VA can't/won't take over tickets booked by TA

[williamsf1]

Really? So it's not easy to bring up the fare rules pertinent to that fare type? Can they even see the fare type?

That could be a nightmare if a traveller was unable to contact their agent easily. Hopefully in a case like this then the airline would be more agreeable to seize control of the ticket, particularly if it is under airport control.

Corporate fares are special negotiated fares normally with different conditions to a published fare. General telephone agents do not see these rules and conditions and they are confidential between the travel agent/ company / industry sales

As travelling on company travel , some companies require internal approval for changes etc . Also a lot of corporate booking portals also can handle changes or rebooking online to allow self service if permitted . Any decent corporate travel company has 24/7 world wide support for travelers to contact

If this was a involuntary change – the airline takes control to get the passenger to their destination.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

One time I bought a Qantas ticket from Expedia (from another country) and was having trouble with a schedule change that was supposed to be processed by Expedia (Qantas had already sent the notice - they also said they couldn't touch the booking, but Expedia as the agent should have the notice of schedule change so should simply reissue the e-ticket). On the day of travel, after thinking I had sorted it all out, I couldn't check in, so I called Qantas and they said there was no appropriate e-ticket attached to the booking! Luckily, with a manager's help, the fantastic agent on the phone seized control of the booking and reprocessed the ticket correctly so I could check in and fly (they could have, and were in their right to, say nothing could be done except going back to my agent and demanding an explanation).

A couple of years ago I booked Qantas flights via expedia.com.br. Expedia notified me of changes made by Qantas which resulted in one sector timed to depart before the connecting flight was scheduled to land.

At the time I thought I had no option but to deal with them in Brazil, but they were proving impossible to contact via phone or email (though others had been able to). I then saw a comment that claimed, perhaps erroneously, that airlines can take control of a booking to correct changes that they have forced.

I called and a Qantas CSR could see the issue but had to confirm with their supervisor whether they were allowed to fix the booking. It's not apparent under what circumstances they can or can't, but they did on that occasion.