I bought tickets for a September flight from Frankfurt to Seattle on Condor airlines through Expedia. The confirmation email from Expedia gave me an itinerary number, ticket numbers and a Condor confirmation number, but said for seat upgrades, baggage allowances, etc. Contact the airline directly. I then upgraded to Premium Economy on the Condor Website. Both the tickets and the upgrade were debited from my account months ago. However I can't view the flight details ( specifically a ticket that shows we are in Premium Economy) on the Condor Website even though it says "Part of the Thomas Cook Group" in the upper right hand corner of the homepage. I called Condor and they could not help me. They seemed even unaware that it says Thomas Cook Group on their Website! They gave me a phone number for Thomas Cook in Belgium doesn't work. Alternately, when I go to the Thomas Cook Website, it doesn't recognize any of the itinerary, ticket or confirmation code numbers I have from booking the original flight through Expedia. I am unable to reach them on the telephone. This is maddening, besides NEVER flying Condor or purchasing anything through the Thomas Cook Group do you have any advice?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32740 posts
That's interesting.
I thought that Condor was Lufthansa's budget arm I hadn't heard anything about them being Tui which is now the new name of Thomas Cook.
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
2622 posts
Condor does have a connection with Thomas Cook. None that I know of with Lufthansa. I seem to recall a similar issue with confirming booked seats once I upgraded to premium economy. I had bought my ticket directly from Condor, though. I ended up calling and they fixed it. But as to your problem - can you find an actual reservation on the Condor website but no seat assignment? Can you see a seat number but can't confirm it's for premium economy? If you can see a seat number, you can check Seat Guru to confirm it's for premium econ. Worst case scenario is you could pop into Seatac...not sure how far out from there you live, but Condor does staff a Premium Economy counter in the check in area with actualCondor staff (vs. some other carrier staffing the desks for them) near flight times.
Posted by
Seattle
544 posts
On Condor's website click on booking, then Special Services, then book now. That might show the details of your reservation?
You should also know that "Premium Economy" on Condor is an extra legroom economy seat like Delta and United offer, not a big wide seat like you get in Premium Economy on BA and other European airlines.
If that doesn't work, try calling their Special Services desk:
1-866-960-7915
Posted by
Mahone Bay, Canada
328 posts
I could be wrong but I suspect your problem comes down to the fact that you booked through a 3rd party. I can only speak from experience managing hotels (not airlines) but it can be confusing who is responsible for what when you book through a site like Expedia (it has been 5 years since I last managed a hotel so things may have changed). In a hotel situation, any reservations made through Expedia need to be managed through Expedia (this includes changes, upgrades, complaints, refunds, etc). This has a lot to do with the fact that there are confidentiality rules around rates/fees/agreements and the fact that Expedia is the company that collects the money. For these reasons, hotel staff are usually trained to direct enquiries about Expedia bookings right back to Expedia and not to deal with them in house. I don't know for sure but you are probably caught in some annoying 'it's not my job' vortex for this reason.
Based on the limited experience I have with this, I suggest you try a few things. I wouldn't waste your time with the Thomas Cook connection anymore, I suspect it is highly unlikely they would be able to help you. I would stop wasting your time with the Condor website, too. I would call Condor and actually talk to someone to see if they can give you the confirmation of the premium economy booking you are looking for over the phone and email you a copy of it. Every time I have had to contact Condor in this way they have been super efficient about mailing me the confirmations of any changes to my bookings. If the calls to Condor do not work then I would start calling Expedia and following up with them to see how far you can get. If these don't work, call Condor again and immediately ask to speak to a supervisor and explain your problem.
I know this isn't a concrete answer but hopefully it helps a little bit. In future, I encourage you to always book directly through the final supplier and skip the third party, you'll save yourself a lot of headaches in the long run.
Good luck and have a great trip!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32201 posts
mc,
As Chris mentioned in the previous reply, I also suspect that your problem stems from involving a third party and booking through Expedia. You may find that each of the parties involved tries to pass the buck and get one of the others to deal with the problem. This is one reason I never book through websites like Expedia. The other factor I notice in your comments is that you used a debit card to pay for the tickets. It's usually "safer" to book this sort of thing with a credit card, as that provides another way to dispute charges.
If Condor can't help resolve your problem, I'm not sure what the answer is? Are they the ones actually operating the flight?
Good luck getting this sorted!