45223wc@mtuxo.UUCP (w.cambre) (08/10/85)
What does one do if they lost some airline tickets (that were charged
to AMEX)? Obviously one gets new tickets issued, but what about the first set.
Does the loser have to pay for them? (You can't be serious!) How do
airlines get their money from ticket sales? When the ticket is used?
When the ticket is issued? How does the loser get the airline to refund
the amount of the tickets? Let say the tickets had printed on them
REFUND TO AMEX #blahblahblahblah ONLY. I've heard from travel agents
that there is a 'LOST TICKET' form available from the airlines, but that
it takes about six months for the refund to go through. Is this true?
Would you believe I'm just an interested third party?
- Bill Cambre {ihnp4!}mtuxo!45223wcbtb@mtuxo.UUCP (Bruce Burger) (08/13/85)
> What does one do if they lost some airline tickets (that were charged > to AMEX)? Obviously one gets new tickets issued, but what about the first > set? When I lost a ticket, Eastern charged me $20 and said that if the old (lost) ticket was used, I'd be billed for the new one too. They said they could not guarantee that they would notice if someone tried to use the lost ticket. I had no choice but to go along; if someone had subsequently used the lost ticket I would have sued them on the grounds that they should have caught them. (Then again, I can see how that's difficult, especially since another airline could accept an Eastern ticket with the presumption that Eastern will pay them.) The story had a happy ending, since a week after the flight, a person I was flying with discovered that she had had my ticket all along. --Bruce Burger AT&T Information Systems Freehold, NJ {...ihnp4!}mtuxo!btb
shaprkg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Bob Shapiro) (08/15/85)
In article <867@mtuxo.UUCP> 45223wc@mtuxo.UUCP (w.cambre) writes: > > What does one do if they lost some airline tickets (that were charged >to AMEX)? Obviously one gets new tickets issued, but what about the first set. >Does the loser have to pay for them? (You can't be serious!) How do >airlines get their money from ticket sales? When the ticket is used? >When the ticket is issued? How does the loser get the airline to refund >the amount of the tickets? Let say the tickets had printed on them >REFUND TO AMEX #blahblahblahblah ONLY. I've heard from travel agents >that there is a 'LOST TICKET' form available from the airlines, but that >it takes about six months for the refund to go through. Is this true? > >Would you believe I'm just an interested third party? > > - Bill Cambre {ihnp4!}mtuxo!45223wc As someone who owns a travel agency let me give you the following advice: Most airlines (but not all particularly the discounters like Southwest and People Express) have a lost or stolen ticket form. The charge is usually $50 if they pay off the ticket. The airlines usually spend some amount of time which varies from 1 to 6 months researching to see if the ticket was used or refunded. If not then they pay off. As to the use of the AMEX card, the ticket may only be refunded back to that card. This is one reason why you should always buy tickets with a credit card. If they are stolen they can be used but not refunded. Since many fares these days have very strict policies regarding changing of the reservation then it also becomes difficult to use the ticket. Since I have been in business (almost 8 years) I have never had a case where the airlines did not pay off. (about 50 situations) It is also my experience that the airlines will permit you to have your ticket rewritten even though you may no longer qualify for the fare (either it has increased or you are within an advance purchase period). Finally as to your question of when does the airline get its money. This is a little tricky. Every ticket has a "plating" airline. That is the airline who receives the money for the ticket. Typically the plating airline is the first airline of the itinerary unless it is an international trip in which case the first over-water carrier is typically used. Assuming that you have a 3-leg ticket consisting of airlines A, B, and C. A gets all the money and when you travel on B and C they must submit their coupons back to A for their money. You can see that it is a big advantage from a money float point of view to be the plating airline. A few years ago, American Airlines set a policy that all tickets issued on their computer regardless of which airlines were used would be plated on American. The other airlines set up a large yell and the CAB mandated that you may only plate on one of the airlines which are included in the itinerary. They also strongly pushed for the rule of the first airline or first over-water carrier. This is also the way in which a travel agent protects against a financially-weak airline. If A is weak and B is strong then you use B for plating. Thus if A goes out of business then the money lies with B and is available for refund. Notice that this tends to put a large cash-flow problem on financially-weak airlines and that is exactly what happened to Braniff when they went under. Bob Shapiro
scs@axiom.UUCP (Steve Schwarm) (08/18/85)
I had it happen to me in December. Some tickets got thrown in the trash. It cost $30.00 per ticket and took 6 months. This was though Eastern but I think it is about the same with other airlines. The cost does differ. You should treat Airline Tickets as Cash!! Steve Schwarm linus!axiom!scs
ecl@mtgzz.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (08/21/85)
Several years ago (well, 14, if you must know), I lost a ticket flying to California on United Airlines--when they took my luggage tickets at the exit they took my ticket folder with them. They issued a replacement ticket at no charge, and told me that if my original was used within six months, they would bill me for it. This was my first experience flying. I was a college student with no credit cards and no checking account, and was quite relieved that they would issue a replacement on my word. There was no charge then, but $20 isn't too bad when you consider the cost of tickets. I suspect that smaller airlines may have less generous policies, since they can less easily afford the loss if some one does falsely get a replacement, use both tickets, and then skip out on the payment. Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!ecl