Monumental Stuff up by Qantas

[Sheenaec7]

Hi All,

I'm needing some advice and moral support in dealing with a monumental stuff up by Qantas. It's a long story but I'll keep it as brief as possible (but will be venting a bit as well).

- 18th Sept 2017 :l made a call to Qantas FF Customer Support to make an award booking using QFF points. I already had the itinerary and availability found for me by QFF Flyer Solutions. The call lasted 1hr 15mins and resulted in an award booking in J from HAV - MAD - LIS flying Iberia.

- 24th Sept 2017: l receive an email asking me to provide more information via a link to complete my booking.
I go to the link and provide the required info.

- 4th Jan 2018: l receive an email from Qantas quoting my booking number telling me that there is a 25min time change to the above-mentioned award flight.

- 1st May 2018: I arrive at the Havana airport for my above-mentioned flight to be told that I have no booking. After talking with supervisors etc they offer me a J seat for US$5,200 which was WAAAAY above the ticket price. A Y seat was US$2,400 (more than a normal J ticket). It didn't matter anyway as, after trying everything possible, they couldn't process the payment on my CC.

So begins the nightmare. I spent the next 6 hours with no money (was down to my last 10CUC - I was leaving the country, why would I hang on to currency that is totally useless elsewhere and can't be exchanged outside of Cuba), no food, no water, no Wi-Fi, no phone, no communication with friends and family, language barrier, no where to stay and no-one with enough English to really understand the situation.
I queued 3 times (approx 20 mins each time) to try different cards in the ATM at the airport and got no cash each time (2 were cards with no affiliation with the US - they don't accept US cash or cards in Cuba). Money changers didn't want to know me. Taxi drivers hounded me until they found out I had no money then ignored me. In my dealings with the Iberian/Cuban government airline staff (who were as helpful as they could be seeing as it was no fault of theirs) I had to visit 3 different levels of the airport several times. Not one elevator or escalator in the entire airport was working. The reason I go to great lengths to fly business class in the first place is due to a back injury, spinal fusion and the inability to sit for any length of time without extreme pain and discomfort. Lugging my suitcase up and down the stationary escalators just killed my back.
The whole time it was dawning on me that I was going to be sleeping in the Havana airport hungry and thirsty, knowing that the next day would still bring the same problems : no money, no food, no water, no communication and no flight out.
Cutting it short again, one of the Iberian check-in staff took me to her elderly neighbours house at 2am where I stayed until the next morning. The airline checkin staff then came and got me and took me to her house. Then later took me to a remote park where you could get wifi. I called my sister in Melbourne in the middle of the night and asked if she could book me a flight from there. It took her all night (and she easily spoke to 30 people in Madrid) before she could lock in a flight. But, they couldn't accept payment from an Australian credit card (it didn't stop them putting a hold on her cc for TWO tickets that wasn't removed for 2 weeks but that's another story). At 7am she woke up a travel agent friend in NSW and got her on the case. Long story short she got me a ticket and was able to pay for it 2hrs before the flight (24hrs after my original flight).

I ended up paying $2,250.00 for Y seat. That is more than the price for a J seat on that same flight normally. So, after 24 traumatic hours in Havana airport I paid out a business class price to sit for 9 hours in economy (on the 1st leg of the flight) with FOUR crying babies who managed to set each other off constantly the whole way. I was in agony with my back and didn't get a wink of sleep on the overnight flight. I know Qantas doesn't give a flying rats about any of this and I do apologise for going on and on but this is a major stuff up and I need to vent.

Anyway, I have contacted Qantas several times in the last month via email and got the standard responses. I was overseas until 4 days ago and the 30min wait time any time I tried to call them from o/s was too long so I let it go until I got back. So, today, I finally spoke to them and their side of the story is:

1. When I booked online I neglected to give them important details (my middle name and DOB). I told them I didn't book online but booked on the phone in a 1hr 15min phone call. They said the info should've been taken by the person making the award booking. It wasn't. Not my fault.

2. They said when they realised that they hadn't asked me for the important information they sent me an email asking for it. They did send me an email and I followed the link and updated the info. They say it didn't get up dated on the website. Not my fault. A glitch in their system.

3. They say they sent several emails and made phone calls over the following couple of months requesting the information. I received none of them. I am happy for them to check with my internet server. Not my fault. A glitch in their system.

