals.
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My experience flying last-minute for funerals is that you will almost always get a better deal if you call the airline and ask about bereavement fares. The airline's booking agent will be able to find the right class of seat at the right time, which isn't going to be visible to you as a web user, especially using third-party sites like Travelocity or Expedia.
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Really they have to stop using non-english speaking customer support, it turns people off from using Travelocity.
If they have to , at least pick a decent one with the right education.
Sorry to hear about your loss and the trouble on top of that is just iceing on the cake.
One weekend I was back home for my Grandfathers funeral, we were at my parents house when I got a call from my then finance telling me her father just died. My sister got on another line and I had a flight back home leaving about 2 hours after the call. No charge to change the flight even though it was not someone in my immediate family. And this was USAir even.
Best bet is to always call the airline directly, but I can understand not thinking straight when it is your brother that dies.
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Most airlines do offer bereavement fares (also special fares if a family member is in the hospital). The price of the fare is usually half of the cost of a full price ticket, so it is usually still expensive.
I flew home in September because my mom was in the hospital. I used Midwest Airlines as I was flying from Las Vegas to Milwaukee. The total cost for my ticket was $375.92 (I usually pay around $250 for a flight home). I made the reservations about 3 hours before I left for Milwaukee and I had to call their 800 number to make the reservations. My mom ended up dying, so I had to move out my departure date and Midwest did that for me without charge.
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Though this doesn't always work, I've found that berevement fares are a joke. Instead, once I find out a family member is ill, I book a trip. For sometime in the distant future or the next major holiday. For the best possible fare I can find.
Then when you need to travel for berevement or critical illness, appeal to the airline to change the existing ticket. The worst I've had happen is being charged $25 by USAirways because a note from my grandfather's doctor was not enough. Certainly better than a half-price rack rate.
I just had to book a trip to seattle with american airlines from austin. My mother-in-law has terminal cancer and they offer a bereavement fare. Long story short I saved $300
I HATE foreign customer service. it's hard enough to understand domestic, regional accents sometimes. Trying to communicate a problem to someone that a) doesn't speak english as their primary language, b) doesn't understand things like \"funeral\" or that washington is a city in the District of Columbia, and c) has a thick accent is SO FRUSTRATING. when I call customer service, I'm calling because I couldn't resolve my issue online and I need someone that I can competently communicate with to solve a situation. I swore off flying united because their customer service is impossible to communicate with.
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@typetive: Ah... great tip! My experience when bereavement fares is that they are still quite expensive as well. I can recall one (American) Delta agent telling me that they are that high because anyone can say \"somebody died\" and get a discount, so until I rolled my grandfather's dead body up to the counter, I still had to pay $1200 to fly from ATL to LAX at the last minute. She also kindly suggested that the next time my 105-year-old grandfather goes into the hospital, I book a ticket \"just in case\". This is the same wonderful person who wouldn't let me use my 28,000 miles for the trip because I hadn't flown in 9 months, a stipulation they had just instituted the day before I walked up to the counter.
She's very lucky I was a young, naive college student back then, 'cuz in hindsight I should have whupped her natural behind.
As an employee of several major hotel brands, I can tell you from experience. DO NOT BOOK WITH 3RD PARTY TRAVEL AGENTS. They are unwilling/unable to fix your problems when they book you wrong. Also they typically stick you with \"what's left\". Call the hotel/airline direct, ask about discount rates, you'll be surprised how much a hotel will work with you. If you want to save five bucks to be treated like you don't matter, by all means book with Travelocity or Priceline.
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What a horrible story, my prayers for you and your family.
I accidentally entered the wrong Hotel on Orbitz once. I called them about 3 minutes later, and they canceled it for me with no problem, and without the fee. Try them next time.
I have been thinking about posting about Travelocity for a while! I had a similar experience with their customer service when my boss missed her flight home during a snow storm. 5 calls to their customer service did absolutely nothing, but I took a chance and called the airline that the flight was actually booked on (Delta) and they were FANTASTIC. Went out of their way to get everything fixed, mentioned that they hear lots of problems with Travelocity post-purchase, and got me a replacement flight for only an extra $25. (I was worried it would be like $400) So, when there's a problem after you booked, try the actual airline.
I had a similar problem with travelocity last year. I misbooked a flight and immediately called to fix it. They wouldn't budge on a refund and insisted I had to pay to change the ticket. I finally just called the airline itself and they fixed it for me in a matter of minutes (Thanks AA!).
What I do know is use the search sites to locate a good priced ticket, then go to the airlines website and buy it (and it's often cheaper this way!!).
Travelocity sucks. I had my share of problems with them a few years back and refused to use them ever again. I went through the same type of clueless \"service\" and yes, got the line disconnected a couple of times. And oh yeah, the computer was down. I guess they never got it working again [lol]
Get a travel agent...
There's really nothing else to be said.
