Availability on connecting flights - KF was wrong!

[davidhes]

Evening all,

Had a a bit of a horror experience tonight with KF. Booking J flights to Europe for my wife and I with KF miles (converted from velocity). We are travelling with another couple who were doing the same thing. Both of us wanting to end up in Zurich, one couple out of Brisbane and the other Melbourne. Online there was 2 seats for both departure points, with the same connecting flight to Zurich.

We were concerned that as soon as 1 person booked, the availability would disappear for the other due to there possibly only being 2 seats on the connection to Zurich. So I called KF and they advised that there was 2 saver seats from both locations and they were separate pools so 1 person booking would not affect the other with the connection etc. They would both go through fine. Great news and I hang up.

Next we proceeded to both transfer over the exact number of velocity to KF miles. Refreshed the website to confirm he availability of seats and proceeded to book. Well that's where the fun ended. My friend clicked to the end about 15s before me and was able to checkout fine. As soon as I went to the pay screen it came up with your flight has been waitlisted! To say I was surprised is an understatement, given the likelihood of someone else booking those 2 seats was incredibly small.

So I proceeded to call KF back and basically it seems like there actually was only 2 saver seats on the connecting flight. 2min into my phone call my Melbourne to Singapore flight was available to confirm, but unsurprisingly the Zurich leg remained waitlisted. The lady put in a request to expedite an answer on the wait list but there is no guarantee. And we csnt afford to wait around months hoping it happens.

Suffice to say I am not happy. I now have points in KF that I don't want there if I can't get this exact flight, and I will cop another 1.35x fee to transfer them back. Basically looking like we will have to fly out the next day and meet our friends a day late in Zurich, as there supposedly is seats available the next day. That's for the moment though, who knows how long they will be available for. Not really happy having to waste a day of our trip to Europe sitting at home though.

An incredibly disappointing experience and some pretty poor customer service. I would never have transferred the points across if I hadn't been informed by KF that the seats were in a seperate pool. Lesson for everyone else considering something similar.

 

[dajop]

Would you consider somewhere not too far away (MXP, CDG, MUC) and catch a train? That may be an alternative. Or LHR or IST and a cheap flight (I say IST as that is a lot less points)? Seems a waste to take another hit transferring back.

Seems that the conversation you had with the KF agent is fraught with difficulty. Not sure what questions you specifically asked, but sometimes you have to put very very specific questions to them. In hindsight - never ask an agent to confirm something you intuitively know to be not true!

 

[davidhes]

Would you consider somewhere not too far away (MXP, CDG, MUC) and catch a train? That may be an alternative. Or LHR or IST and a cheap flight (I say IST as that is a lot less points)? Seems a waste to take another hit transferring back.

Seems that the conversation you had with the KF agent is fraught with difficulty. Not sure what questions you specifically asked, but sometimes you have to put very very specific questions to them. In hindsight - never ask an agent to confirm something you intuitively know to be not true!

Have pretty much checked everywhere for that date and there is no availability unfortunately. Only place is Dusseldorf which is a bit out of the way.. Considering it though.

Yep I should have trusted my instincts and not an agent. Even though I explained exactly what I wanted to do and he repeated it back to me and assured me that we would both be able to book.

Now we either decide to go to Dusseldorf and fly onwards to Zurich or go a day later.. Probably need to decide soon..

 

[davidhes]

Ended up sucking it up and booking for the next day. We will just get there a day later than our friends. My waitlisted flights for the previous day are still in my account though. If they become available is there a way to transfer to that flight? Even for a small fee?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Ended up sucking it up and booking for the next day. We will just get there a day later than our friends. My waitlisted flights for the previous day are still in my account though. If they become available is there a way to transfer to that flight? Even for a small fee?

david your best bet is to call KF and get them to add WL to your existing booking - that way if it does clear it is simply a sub for KF agent - and at no fee. If you have made separate WL on a different Booking Ref Number and it does clear then clears original booking needs to be cancelled and new one created - much more difficult this way.

 

[davidhes]

david your best bet is to call KF and get them to add WL to your existing booking - that way if it does clear it is simply a sub for KF agent - and at no fee. If you have made separate WL on a different Booking Ref Number and it does clear then clears original booking needs to be cancelled and new one created - much more difficult this way.

Thanks for the help. Just rang KF and they've linked the bookings but they said they can't guarantee that they will be able to waive the $30USD fee per ticket if it did become available to transfer to. Anyway at least they are linked and if t becomes available I have the option to move to it. I doubt it will though given I have no status with KF. Virgin gold but that's not going to help me here.

