[tlgilbert2325]

Hello everyone,
I am a travel agent with over 25 years experience. Last Thursday I had the worst experience in those 25 years and it was United Airlines. I had called mileage plus to do an upgrade for a client. MP said no upgrades were available but the client had enough miles. At that point I put in the programmed entry on the airline's computer reservation system to request the upgrade. The night before the client's flight that upgrade cleared. The computer cancels the coach seat when this happens and the upgraded seat remains in the record.
When my client got to the counter she was told she did not have enough miles for her upgrade and that she had no coach seat because her travel agent canceled it. Further, that United agent put many comments in the record stating that the travel agent 'should have been more careful' and 'should reimburse the client' for the $350 she had to pay to buy upgrade certificates.
Naturally the client was less than pleased and called her husband who, in turn called me, fuming mad. At that point nothing I said would have sounded anything other than an excuse. I said I would find out what was going on and call him back. I spent an hour on the phone with India. Nothing was accomplished (based on what the Portland OR United agent had put in the record). I am refunding the money that they were charged as a gesture of good faith. I made every attempt to have my client upgraded for her return flight and was, again, told that the miles were available. I asked that the miles be deducted from the account and that my client be placed on a priority wait list. Today was the flight. I spent 2 hours on the phone with India, Manila, back to India and finally got Chicago. The end result? Not only did my client NOT get her upgrade, the aisle seat that I had asked for was taken away and she was placed in a middle seat.
Now, tell me why the airlines are given bail out money when this is the way they treat their clients and their distribution system. Airlines do not pay travel agents any commission for selling their product. Travel agents are forced to join ARC (Airline Reporting corporation), pay an annual fee, maintain a bond, have a contract for the computer system AND pay for the ticket stock. How do we recover our overhead for that? The airlines said "charge your customers".
If I ran my business the way the airlines run theirs perhaps the government would give me some bail out money. No, wait, I don't have lobbyists or government officials in my pocket.
Best advice? Contact your government officials and DEMAND that foreign carriers be allowed to fly routes in the USA. Make it a condition that those carriers have to maintain their reservations and staff IN the USA. Then patronize those carriers.
Not only will you receive some real service it will send a message to the American based airlines that we are sick to death of being treated like dirt. It will send the message that we are tired of their greed taking jobs away from Americans with their outsourcing to India and other countries.
I have just lost a major corporate account because of a United employee that could not perform his or her job as a professional refraining from 'placing blame'. Had I made the mistake I would have owned it and made it right. As it is I am owning United's error and paying out on a ticket that I didn't make any money on to begin with.