4. They said that when they hadn't heard from me by the end of October/November (not exactly sure when) 2017 they cancelled my booking. I asked them why they sent me an update to my flight time in January 2018. They said that it was an automated email. Wouldn't you only get an automated email like that if it was connected to a LIVE booking??? A glitch in their system.
PS - Iberia said they had never even received a booking from Qantas in the first place.

5. Qantas Customer Care say that on their end they have done everything possible. (Apart from neglect to tell me that I didn't have a booked flight out of Havana).

6. I have checked since and the points were not deducted from my FF account. I didn't notice at the time of booking as I was travelling and had booked several award flights that day from different accounts and didn't bother keeping up with points etc. I just assumed that if you had booked a flight on the phone and someone told you it was all booked that it was all booked.

7. At the moment they are putting it to someone higher up and there is a possibility that they will provide me with a letter so can claim the cost of the replacement ticket from my travel insurance. What I have to say here will probably stop my post from being posted so I won't say it.

It will take a few days for this discussion to happen and I know already that I'm going to be majorly gob-smacked at the pathetic-ness of their final resolution.

This has gone on longer than I expected so thank you to anyone who has made it down to here.

So, any suggestions, ideas would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone had something similar?

Is going to the ACA an option?

Thanks in advance

 

[opusman]

Sounds like a horrible experience.

I'm curious though - did you ever receive an e-ticket from Qantas for the flight? Not just a booking confirmation, but an e-ticket with a ticket number?

If not, that should have triggered some alarm bells imo. Not saying it was your fault, but I would never assume a flight was actually booked and ticketed until I'd received the actual ticket.

In terms of being stuck in Havana with no access to money etc, this isn't really something I think you can blame Qantas for. Things can go wrong with travel at any time. Your flight might have been cancelled due to mechanical failure or weather, for example, and you would have been in the same situation. You should always make sure you have a bit of foreign currency on you for emergencies, particularly in places like Cuba.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Ouch!
Sorry, I don't have a solution, but thats a very very very scary occurance.
Lucky you did make it out in the end.

 

[Sheenaec7]

Sounds like a horrible experience.

I'm curious though - did you ever receive an e-ticket from Qantas for the flight? Not just a booking confirmation, but an e-ticket with a ticket number?

If not, that should have triggered some alarm bells imo. Not saying it was your fault, but I would never assume a flight was actually booked and ticketed until I'd received the actual ticket.

In terms of being stuck in Havana with no access to money etc, this isn't really something I think you can blame Qantas for. Things can go wrong with travel at any time. Your flight might have been cancelled due to mechanical failure or weather, for example, and you would have been in the same situation. You should always make sure you have a bit of foreign currency on you for emergencies, particularly in places like Cuba.

I didn't receive an e-ticket at the time (only realised that when l looked for it after l got out of Cuba) just the booking confirmation. It didn't alert me to anything at the time as l had received other communication from them in the following days requesting that l finalise the booking which l did and to me it looked like a confirmed booking. Especially when they send an email alerting me to a time change. I probably wasn't keeping an eye on everything as I was travelling at the time and had booked 3 other award flights that day (not via Qantas). So, l registered receiving the booking confirmation and that was it. As for the 24hr ordeal at Havana airport l know that's got nothing to do with Qantas (apart from the fact that I wouldn't have been there if they'd done their job properly in the first place) but I'm needing to vent I don't expect anything in that regard but I'd like them to acknowledge the stuff up and help me to get reimbursed for the extra expense of the replacement ticket.
I'd stupidly swapped the last of my Euros earlier that day. I will definitely make sure I'm loaded with cash in the future especially in Cuba.

 

[Quickstatus]

Sorry for your experience.

Lack of funds especially in Cuba - not something that can be sheeted home to QF
But I’m glad there are nice people in the world who go out of their way to help a fellow traveller.

(I once lent my phone to a girl in tears after our flight back to OZ was cancelled so she could call her Mum back home - I felt uplifted I could help. Hopefully someone will help me sometime)

Last minute flights are always going to be exorbitantly priced
Babies in Y - common but I too would vent about this if my day was cough.

The assumption you made was in sending an email you assumed the recipient received it and acted on it. Unless there was a reply or receipt it never happened.