 

[dajop]

Thanks for the help. Just rang KF and they've linked the bookings but they said they can't guarantee that they will be able to waive the $30USD fee per ticket if it did become available to transfer to. Anyway at least they are linked and if t becomes available I have the option to move to it. I doubt it will though given I have no status with KF. Virgin gold but that's not going to help me here.

No, I think Cruiser was suggesting adding waitlist to your confirmed booking, not linking the current bookings.

When you call - don't mention other booking, just request that you would like to waitlist to go a day earlier, and get them to add that to the booking. Then separately cancel the booking you have waitlisted.

On second thoughts, this is all to out of the box, for the call centre staff to deal with ...

 

[travelislife]

Ended up sucking it up and booking for the next day. We will just get there a day later than our friends. My waitlisted flights for the previous day are still in my account though. If they become available is there a way to transfer to that flight? Even for a small fee?

This is a good way to do it. Have a confirmed booking and keep the wait list for your preferred flight. What was the availability online of SIN-ZRH seats before you booked?

 

[davidhes]

david your best bet is to call KF and get them to add WL to your existing booking - that way if it does clear it is simply a sub for KF agent - and at no fee. If you have made separate WL on a different Booking Ref Number and it does clear then clears original booking needs to be cancelled and new one created - much more difficult this way.

This is a good way to do it. Have a confirmed booking and keep the wait list for your preferred flight. What was the availability online of SIN-ZRH seats before you booked?

Unsure to be honest. First time booking with SQ and we just looked at the 2 seats each from Brisbane and Melbourne. Then called to see if that would be an issue and they swore it wouldn't be. Oh well, it's done now and no point complaining anymore. I've learnt my lesson not to trust the agents.

On a separate note which seats would everyone recommend for a couple on the a380 with all business upper cabin? Keep seeing conflicting arguments for 11DF or 18DF. Currently have 18DF selected but 11DF or 91DF are also available. From what I can gather the bulkhead seats are the way to go and we are flying at night/as a couple so windows aren't overly important.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

david it will really complicate matters for you if you have a confirmed booking on one Booking Ref and a WL on a different Booking Ref number. You need to call KF and ask them to add your WL to your confirmed Booking Ref.

If you have 2 separate Booking Ref Nos - confirmed booking on one and WL on another - then if WL does clear in order for you to affect the change original confirmed booking will need to be cancelled and new Booking Ref created to combine original MEL-SIN with new SIN-ZRH.

This was not the case in times past - but it is now - it will just make the whole procedure so much easier for you if WL does clear.

 

[davidhes]

david your best bet is to call KF and get them to add WL to your existing booking - that way if it does clear it is simply a sub for KF agent - and at no fee. If you have made separate WL on a different Booking Ref Number and it does clear then clears original booking needs to be cancelled and new one created - much more difficult this way.

This is a good way to do it. Have a confirmed booking and keep the wait list for your preferred flight. What was the availability online of SIN-ZRH seats before you booked?

david it will really complicate matters for you if you have a confirmed booking on one Booking Ref and a WL on a different Booking Ref number. You need to call KF and ask them to add your WL to your confirmed Booking Ref.

If you have 2 separate Booking Ref Nos - confirmed booking on one and WL on another - then if WL does clear in order for you to affect the change original confirmed booking will need to be cancelled and new Booking Ref created to combine original MEL-SIN with new SIN-ZRH.

This was not the case in times past - but it is now - it will just make the whole procedure so much easier for you if WL does clear.

Damn. Ok then I will give them a call when I finish work.. Hopefully they can add the waitlist to the confirmed booking.. Atm there are 2 separate booking references. The agent said he linked the two together and I assumed that was what you meant. Not going to be fun trying to explain I don't want them linked, I want them added together. Fingers crossed. I highly doubt the wait list would go through anyway but worth trying.

 

[dajop]

Damn. Ok then I will give them a call when I finish work.. Hopefully they can add the waitlist to the confirmed booking.. Atm there are 2 separate booking references. The agent said he linked the two together and I assumed that was what you meant. Not going to be fun trying to explain I don't want them linked, I want them added together. Fingers crossed. I highly doubt the wait list would go through anyway but worth trying.

Don't ask to add them put the two bookings together that will just make life difficult for you! Just add a new waitlist to your confirmed booking and completely get rid of current waitlisted booking - ie keep the bookings complete separate. Otherwise it will all be too hard.

It's only if waitlist is closed should you maintain current arrangements with the two bookings.

 

[davidhes]

Is that a good idea given they have added notes to my current request and they have said they are trying to expedite it?

 

[dajop]

Is that a good idea given they have added notes to my current request and they have said they are trying to expedite it?

Get them to add the notes to new request! If they haven't expedited in a couple of days I suspect they won't look at it until a few days before travel if it doesn't automatically come through. Unless your are a PPS!