sadiqhassan

So, for about 4 weeks I have been watching a certain EK flight. It was showing

Y9 W9 M0

for a long time and I needed 4 M class seats as part of a KHI-DXB-LHR-YYZ vv itinerary. So, today, it was showing M9. All excited, I go to the EK office to book the flight. As many of you may know, I am quite familiar with basic GDS commands etc and I had asked my friend to give me a copy of the itinerary in Sabre so it would be easy for the TA to do. I listed the fare construction, the fare basis, the codes, passport numbers etc.

So I go there and hand him the itinerary. I get bombarded with random questions including:

'why do you want to buy this'
'why are you buying a ticket originating in Karachi when you are in the US?'
'how will you pay?' [i just wanted to hold it until i got my cc limit increased]
'do you even have a credit card?'
'why are you stopping in London?'
'do you have a visa to depart karachi' I had my Pakistani passport number written down.
'who are you to show me something from a GDS. I am the agent, not you' (!)
'who are the other passengers? how do you know them?'
'why do you want to fly Air Canada from London - Toronto? why not british airways'

After about 20 minutes of inquisition he proceeds to try and book the fare. I sit paitently and after 10 minutes he says the flights are full.

"Oh no, which flight?"
"AC849 London - Toronto"
"Oh okay, just book it in H class if Q is full. It should be $40 more."
"No, Q is not full, L is full."
"But the itinerary I gave you says to book it in Q not L."
"Oh well, I decided to look up discounted fare instead, and there are no discounted fares in Q, only L."
"I don't want a discounted fare, I want a regular fare."
"It will be more expensive."
"I don't care."
[The discounted fare was C$2,200 vs my C$1,600 fare but I didn't feel like arguing]

He then types a bit more and says that Q is full on AC. I say to try H,B,M,Y and he says the flight is now completely closed. I was a bit frustrated since the flight was showing empty when I left home. I asked him to waitlist or check other flights on that day and he said everything from Heathrow to Canada was closed. I thank him and leave. Now I get home and ALL flights are showing Q9.

Not only did I waste 2+ hrs going to and from the EK office at 59th street in Manhattan, the guy was rude and talked to me as if I didn't know what was going on. Yes I am young. Yes I look like I am clueless. But it was clear that I knew what I was talking about and I wasn't asking for anything too demanding, just to book flights as I had written down clearly, but he still was unable to do that. Atrocious customer service. I just phoned Emirates reservations and they say that LHR-YYZ is open, but of course, the EK flight is now full so I loose the M class seats and the upsell to W class is over $3,000.

Ugh.

[On the plus side, I got a copy of the new EK timetable. It is completely revamped - very nice.]

Cheers,

graraps

I'd write EK a letter describing the situation.

edy4eva

Good one

Caloy

Wow, sounds like you got a real loser at the EK office. I could only hope that you do write to EK, and tell them all the details as you did here. They have to know how their workers are dealing (I should say misdealing) with the public. The person you had at the EK office was messing with the wrong guy when he was talking with you, maybe he was envious because you knew more about his job than he did.

sadiqhassan

Seats opened up in K class ($400 cheaper RT than M) one day earlier (much, much better for me) and I quickly snagged them via my TA. Cost me a steep $50 service fee, but everything is now purchased

Anyone on the same flight(s) as me?

03JAN EK 601 Karachi - Dubai Dep 1210
08JAN EK 007 Dubai - Heathrow Dep 0310

Cheers,

directorguy_

Just out of interest-how old are you? You're very well informed you can't be THAT young !

sadiqhassan

18, but I look quite a bit younger - AA has harassed me quite a few times while flying them and sitting in the exit row (you have to be 15+.)

Cheers,

directorguy_

18...but you seem to know quite a lot about how airlines operate! I'm only 15 and I just started learning. I suppose you've baffled loads of ticket agents with your expert knowledge on how to do their job !