Without the e-ticket you don’t have a ticket whatever the previous correspondence. That is the crux of the matter. Sure there may well have been glitches etc but I always make sure an Eticket has been received.

In any case does QF carry any responsibility?. Maybe but they did try to contact you. QF could not have completed the Iberia booking from their end without the necessary details. In the end some lessons learnt.

No doubt your experiences will be better next time . A baptism of fire in Cuba is not for the feint hearted and you survived. All the best!!

 

[Sheenaec7]

Sorry for your experience.

Lack of funds especially in Cuba - not something that can be sheeted home to QF
But I’m glad there are nice people in the world who go out of their way to help a fellow traveller.

(I once lent my phone to a girl in tears after our flight back to OZ was cancelled so she could call her Mum back home - I felt uplifted I could help. Hopefully someone will help me sometime)

Last minute flights are always going to be exorbitantly priced
Babies in Y - common but I too would vent about this if my day was cough.

The assumption you made was in sending an email you assumed the recipient received it and acted on it. Unless there was a reply or receipt it never happened.

Without the e-ticket you don’t have a ticket whatever the previous correspondence. That is the crux of the matter. Sure there may well have been glitches etc but I always make sure an Eticket has been received.

In any case does QF carry any responsibility?. Maybe but they did try to contact you. QF could not have completed the Iberia booking from their end without the necessary details. In the end some lessons learnt.

No doubt your experiences will be better next time . A baptism of fire in Cuba is not for the feint hearted and you survived. All the best!!

The kindness of the locals lady and the check in girl was overwhelming. I was very lucky otherwise it could've been a very ugly night for a young (57yo) girl like me.
It's the first time I've redeemed a flight with QFF and I'll be triple checking everything next time. I never want to end up in that situation again.
Apart from that I'd had an amazing 4 weeks travelling around Cuba.

 

[Quickstatus]

Apart from that I'd had an amazing 4 weeks travelling around Cuba.

Please please stay and share a trip report with us sometime about your Cuba experience here:
Trip Reports and Trip Photos

And Wow! Just Wow! . Usually when people first redeem QF FF points they choose someplace mundane like Syd or Mel or use their points in the Qantas shop. But on Iberia to exit Cuba!!. Geez!! Very impressive!!.
I think that qualifies you as a true Intrepid Traveller!!

 

[Deleted member]

It is indeed a monumental stuff up, but not just by QF. This site is littered with similar tales from over the years, the moral of the story is that things can, and will go wrong, and always at the worst possible moment.
Check, recheck and check again is the mantra Mrs GPH sticks by when booking our travel. She / we never rely on airlines to get it right, and even with our best efforts we are still occasionally let down by the system. Our (much less traumatic) first experience of this kind of QF foul up some years ago now, taught us that systems will fail, and relying on the airline to take responsibility for their actions will often be a wasted exercise. I’m sure this experience will serve you well in your future endeavours when it comes to relying on QF to do their job properly in future.
It’s a great story and I thank you for sharing it with us.

 

[serfty]

Is going to the ACA an option?

It can't do any harm.

The Airline Customer Advocate (ACA)

While a lot of the advice in this thread is true, most are not aware of the nuances of air travel such as e-tickets and the like.

The only thing that may be an issue of any claim is the failure of QFF to deduct the points from your account; even to a layman that should raise a red flag.

 

[ALH]

Wow. What a terrible experience.

I’m the same age as you and enjoyed my trip around Cuba last year, but boy there were some stressful days. I was quite ill and I ran out of cash. It was 2 days before I could find an ATM to work. No phone and relying on Wifi parks when I could find them. Despite my attention to detail, triple checking, research on local quirks etc. I was still out of my depth in Cuba. My airport departure experience was especially woeful, but I guess that’s part of adventure travel.

Sorry I can’t offer any advice regarding Qantas. Their customer service staff really have done some stupid things to us over the years, including cancelling 2 separate bookings out of sheer incompetence. I could go on my own rant for ages.

Thank you for sharing. You’ve kept your notes clear and concise so that ‘may’ go in your favour. Fingers crossed for you.

Slightly off topic, but I had 3 weeks of Qantas lying to me and delaying my P1 status, so even at a reasonably high level of QF Status there is a “don’t give a rats....”

I have never received a single promised return phone call from Qantas with any issue I’ve had over the years, so I’m inclined to believe that they did not in fact try very hard to contact you.

