Just had a frustrating circular pass-the-buck customer service fiasco, and thought I would issue a warning.
The story: I am traveling to Korea with an associate this Saturday. I booked the flight months ago using Travelocity, a service I have used successfully before. I purchased a ticket on Hawaiian Airlines because the dates and flight times were right, and the price was right. As it turns out, the flight I booked is a code-share route with Korean Air… in other words, that Hawaiian Air ticket bought a seat on a Korean Air flight. So far, so good. I like Korean Air. I am even a card-carrying member of their frequent flier program. I am also a Hawaiian Air frequent flier. The problem arose when I started trying to get a seat pre-assignment. I am one of those people who must (emphasis on the MUST) get up and go to the restroom frequently during flights, so I always book an aisle seat: I’d much prefer to have others climb over me than to inconvenience them by climbing over — and on an 11 hour flight, it can be a lot of climbing! I called Travelocity – “We can’t help you with that… the seat assignments must be done by the airline, so call Korean Air.” I called Korean Air – “I’m sorry; your ticket is actually a Hawaiian Air ticket, so they have to issue seat assignment.” I called Hawaiian Airlines – “I’m sorry; this is a code-share flight, and you will actually be on a Korean Air flight, so they have to issue the seat assignment.” So, in short, I am in seat assignment limbo. Each responsible partner points at one of the others and says “Sorry – see them…” and nobody seems able to assist me. I am, needless to say, very frustrated and highly disappointed in two airlines and a company I use often. Everyone is polite. Everyone is apologetic. Everyone is powerless. This is an epic customer relations fiasco, and I am not looking forward to the two long flights.