A family friend of mine was recently travelling from Hong Kong to Sydney on CX161 which departs at 9:25pm. She arrived at the Airport Express in Central at 6:30 so she had plenty of time before her flight and because she needed to buy an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority). When she arrived at the check in counter, she was told that she was supposed to have flown the day before on a connecting flight from Fukuoka to HK then Sydney. She told them how that was wrong since she lived in HK and asked them to check again.
After rechecking, it turned out that another Japanese woman of the same name had flown from Fukuoka to HK then Sydney the day before. The people at the counters told her that her ticket was confirmed but was in the process of issuing. They called the Marco Polo booking desk (she had booked the flight through Marco Polo) and after an hour on hold she was told to take the train to the airport so she wouldn't waste any more time. Finally two hours later the line went through and she was told to repurchase it by paying HKD $1000 ($178 AUD) extra since the ticket had not been actually been booked and was paid for on the same day that she was flying.Â
She naturally complained that the reason she had to pay extra was because they hadn't properly booked her and asked for a compensation such as an upgrade but was told that this wasn't possible as it had to be authorized by a manager. She asked to speak to a manager and at this point it was already 9:00 so she changed her flight to 11:55 as the price would've stayed the same. The people at the Cathay counters kept telling her that they couldn't do anything as it was being handled by Marco Polo. Eventually after four hours since the problems began she gave up and decided to pay as she had to board and asked them to send an explanatory email to her.Â
In the end she wasn't charged the extra $178 but it's been 3 weeks and still hasn't received an email explaining what happened. It was lucky that she didn't have anything too important the next day as she would have most definitely had to cancel it.Â
What should she do, should she send an email complaining to Cathay Pacific or...?
She booked her flight on the phone to Marco Polo Club because she originally wanted to use her miles but couldn't as there weren't any available seats and decided to pay. She received a confirmation email afterwards so she didn't suspect anything went wrong.Â
Sorry about how badly it was written, it's my first time writing one of these.Â
1) By booking with Marco Polo Club, do you mean she called a dedicated Marco Polo Club line to book her tickets? Or do you mean by calling Asia Miles to use her miles but later paying cash? (this would help you define your problem better to Cathay Pacific)
2) Did the confirmation email confirm the flight with flight details and price, similar or identical to an e-ticket/receipt?
It seems the flight was never ticketed by Cathay Pacific. However, the staff should've had full control of her ticket and the aircraft as 24 hours before the flight, its all off to the airline.
If you indeed have prove of an e-ticket/receipt by Marco Polo or Cathay, then you have enough basis to lodge your complaint fairly sucessfully. If you do not, it may take some arguing and a hit or miss success rate in receiving compensation.
I would suggest writing a formal letter or email to both Cathay Pacific and Marco Polo Club (especially if she has status with them) explaining the failure to ticket likely due to the mistake of a similar name. Another argument/complaint to put forward is the lack of help from ground staff when all logistics of the flight and responsibilities for the ticket are handed off to the airline (they shouldn't have deferred her to MPC). Finally, state your demands clearly including the amount of compensation (keep it reasonable such as re-funding the cost of the ticket, etc). Given that the extra charge was not actually charged, this is not a big deal to demand compensation for. If she is interested in going through the official process though, it may take some time and effort, but following the above process should get her the desired result.
This situation itself is as confusing as how you explained... She/he would be suggested to recheck wth happened by calling asiamiles/Mpc/rev office, whichever he/she made this reservation originally. It would be even wiser to send a very formal email asking for an explanation and compensation (since you were not charged extra, some miles as courtesy can be expected) to am/mpc/rev office.
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Cathay Pacific booking not working
michael12x12
michael12x12
Member since 10 Mar 2018
Total posts 1
A family friend of mine was recently travelling from Hong Kong to Sydney on CX161 which departs at 9:25pm. She arrived at the Airport Express in Central at 6:30 so she had plenty of time before her flight and because she needed to buy an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority). When she arrived at the check in counter, she was told that she was supposed to have flown the day before on a connecting flight from Fukuoka to HK then Sydney. She told them how that was wrong since she lived in HK and asked them to check again.
After rechecking, it turned out that another Japanese woman of the same name had flown from Fukuoka to HK then Sydney the day before. The people at the counters told her that her ticket was confirmed but was in the process of issuing. They called the Marco Polo booking desk (she had booked the flight through Marco Polo) and after an hour on hold she was told to take the train to the airport so she wouldn't waste any more time. Finally two hours later the line went through and she was told to repurchase it by paying HKD $1000 ($178 AUD) extra since the ticket had not been actually been booked and was paid for on the same day that she was flying.Â
She naturally complained that the reason she had to pay extra was because they hadn't properly booked her and asked for a compensation such as an upgrade but was told that this wasn't possible as it had to be authorized by a manager. She asked to speak to a manager and at this point it was already 9:00 so she changed her flight to 11:55 as the price would've stayed the same. The people at the Cathay counters kept telling her that they couldn't do anything as it was being handled by Marco Polo. Eventually after four hours since the problems began she gave up and decided to pay as she had to board and asked them to send an explanatory email to her.Â
In the end she wasn't charged the extra $178 but it's been 3 weeks and still hasn't received an email explaining what happened. It was lucky that she didn't have anything too important the next day as she would have most definitely had to cancel it.Â
What should she do, should she send an email complaining to Cathay Pacific or...?
She booked her flight on the phone to Marco Polo Club because she originally wanted to use her miles but couldn't as there weren't any available seats and decided to pay. She received a confirmation email afterwards so she didn't suspect anything went wrong.Â
Sorry about how badly it was written, it's my first time writing one of these.Â
djtech
djtech
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member since 02 Sep 2018
Total posts 375
I just want to clarify a few details.
koji
koji
Cathay Pacific - The Marco Polo Club
Member since 11 Jun 2018
Total posts 58
This situation itself is as confusing as how you explained... She/he would be suggested to recheck wth happened by calling asiamiles/Mpc/rev office, whichever he/she made this reservation originally. It would be even wiser to send a very formal email asking for an explanation and compensation (since you were not charged extra, some miles as courtesy can be expected) to am/mpc/rev office.