When will they charge me for my airplane ticket?

November 7, 2006 8:39 AM

I bought a $750 airplane ticket online from United. Flight is for the end of December. Got confirmation # and receipt, saw the money go out of my bank account. Four days later noticed the money is back in my account -- there is no sign that it was ever taken out. United.com still says my ticket is confirmed. What's up? Will they charge me the day I actually fly? Did they screw up and give me a free ticket?
posted by mmader to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

What does your bank say?
posted by jerseygirl at 8:41 AM on November 7, 2006

Personally, when I've had a case like this they tend to notice that they didn't get their money at some point in the future. Generally this happens right when you'd least want it (hey, where'd my $750 go?).
posted by owenkun at 8:51 AM on November 7, 2006

I guess it comes down to this question: what do you intend to do if they DID screw up and give you a free ticket? Let united know? Or take it and run? If the former, just call up United and ask them.
posted by antifuse at 8:52 AM on November 7, 2006

You need to 'fess up to the airline. Phone them back and say "are you sure my ticket is confirmed, because you haven't taken my money."

A free ticket is nice, but IMHO not worth the hassle of turning up at the airport only to be told it isn't valid.
posted by afx237vi at 8:53 AM on November 7, 2006

They probably just "authorized" the money first. This is where the company asks the credit card company (or in your case the bank), "hey" does this guy have $750, cause we'd like it." The bank replied, "yep he does, here you go all you have to do now is take it." If the company doesn't "take" it, the authorization drops and the bank puts the money "back" in your account.

When they realize the error, they'll make another authorization attempt and take the money. Just because they didn't take it the first time doesn't mean they're not legally entitled to it. Now, if they wait a year or more to take it, then I think you could argue that they no longer have the right to withdraw it from your account. However at this point, if I were you, I'd budget to have the money removed from my account sometime between now and the date of travel.
posted by pwb503 at 8:55 AM on November 7, 2006

They likely put a hold on your account, but sometimes the hold is pushed back or cancelled by your bank if the transaction doesn't reach a certain phase yet.

For credit cards, this works all right, since you don't really care as much. For debit cards, it can be confusing and obnoxious.

I've had the same thing happen with incidentals on a hotel room, where my card was being charged $150 for every night, only to be refunded at the end of the trip. Come the second or third day, I was pretty much running on empty.

If the ticket is still showing as confirmed, it's confirmed, but you'll need to make sure you have the money in your account.

And if all else fails and you're still concerned, call them.
posted by disillusioned at 8:55 AM on November 7, 2006

You might not be ticketed. By confirmation number, I assume you mean a PNR code (usually something like a six-digit alphabetic or alphanumeric code). This indicates that you have a reservation, which is akin to a reservation at a restaurant—it's not actually binding on anyone, but an indication that airline will try to get you a seat on the flight.

There will also be a ticket number, which is a 13-digit number (starting with 016 if it is issued on United). You only get the ticket number after you are ticketed. That means that there has been a contract formed between you and the airline, where the airline agrees to get you from point A to point B. They'll try to do it on the reserved flight, but there's no guarantee.

Anyway, if you have a reservation but no ticket, you basically have nothing.

If you want to check that everything is hunky-dory, call up United and ask for your ticket number (assuming it isn't already in the documentation you have). If you want to try to slip by with a free trip, keep in mind that airlines can and do ask for payment on the day of flight if they realize that the ticket hasn't been paid for in full. They have systems to check for this sort of thing. Additionally, the rules of the particular fare you bought probably indicate that they can cancel reservations that are not ticketed within a certain amount of time.
posted by grouse at 9:06 AM on November 7, 2006

This happens to me all the time. Please listen to pwb503 and disillusioned.

Did you get it straight from United or an intermediary. Usually the process goes as follows:

1) Intermediary (e.g. travel agent) makes charge to verify you have the funds
2) Intermediary takes their surcharge
3) Money from 1) is credited back to account
4) United then withdraws the amount that is theirs.

So, yeah, just keep the money in the account and hold on.
posted by vacapinta at 9:09 AM on November 7, 2006

United, in my experience, is particularly bad about taking their money from online reservations. I once had a flight I didn't get charged for until 2 weeks after the trip, even though I booked it several weeks ahead.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:18 AM on November 7, 2006

Never ever use debit cards to buy anything that might potentially be returned or exchanged. I stick to gas and groceries. Use a credit card about which you are diligent about paying off each month.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 9:25 AM on November 7, 2006 [2 favorites]

I've had similar things happen before too, with the money being ultimately withdrawn up to three days after the flight. Best to assume those 750.00 will be disappearing from your account in the near future, and not to get your hopes up that anything else will hapen.
posted by louigi at 9:55 AM on November 7, 2006

This happens all the time. Tis perfectly normal. Expect your money to disappear sometime soon.
posted by crypticgeek at 8:00 PM on November 7, 2006

Does your debit card have a daily limit on it? If it does, you could have a problem.

About five years ago, I had to buy a ticket in a hurry so I could attend a funeral in another state. I bought the $700 ticket over the phone using a debit card, the transaction went through, and I thought everything was cool.

The morning of my flight, I made the usual call to the airline to confirm my flight, but the automated confirmation system didn't recognize my reservation number. I switched to a human operator, and she told me my reservation was cancelled. According to her computer, my credit card had been declined!

I had completely forgotten there was a $500/day limit on my debit card -- apparently the transaction had "worked" long enough to make the reservation, but they my bank cancelled the transaction, and the airline cancelled the reservation. Neither the airline nor the bank told me anything until I asked.

The airline told me I could rebook and pay cash (oddly enough, the grocery store down the street from me accepted payments for the airline), but it was a Saturday, my bank was closed, and the $500/day limit included ATM transactions.

My very generous roommate drove me to the airport and bought me a ticket using her credit card, otherwise I probably would have missed the funeral.

So call the airline, already, and make sure your bank hasn't screwed you over.
posted by faster than a speeding bulette at 8:01 PM on November 8, 2006