Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
L1011 wrote:A couple of months ago I was booked on Delta RIC-ATL-LAX to attend the TCM Classic Film Festival. My departure kept getting pushed back due to tornados in the Atlanta area. They said I would miss my connection, but there was no other connection they could put me on because most flights out of Atlanta were being canceled. Since I needed to get to LAX that night, I walked over to the United ticket counter and asked if I could buy a ticket to LAX. They said they couldn't sell me a ticket at the airport, that I'd have to buy it on-line or by telephone. I didn't have a computer with me, so that option was out, and I figured that their telephone lines were probably jammed, since Delta's reservation line said wait time was about 4 hours! So I walked over to the JetBlue counter and bought a ticket from them through Boston, even though I had to pay an expensive walk-up fare. So my question is: Why can't United sell a ticked at the airport? Is that also the case with other airlines as well?
a340crew wrote:I believe this has to do with the actual station. If the station is staffed by UA mainline employees, they can do ticket sales.
If the station is not a mainline station and contacted out to a 3rd party vendor, they are not able to do any ticketing at all. Even flight changes due to IROP the station agents need to call in to UA reservations to make flight changes.
Richmond in your case is a contracted station to a 3rd party vendor which is why they could not do ticketing.