This site is about not trusting corporations, so don't trust that some web giant is going to keep perfect track of all your transactions, calls, and the promises of low-level support staff.
@m4nea: In my experience you are very unlikely to get a good deal through a travel agent. Why pay a middle man when there are so many other options?
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On an added note about being a ninja. If the company you are having trouble with is not publicly traded and their info is not in Google Finance, check out www.hoovers.com. This is normally a subscription site, but the free information will have basic contact info for corporate offices.
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Bereavement fares offered by airlines usually aren't that much lower, in my experience. My grandmother passed away the last week in November and the fare I was offered from Northwest was comparable to anything last-minute I could dig up on the travel sites, except the connection times and airports were slightly better. Even then, it was a frustrating exercise - I had to price the fare and call back later, since I was coordinating with my siblings and husband, and I must have gotten two or three wildly different stories/prices from ticket agents. Determination(in a time of great stress and grief) is the key, I guess.
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When my mother-in-law passed away last year, I called British Airways directly, and they were very kind. We got a great rate, and on the return, we were upgraded for free.
It obviously depends on the airline, but I highly recommend calling them directly and at least checking into bereavement fares.
Jason, my condolences. I hope Travelocity straightens this out.
It's good to use Travelocity, Expedia, etc. to search for the cheapest fare but then book on the actual airlines website. You save $5 plus you only have to deal with the airline if you need to make changes.
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@consumerist: \"You can tell she is just dying to help you.\"
Erm.......
One thing about the bereavement fares is that almost every airline will let you change the date of your return flight without penalty. Even if it might be a little more expensive that's a great feature
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@Cerb:
options like having to deal with airlines and trying to get refunds? my travel agent is available 24 hours a day. Flight delayed? One call and I'm soft-booked on 5 flights to get me out of there. I only have to pay for the flight I get on.
Do THAT with a gate agent or airline website.
Travel agents are there for the same reason real estate agents are there. Do deal with fiddly details and jump through hoops so you don't have to.
Well, I've done a lot of flying and missed countless flights and I've never really had an trouble talking to the airline themselves. Customer service is often useless, but once you escalate it, it's usually taken care of. I've never even paid a few for missing a flight.
thanks to all of you for your help.
here is what Michelle said today:
Jason,
This is clearly shocking that someone would say they did not know what a
funeral is, and of course, you have my profound apologies. We also have
a zero tolerance policy for employees that hang up on customers, so we
can clearly go back to the call logs and try to find out what happened
here. We'll have someone look into this right away and get back to you.
We will get this resolved, and you have my very sincere apologies.
Michelle
________________________________________________
In addition, here are some additional e-mails that she is sending this info to...I thought it may help out others in the future..
Executive Offices ,
\"Mahl, Ginny\" ,
\"Weber, Tracey\"
Executive Offices executive.offices@travelocity.com>,
Mahl, Ginny\" Ginny.Mahl@travelocity.com,
Weber, Tracey\" Tracey.Weber@travelocity.com
for others in the future that need help.......
______________________________________________
Dear Mr. Doctor,
Thank you for contacting us in regards to your refund request. We
apologize for the frustration you experienced while trying to modify
your reservation. We have opened Service Incident # 3-388628686, and
your file has been assigned to Executive Resolutions Coordinator, Manuel
Rodriguez. Please allow Mr. Rodriguez some time to review your issue and
return to you with a proposed resolution or request for additional
information.
Sincerely,
Sanford Bradshaw
Executive Resolutions Team
Executive Offices
11603 Crosswinds Way, Suite 125
San Antonio, TX 78233
Phone 210-302-1749
Fax 210-302-1760
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@privatejoker75: Dude, Washington's a state in the Pacific Northwest. What is this District of Columbia stuff? :)
Seriously, though, for clarity, \"D.C.\" will never get misunderstood.
BUT....why bother having customer service at all if they can't speak English properly? I mean, seriously. I'd rather just deal with a machine in that case.
What's almost worse is sales calls made by people I can hardly understand. No, I'm not buying your VOIP product....
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Can you have your credit card company help you handle this?
Sorry about your brother. No one should have to deal with this after the death of a loved one.
They refunded my money (for the second flight) but didnt give me a Bereavement fare.
---thank you Ben and everybody at the Consumerist
Dear Jason:
We want to let you know that your refund request has been
submitted to our Finance department and is scheduled to be
processed on 12/21/2007. Once the credit has been applied to
your credit card, you will again receive notification from
Travelocity.
Thank you for using Travelocity. Only Travelocity guarantees
your entire travel experience on top of having a low price
guarantee. We'll be in touch soon!
Very Sincerely,
Travelocity Service Team
Sorry for your loss, Jason.
Whoa, that's a new record for customer service absurdity. I thought I read a few weeks ago, maybe it was here, that airlines have special fares for traveling home for funerals.