Urgent - unable to check in at airport with confirmed ticket

[matt_will_fix_it]

my colleague is in MNL now trying to check in... however SQ says their status is Waitlisted...

I check their status online - e-ticket says Status:OK. Travel agent says status is confirmed too. Ticket is in Y class (which is full)... the best they can offer is go on standby. If standby doesn't clear should they op-up someone so my colleague can fly (J is showing 4 available)...

Any ideas how to get on the flight? scheduled departure is in 1hr, 10 mins...

[SQflyergirl]

you got PM.

[matt_will_fix_it]

Ok - so I'm sure you're all dying to know the outcome of this

My colleague was denied boarding at MNL... SQ system said she was waitlisted/standby... TA said she was confirmed... I printed out the e-ticket from singaporeair.com while all this was going on & the e-ticket says Status=OK (not WL).

Honestly if it were someone else telling me this I wouldn't believe it... but I have the e-ticket from SQ.com which says confirmed...

So... it looks like there was an IT glitch in this booking & the system didn't have my colleagues correct status across all systems... so now what... my colleague wasn't offered any compensation, no hotel, no food etc... as she was waitlisted & not confirmed in SQ's system...

My question is... what type of compensation is normally given for denied boarding? I'm going to write a letter to SQ, but what type of compensation should I be asking for?

Its got me thinking... how much can you trust an e-ticket? I've flown 99% of the time on e-tickets... but in this case the printed e-ticket was ignored by SQ (because their system didn't match) & no compensation given at the airport... it doesn't give me much faith if things mess up like this...

Many thanks!

[SQflyergirl]

Sorry to hear that

I hope she isn't too greatly inconvenienced!

[SuperFlyBoy]

My colleague was denied boarding at MNL... SQ system said she was waitlisted/standby... TA said she was confirmed... I printed out the e-ticket from singaporeair.com while all this was going on & the e-ticket says Status=OK (not WL).

Honestly if it were someone else telling me this I wouldn't believe it... but I have the e-ticket from SQ.com which says confirmed...

So... it looks like there was an IT glitch in this booking & the system didn't have my colleagues correct status across all systems... so now what... my colleague wasn't offered any compensation, no hotel, no food etc... as she was waitlisted & not confirmed in SQ's system...

My question is... what type of compensation is normally given for denied boarding? I'm going to write a letter to SQ, but what type of compensation should I be asking for?

Happened to me when a TA W/L a ticket without telling me explicitly...

SQ told me no seats in J, could only fly in Y (so no PPS sectors at the time), didn't bother to message the originating station for verification of fare to price up to F - nothing.

I had to pay to stay in SIN, and stood by on the third day to get on the plane at the last minute to my destination - sucked totally, and SQ denied any compensation...

So, after PPS devaluation, I am flying LH/TG, which has been working out fine...

[matt_will_fix_it]

Happened to me when a TA W/L a ticket without telling me explicitly...

What a pain hey? But I guess in this case its the TA thats liable as they made the mistake....

In this case however the TA confirmed & re-validated the e-ticket... I've even got the copy of e-ticket issued direct from SQ... anyway, i'll let you know what happens.

[SuperFlyBoy]

What a pain hey? But I guess in this case its the TA thats liable as they made the mistake....

Yup - he used the excuse that he thought I would clear as I was PPS! (I was not, as I was using the MR on SQ to obtain QPPS01)

In this case however the TA confirmed & re-validated the e-ticket... I've even got the copy of e-ticket issued direct from SQ... anyway, i'll let you know what happens.

Right - good luck! ^

[zander]

I had the same problem before once. Ticket showed confirmed on singaporeair.com but at the airport I was told that I was on standby.
But everything worked out fine as they gave me an opup.

Shouldn't they have op-up your colleague since there were seats in J?

[TerryK]

Sorry to hear about his/her problem.

Unfortunately, it is not all that unusual with any TA or interline bookings, not just with SQ. It has happened to me several times, but each time it was resolved as there were seats available. I was lucky I guess. I learned to always call the operating airlines to confirm and get seat assignments. Sometimes, the booking is confirmed, but seat assignment gets lost interline.

