Now that I have lost most of you with such a boring title, let me tell you a little about my day. Days actually. It has taken two weeks to get an infant ticket issued for a client and now that the process is finally over, I want to make sure you never have to deal with what I did. Before I tell my story, I’ll summarize: no matter what they say, the issuing carrier must also issue the infant ticket. In other words, if you book a ticket through Delta and want to add an infant, Delta must book the infant ticket.
This was certainly not the first infant ticket I had booked in connection with an award ticket–in fact, I book them all the time. And they are typically a pain, though I have never had to fight with a carrier to issue a ticket like I did with Delta.
When issuing the award ticket, I asked to issue the infant ticket concurrently and the agent said no problem, but then came back a few moments later and said to call back tomorrow because the infant ticketing office was closed. Last time, the agent just booked the infant ticket directly and it did not require a call to a special office, but okay…no problem.
Next day, I called back, provided the information, and was told to wait on hold. 15 minutes later, the agent returned and said I had to book the ticket through Virgin Australia because all the fights were on Virgin Australia. I protested–this wasn’t a Virgin Australia ticket, I explained, it was a Delta ticket and Virgin could not just amend the ticket or issue a stand-alone infant ticket. Nope. The Delta agent insisted only Virgin Australia could do it. So I requested the Virgin record locator and called Virgin Australia.
I do love Aussie accents…
The girl was quite nice who answered the phone but quick to confirm what I already knew–Delta had to book the ticket. I called Delta back. Same story–they couldn’t do it. I called Virgin back and asked them to call Delta for me. They did, later coming back and telling me all was in order and then transferring me to Delta, but Delta again refused to ticket the infant, citing a “system problem.”
Now I was angry. I asked to be transferred to the Delta international manual reissue desk, the “pros” who are supposed to know how to issue tickets. They did not. They told me the same thing.
I called back Virgin once again–just in case I got a bad agent the first time and the second time–and happened to reach the same agent I had spoken to earlier (a small call center, perhaps?). She again insisted Virgin Australia could not help and volunteered to call Delta back for me. It took almost an hour on hold, but she finally patched me through to Delta where I spoke to a guy claiming that he could issue the infant ticket for me.
I provided him all the necessary details and credit card information and he said that a paper ticket would be mailed to my client. Fine. Case closed. He only charged $172, which seemed far too low, but I did not speak up (after all, if it is a paper ticket, they could not collect more after the fact). An infant ticket is usually 10% of a full-fare ticket, which would have been about $1300 in the case of a business class ticket from Los Angeles to Australia.
A week went by and I received this note from my client last night–
Delta called tonight regarding the infant ticket. They said they’d received the request, but couldn’t process it and that we should call Virgin Australia directly.
Amazing…
A direct number was left (which I intend to use in the future for all award bookings!) and the woman who answered the phone gave me a new reason why the ticket could not be issued: Delta’s outmoded technology! (“We’re all hoping to get this updated soon.”). It seems, at least according to this Delta agent, that Delta can only issue paper tickets for infants, not electronic tickets and Virgin Australia is a paperless airline. She claimed that upon further investigation, Virgin Australia would not have accepted the paper ticket and therefore Delta would not issue it. I pleaded with her just to send the ticket, but she kept repeating that Virgin would not accept it.
So I called Virgin back and reached another agent I had spoken to previously. It really must be a small call center…She put me on hold to confer with a supervisor and came back to say that a paper ticket would be fine. I asked her to call Delta and tell them that, which she agreed to do. Turns out getting in touch with the right person was not as easy as she thought, so she took down my number and said she would call me back.
20 minutes later, a Virgin Australia supervisor called back and said she had reached someone at Delta who would book the infant ticket. Before patching me through, I asked her to confirm with Delta they could issue the paper ticket even though all the flights were on Virgin Australia. She came back and said there was a problem and she would call me back.
She did call me back about 10 minutes later and triumphantly proclaimed that Delta was ready to book the ticket. If only…
The Delta agent was nice enough, but after putting me on hold for five minutes to read the lengthy comments in the reservation, he came back to put me on hold again and check with his supervisor. He shortly came back and said–and I kid you not–“Sir, we cannot issue this ticket. Just call Virgin Australia and they’ll do it no problem.”
I slammed my hand down on the table and admittedly lost my temper. I asked to be transferred to a supervisor and was obliged. The supervisor was polite and nice, but insisted that Virgin had to issue the ticket. I responded, “Fine. I don’t care who issues it, I just want it done. But I need you to step up for me because I am tried of being the badminton shuttlecock here. Call Virgin Australia and find someone for me who will do this. Please.”
