$920 of Lufthansa credit; "validating carrier"

[gusl]

Until June 2 2009, I can use $920 of credit on any flight for which Lufthansa is the "validating carrier for the entire ticket" (a.k.a. "issuing carrier").

It seems to be impossible to tell for which itineraries this is the case (even *after* you've bought the ticket), except that they tell me that if I select "Lufthansa" as my preferred airline, it sorts it that way for you. I take this to mean that this way, I'm more likely to get itineraries in which the "validating carrier" is Lufthansa.

Trying to learn more...


complaint similar to mine, about Expedia

<< My wife injured her back so I called Expedia today to cancel the reservation.

They told me that I would have a credit of $3,063.78 on Frontier Airlines, since they are the “validating carrier” (carrier who issued the tickets) and that my refundable first class tickets had become non-refundable.

I would have assumed that Continental would have issued my tickets since they were the originating carrier and made up the majority of the cost and the travel – and since I live on the East Coast, a Frontier credit doesn’t really do me any good. A supervisor stated that the choice of validating carrier is “up to the airlines” and not something that Expedia had anything to do with. She said that there was no way to know ahead of time (before tickets were issued) which carrier would be the one who issues the ticket. And that hidden in their rules and regulations it states that when you book through Expedia, the entire itinerary is subject to the most restrictive ticket’s restrictions, so since my coach Frontier tickets were non-refundable, so was the whole itinerary. >>

FAQ on airline bankruptcy

<< Legal responsibility for tickets on codeshare flights depends on which airline is the "validating" or "issuing" airline -- not which airline operates the flight, which airline's flight number appears on your tickets, or from which airline you bought your tickets
...
# To determine the validating carrier, look in the "Issued By" box on your tickets. If you have an e-ticket, get a printout of the "passenger receipt" coupon of your e-ticket, and look in the "Issued By" box. Itineraries and Web and e-mail confirmation notices almost never identify the validating carrier. Remember, this is not necessarily the same as the airline that operates the flight, whose name and number appears on the flight, or from which you bought the tickets.
# The validating or issuing airline identified on your ticket is the airline with which you have a contract.
>>

A Guide to Becoming a Travel Professional



Generally speaking, life has been teaching me that booking things through agencies tends to lead to inflexible arrangements, and partly provides them with excuses for bad service: they can always point fingers at each other, or cite complex rules that the customer is powerless to contest.

Comments

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

booking things through agencies tends to lead to inflexible arrangements, and partly provides them with excuses for bad service

Oh, right, now you're reminding me why I avoid orbitz and their ilk when I can. For a second I'd thought it was because I just prefer to fly on Southwest. I've faced less awful but still annoying issues before dealing with the online sellers.

Booking through travel agencies where you actually go face-to-face with someone can be more rewarding (as in, they use lube when the screw you), because they actually want you to come back; probably the psychological effects of having a face in their face comes to your help also. Internet users have zero loyalty.

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

I wonder how well human agents can compete with online agents. I like how these services make processes more efficient / more competitive, but I don't think this necessarily needs to come with less accountability (although face-to-face contact must be more expensive, since it requires human time).

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

From your side of the transaction, you see that it *need not* be less accountable.

From their side of the transaction, they see that it *can* be less accountable.

[neelk]

That is the best thing I've read all day.

Granted, it's 8:30 am, but it stands a good chance of holding the title. :)