There are some plausible scenarios other than cyber mystery:
1) Your colleague was waitlisted. It was later confirmed, but the TA never acknowledged the confirmation. The status stayed at KL, not HK.
2) The flight was confirmed, but there was a subsequent schedule change. The TA never acknowledged the new schedule. Kriscom may cancel the HK booking if not acknowledged. This applies to even insignificant schedule changes like 2 minutes.

You can write to SQ but I am not sure if you will receive any compensation since SQ will base it on their system which shows he/she was on standby.

[kaysquare]

I had the same problem before once. Ticket showed confirmed on singaporeair.com but at the airport I was told that I was on standby.
But everything worked out fine as they gave me an opup.

Shouldn't they have op-up your colleague since there were seats in J?

It happened to me too.. Wasn't able to get a seat assigned at OLCI. Op Up fairy appeared in SIN. The one and only time I got an SQ Op up.

[matt_will_fix_it]

Shouldn't they have op-up your colleague since there were seats in J?

Thats what I thought too... but SQ let the flight go out with empty seats in J and my colleague denied boarding & no compensation offered... which differs from the SQ COC at http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_U...l/contract.jsp where it states

DENIED BOARDING

2. DUE TO OVERBOOKING
In order to minimize the effect of "No Shows", and to permit seats to be used by passengers who otherwise would not be able to travel on a chosen flight, airline flights may be overbooked, and there is a slight chance that a seat will not be available on a flight for which a passenger holds a confirmed reservation. If the flight is overbooked, no one will be denied a seat until airline personnel first ask for volunteers willing to give up their reservation in exchange for a payment of the airline's choosing. If there are not enough volunteers the airline will deny boarding to other persons in accordance with its particular boarding priority. With few exceptions persons denied boarding involuntarily are entitled to compensation. The complete rules for the payment of compensation and each airline's boarding priorities are available at all airport ticket counters and boarding locations. However, some airlines do not apply these consumer protections to travel from some countries, although other consumer protections may be available. Passengers should check with their airline or travel agent for details.

The bit in bold didn't happen... I guess SQ will argue that the ticket was on standby in their system... but as a passenger how were we resonably expected to know? SQ issued e-ticket says confirmed...

anyway I'll follow it up with customer services and see what their response is

[Rejuvenated]

There are some plausible scenarios other than cyber mystery:
1) Your colleague was waitlisted. It was later confirmed, but the TA never acknowledged the confirmation. The status stayed at KL, not HK.
2) The flight was confirmed, but there was a subsequent schedule change. The TA never acknowledged the new schedule. Kriscom may cancel the HK booking if not acknowledged. This applies to even insignificant schedule changes like 2 minutes.:

With SABRE, the TA can always check daily using the QC/ function which will inform them of waitlist clearing, time schedule changes, etc for bookings done on the TA's SABRE system. But of course it is the responsibility of the TA to perform this check and to inform the passengers.

Don't know how it is done with other GDS such as Apollo, Amadeus.

[matt_will_fix_it]

Ok... latest update on this case... TA have investigated what happened. The e-ticket was re-issued for the new flight, TA got confirmation back, then 10 hours later SQ cancelled e-ticket & reverted to earlier flight... then when my colleague goes to check in that day SQ can only see her on the earlier flight which had already departed...

Abacus investigated & found the TA did everything correctly & there was a software/interface error between Abacus & SQ... So now its for Abacus & SQ to battle this one out! Will post further updates when I have them...

[matt_will_fix_it]

Ok - this issue is now resolved. SQ has finally admitted they were at fault and have offered to give us a cheque equivalent to the cost of a 1 way fare + any expenses incurred because of this.

It wasn't easy (I think it would be easier to get blood out of a stone!) but at least SQ has taken responsibility for their ticketing error.

[SQ LPP]

I am glad to hear it has been resolved and SQ acted responsibly.