He hesitated for a moment, but agreed to make the call. For the next 45 minutes I sat and waited. He checked back periodically telling me he was still talking to Virgin and scornfully stated that he had to “instruct them on how it is done.”
Well, apparently Virgin had to instruct him on how it was done, because he sheepishly came back finally and said, “Well it looks like we’ll have to do this.” He had to check with his supervisor on how to get it done, but eventually did what I had expected Delta to do from the start–charge 10% of an unrestricted business class ticket, which came to $1299. And just like that, the issue was solved.
Now in retrospect, I encourage you to learn from my mistakes. I did not push Delta hard enough early on. I should have gone all the way up to the supervisor’s supervisor my first call in order to get this done. The solution was simple and I never felt right calling Virgin in the first place. Hats off for them for being so kind about it. I am floored at how long this process took.
Stand your ground if you know you are right–many agents are misinformed and if you read this blog and others on upgrd.com you will soon know more than many agents do when it comes to booking tickets. If you are traveling with an infant, be prepared for a fight to get you infant ticket issued on Delta if booked on a partner SkyMiles award, but remember this simple axiom: you book your infant ticket with the same carrier you booked your regular ticket with. It actually isn’t all that complicated…unless you are Delta.
That’s why they pay you the big bucks! Wow. You really earned it on that one. Thanks for sharing.
FYI In badminton the projectile is referred to as the the Shuttlecock. Glad it all worked out in the end though 🙂
I have always had issues booking infant tickets, especially when in conjunction with an award ticket. Agents just don’t seem to know how to do it, and it’s not just US airlines. I’ve never had it this bad, though. Like you said yourself, however, next time just escalate it from the get-go since you already know the answer — no need to “humor” them.
Wow. What drama. Nice job getting it sorted.
Do you have conference ability on your phone? In situations where there is volleying between two carriers, I’m quick to put all three of us on the line together. (I actually do the conferencing because too often the agents will say they cannot.) I find that to be the best way to stop the volley.
I redeemed Virgin Atlantic points from LAX to HNL to SYD with Hawaian Airlines Virgin staff in the call centre in London we’re fabulous pity abour the US call centre However I had to book the infant ticket with Hawaiian Airline and they were fantastic also had no real issues
+1 on 3-way conference calls. Also, did they issue a paper ticket after all that commotions?
Thanks for your story. Dealing with Delta is a total pain… wow.
I am hoping to use United miles to fly on ANA with my infant on a business ticket with my Wife and I flying SEA-NRT… would I similarly have to have United set all this up instead of directly with ANA?
@Tom: Indeed I do, and was quick to conference them in.
@ptahcha: Yes, paper tickets were issued and have been mailed to the client.
Very frustrating indeed!
I’m struggling with this award booking – no progress in a week. Any ideas?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/skyteam/1391059-kenya-airways-nbo-sez-need-your-help.html
@TJ: You are doing everything right. If the longsells won’t bring back the seat, there is nothing else you can do. I ran into a similar problem last week on China Southern. I blame the Delta system, though I don’t blame Delta for taking away all the AF/KLM premium space…
I have had my share of go-arounds with delta IRRRES and IXXRES myself booking partner awards and let me tell you I have no idea how they’re able to issue tickets at all. Last time I did it was an unmitigated disaster. I spent about 12-15h on the phone. In the end one agent insisted a valid itinerary wasn’t and while on hold destroyed it and tried to rebook me on DL metal for 200% mileage. I had to spend another hour with the needy agent rebuilding the PNR from the eTicket coupons. We made the change, and of course they billed me $150 for the pleasure.
Geez. Pays to know the rules and how the system works.
My experience with Amtrak was similar. Stand your ground — so long as you know the rules and how they work. The uninformed traveler (the general population) gets frustrated after one or two obstacles and moves on.
If I was in your situation, I could only imagine my disappointment at not getting the ticket if I didn’t know the rules and gave up after only one or two exchanges.
Companies will pull the wool over people’s eyes to avoid going through transactions that seem like a hassle.
I have booked many regular-paid international Delta tickets and international DL mileage tickets in recent years where the flights booked were exclusively operated by other carriers and the lap-child infant(s) were not in the booking. For all such cases except once, I have had no trouble when the lap-child infant tickets were purchased at the airport from the operating carrier (rather than from the ticketing carrier of the lap-child infant’s adult companion).