We’ve pretty well decided that after this year we’ll slowly drop through Platinum, to Lifetime Gold and move on

Oh. I agree about the lack of eticket and deduction of points, but sometimes when you are booking while travelling, it’s hard to keep track of it all. I rely heavily on the Tripit Pro app on my phone.

 

[kpc]

I feel for you. When I went to Hav, I took Euro 5000 cash for emergencies even though my hotel was prepaid.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

6. I have checked since and the points were not deducted from my FF account. I didn't notice at the time of booking as I was travelling and had booked several award flights that day from different accounts and didn't bother keeping up with points etc. I just assumed that if you had booked a flight on the phone and someone told you it was all booked that it was all booked.

Your mistake was this, point 6. Without payment you don't have a ticket.

Qantas' mistake... well, it seems there might have been a few of them. They *may* have tried several times to contact you and their attempts may have gone to junk email, or caught you at a time when your phone was out of reach. With the variance in call centre staff (who you get, where they are based), it's not unbelievable that you genuinely missed their attempts to contact you. Should they have tried harder? That depends what they did and when. And they should be able to demonstrate that.

99% of the time these issues aren't the end of the world. People are leaving from key hubs, and from countries and airports with infrastructure in place to fix the problems when they occur.

But unfortunately you were in a country with a lack of infrastructure and got caught out. (Thumbs up to the locals though for looking out for you! )

Hopefully you get a satisfactory resolution to this. Perhaps going to the ACA, if they they can't get it resolved, will at least help you get a paper trail of what happened and when they tried to contact you.

 

[PJF]

Hi All,

I'm needing some advice and moral support in dealing with a monumental stuff up by Qantas. It's a long story but I'll keep it as brief as possible (but will be venting a bit as well).

- 18th Sept 2017 :l made a call to Qantas FF Customer Support to make an award booking using QFF points. I already had the itinerary and availability found for me by QFF Flyer Solutions. The call lasted 1hr 15mins and resulted in an award booking in J from HAV - MAD - LIS flying Iberia.

- 24th Sept 2017: l receive an email asking me to provide more information via a link to complete my booking.
I go to the link and provide the required info.

- 4th Jan 2018: l receive an email from Qantas quoting my booking number telling me that there is a 25min time change to the above-mentioned award flight.

- 1st May 2018: I arrive at the Havana airport for my above-mentioned flight to be told that I have no booking. After talking with supervisors etc they offer me a J seat for US$5,200 which was WAAAAY above the ticket price. A Y seat was US$2,400 (more than a normal J ticket). It didn't matter anyway as, after trying everything possible, they couldn't process the payment on my CC.

So begins the nightmare. I spent the next 6 hours with no money (was down to my last 10CUC - I was leaving the country, why would I hang on to currency that is totally useless elsewhere and can't be exchanged outside of Cuba), no food, no water, no Wi-Fi, no phone, no communication with friends and family, language barrier, no where to stay and no-one with enough English to really understand the situation.
I queued 3 times (approx 20 mins each time) to try different cards in the ATM at the airport and got no cash each time (2 were cards with no affiliation with the US - they don't accept US cash or cards in Cuba). Money changers didn't want to know me. Taxi drivers hounded me until they found out I had no money then ignored me. In my dealings with the Iberian/Cuban government airline staff (who were as helpful as they could be seeing as it was no fault of theirs) I had to visit 3 different levels of the airport several times. Not one elevator or escalator in the entire airport was working. The reason I go to great lengths to fly business class in the first place is due to a back injury, spinal fusion and the inability to sit for any length of time without extreme pain and discomfort. Lugging my suitcase up and down the stationary escalators just killed my back.
The whole time it was dawning on me that I was going to be sleeping in the Havana airport hungry and thirsty, knowing that the next day would still bring the same problems : no money, no food, no water, no communication and no flight out.
Cutting it short again, one of the Iberian check-in staff took me to her elderly neighbours house at 2am where I stayed until the next morning. The airline checkin staff then came and got me and took me to her house. Then later took me to a remote park where you could get wifi. I called my sister in Melbourne in the middle of the night and asked if she could book me a flight from there. It took her all night (and she easily spoke to 30 people in Madrid) before she could lock in a flight. But, they couldn't accept payment from an Australian credit card (it didn't stop them putting a hold on her cc for TWO tickets that wasn't removed for 2 weeks but that's another story). At 7am she woke up a travel agent friend in NSW and got her on the case. Long story short she got me a ticket and was able to pay for it 2hrs before the flight (24hrs after my original flight).

I ended up paying $2,250.00 for Y seat. That is more than the price for a J seat on that same flight normally. So, after 24 traumatic hours in Havana airport I paid out a business class price to sit for 9 hours in economy (on the 1st leg of the flight) with FOUR crying babies who managed to set each other off constantly the whole way. I was in agony with my back and didn't get a wink of sleep on the overnight flight. I know Qantas doesn't give a flying rats about any of this and I do apologise for going on and on but this is a major stuff up and I need to vent.

Anyway, I have contacted Qantas several times in the last month via email and got the standard responses. I was overseas until 4 days ago and the 30min wait time any time I tried to call them from o/s was too long so I let it go until I got back. So, today, I finally spoke to them and their side of the story is:

1. When I booked online I neglected to give them important details (my middle name and DOB). I told them I didn't book online but booked on the phone in a 1hr 15min phone call. They said the info should've been taken by the person making the award booking. It wasn't. Not my fault.

2. They said when they realised that they hadn't asked me for the important information they sent me an email asking for it. They did send me an email and I followed the link and updated the info. They say it didn't get up dated on the website. Not my fault. A glitch in their system.

3. They say they sent several emails and made phone calls over the following couple of months requesting the information. I received none of them. I am happy for them to check with my internet server. Not my fault. A glitch in their system.

4. They said that when they hadn't heard from me by the end of October/November (not exactly sure when) 2017 they cancelled my booking. I asked them why they sent me an update to my flight time in January 2018. They said that it was an automated email. Wouldn't you only get an automated email like that if it was connected to a LIVE booking??? A glitch in their system.
PS - Iberia said they had never even received a booking from Qantas in the first place.

5. Qantas Customer Care say that on their end they have done everything possible. (Apart from neglect to tell me that I didn't have a booked flight out of Havana).

6. I have checked since and the points were not deducted from my FF account. I didn't notice at the time of booking as I was travelling and had booked several award flights that day from different accounts and didn't bother keeping up with points etc. I just assumed that if you had booked a flight on the phone and someone told you it was all booked that it was all booked.

7. At the moment they are putting it to someone higher up and there is a possibility that they will provide me with a letter so can claim the cost of the replacement ticket from my travel insurance. What I have to say here will probably stop my post from being posted so I won't say it.

It will take a few days for this discussion to happen and I know already that I'm going to be majorly gob-smacked at the pathetic-ness of their final resolution.

This has gone on longer than I expected so thank you to anyone who has made it down to here.

So, any suggestions, ideas would be greatly appreciated. Has anyone had something similar?

Is going to the ACA an option?

Thanks in advance

Hi, Horrible yes but just have to ask the following.

Did you register with smartrallever.com.au (DFAT) before going on the trip.

Did you ring the Embassy of Canada in Havana and ask for assistance and advice as they provide Consular assistance for Australians in Cuba. Im sure they could of done something for you given the circumstances.
.
I'm sure the airline would of at least let you use a phone to make a local call in Havana to the Canadian Embassy.

As it seems if you did not get any help from the locals you could of been in a terrible situation if this had gone on for longer then 24hrs (what wonderful people the locals were great to hear and great for Cuba)

Also no E ticket with flight details and flight number then as I understand it you have no flight.

In my view no points deducted no flight. I always check everyday and make sure the points have been deducted when I make an awards booking..Or give it a couple of days with bookings like this and if they have not been deducted ring them and ask what is going on with the booking.

I always check, double check and triple check any flight that I book with any airline as I do not trust them. QF have told me in the past you have no flight until you get the E ticket with all the details.

As to who to go to for help

Well ACA and not sure where you are but in NSW it wouldn't hurt to have a chat to the Department of Fair Trading or equivalent if your not in NSW.

Just one other thing how do you get into Cuba????????

Just my 2 cents worth. With QF you will need all your luck on this one.

 

[I love to travel]

Oh dear that was a very stressful experience. The lack of points being deducted was the giveaway sign something was wrong and no doubt what qantas will use to claim no responsibility. I do find the later schedule change email weird though.

 

[jonboixxx]

Thanks for sharing your experience and I hope Qantas take your complaint seriously. From your original post, can you please tell me what "QFF Flyer Solutions" is?

 

[Denali]

No advice but wanted to send my internet support as this must have been incredibly stressful and upsetting. Yes, in hindsight the points blah blah blah but still horribly stressful and I would have been in tears. Good luck.

 

[Jack_OC]

Not trying to defend QF here or to criticise the OP, but just to add to the advice for future reference - problems with ticketing award flights on partner airlines are not at all unusual. In fact, sometimes there can even be problems ticketing much more straightforward bookings.

In an ideal world you should be able to book online (or on the phone) and then forget about it until you show up at the airport, but in reality you should never do that.

You always must ensure that you have a ticket (not just booking confirmation) for every flight that you plan to take, and I would also strongly recommend checking your booking online in the lead up to the flight (at regular intervals if you book a long time in advance, but at a minimum a few days before travel, so you have time to sort alternative arrangements out if necessary). If nothing else, it's worth doing this to make sure you haven't lost your pre-selected seats, or missed a notification about a schedule change - and these are things that can easily happen even if your flight is ticketed properly in the first place.

Sorry to hear you had such a bad experience anyway, but hopefully with what you know now you won't be left in a similar situation in future.

EDIT: PS - did you ever get any kind of email confirmation from QF saying that the flights had been booked (not necessarily ticketed)? In my experience, when I have made award bookings and they have taken a while to ticket, I have received no email confirmation whatsoever until ticketing takes place - even though the (unticketed) booking shows up online.

 

[BD1959]

OK, so in short.

1. You had no e-ticket
2. Points were not deducted from your account
3. (Presumably, but not stated) No "fuel fines" were deducted from your credit card
4. You still thought your trip was 100% OK ...
5. You had a PNR against which you could select your seat?
6. Presumably you made no attempt to maintain your booking by applying your Passport details etc ... all the standard FF stuff we do prior to travelling ...
7. You still thought your trip was 100% OK ...
8. You flew in to a (effectively) 3rd world country with no means of contacting anyone at home (no phone) should something go wrong; no mitigation: health, weather, side-trips, aircraft ops (particularly since it was IB!!), language barrier etc etc.

I have got these facts correct regarding the ticketing and process?

The processes - and the mitigation behind these (especially for award bookings) - are standard for most people on an International Trip, especially one on partner airlines. It's called self-responsibility.

Qantas's responsibility? Well, in truth there was no contract with Qantas. I'm by no means a "Qantas apologist" (quite the opposite at times) however most of your documented issues (lack of cash, lack of effective comms due to language, lack of means of effecting accommodation, struggling with luggage up stairs etc etc) have nothing to do with Qantas.

Without doubt you've had a very traumatic experience - and certainly one I would not wish to endure - which is why the basics should always be done prior to travel.

Regards,

BD

 

[Virgin Bart]

You won't get much sympathy around here however you will from me. As far as I can see you didn't most things right and were put in an incredibly stressed and all round cough situation .

 

[Glider_]

I'm so sorry to hear about your horrible experience, I really feel for you turning up for your flight and having the world suddenly turn upside down. I understand totally how lost and upset and angry you must have felt. My sympathies to you.

I suspect Qantas will pick your story apart as brutally as BD1959 did above, and I doubt you will get much from them except feeling more rage and bitterness about the whole thing. That's not to say you shouldn't make lots of noise to them about it because they definitely need to understand their role in this fiasco.

I am always super risk-adverse with redemption bookings and never 100% believe they're going to work until I'm at the airport with boarding pass in hand (MrGlider and I have a tradition of giving each other a high-5 after successfully leaving the checkin counter). It's through reading horror stories like yours that teaches me (and others) of what can go wrong so I can avoid it or at least have a backup plan.

I use checkmytrip.com to track my flights which nicely lays out your upcoming flights in chronological order and uses the airline's systems to show your flight and ticket details (so you know they must exist!). I also always make sure I get a copy of my e-ticket from the airline and carry a hard-copy of it. Being sent the e-ticket isn't always automatic so you sometimes need to seek it out, but has helped me on several occasions both in realising the flights hadn't actually be ticketed (like in your case), or at the airport checking in proper.