This is my first official "review" that I hope helps you with your future family travel planning. I'll admit this review is a mixed one. When we began researching our first international trip we ruled out all the typical beach vacays because of the high seasonal cost. We thought of places that would be fun in the Winter and Switzerland immediately came to mind. I came across some reasonable flights on United Airlines to Zurich so we honed in on that. (NOTE: I am a United loyalist, not because they are amazing, but because I value accruing miles to use for premier benefits, free tickets and international upgrades.) Before we booked, I happened to check out United Vacations to see if we'd gain any savings for bundling with a hotel. THE GOOD: The cost savings was significant. Adding two nights hotel in Zurich through Vacations actually saved us ~$500 per person just off the flights alone. So I was sold on booking through them. The other nice thing is that they let you pay in a couple installments without interest...nice bonus.
Unfortunately for us, that is were the good ends and the BAD begins. If cost savings is your number one priority, then this or other bulk fare vendors might still be an awesome solution for you. Just read on so you know what else you're getting into. The BAD: There is no way to book your infant (lap child) online through their reservation site. It looks like you can, but you can only "indicate" you have a lap child. You need to call, then they will manually add the infant and charge you the appropriate taxes. You could chalk this up to a minor inconvenience, until you call back for a completely different reason and find out your infant wasn't added to the reservation at all (but you were charged). This needs to be manually corrected. Then you call United Airlines (separate entity I am told over an over again) just to confirm your infant is on the reservation. They confirm. Then you check-in using the United mobile app and there is no mention of Maya on the reservation, they don't ask for her passport documentation. You call United again to confirm. She is on the reservation. Then the UGLY: You arrive at the airport for departure and your infant still does not have a ticket. Of course not! Luckily the agent at the bag check works her magic to ensure our little one can tag along and we don't need to call Grandpa to come get her! I, of course, ask just to triple check, "does Maya now have a return ticket as well?" To which I am told, an emphatic YES. The REAL UGLY: Maya does not have a return ticket. This is what we learn from the check-in agent as we are preparing to depart Zurich. I'm asked, did I make a reservation for her? Did I pay the taxes for the infant. Um, yeah!!! The agent leaves us for several minutes as the line behind us grows and grows, she comes back as if she's done us a huge favor with a boarding pass for Maya. I'm unclear to this day what I could have done differently to make this go smoothly, but it is abundantly clear that United Vacations and United Airlines are completely separate and do not communicate with each other and that they are both very confused about international ticketing for infants. I also admit, I'm very curious what would have happened if they couldn't resolve the issue. Would we be stuck in Switzerland, have to buy her a seat, work off our debt in baggage claim?!
MORE UGLY: You cannot use United Global Premier Upgrades with tickets purchased through United Vacations. This is the "gotcha" I should have seen coming and probably should have known better. If you're not a mileage hoarder and an airline loyalist, who depends on using miles and other upgrades, then this issue won't be a problem for you. The issue is that United Vacations issues you a K or T class ticket and is a bulk fare that is not eligible for most upgrades. What I learned is that you can pay $550 per ticket each way plus 20K miles to upgrade, if you have that to spend, but Vacations won't do it for you and you can't request yourself on United.com. You have to call United directly and they have to "manually" process the request. The agent will be sure to remind you of the manual effort and you will really know after being on hold for 30-40 minutes while they process the request. After I had made this request to get on the upgrade waitlist, my friend offered me his free Global Premier Upgrades. Hallelujah! He called United, they worked their magic, refunded my money and miles, and then at the end of the call told him...actually those tickets are "bulk fare" so she can't use your upgrades. Sigh. My account still showed the upgrades were in place, and I had all my refunds, but when I called to inquire they said that if we leave it that way, we will show up at the airport with no seats and definitely no upgrades. Ugh. So they delete the complimentary upgrades, collect my money and my miles and we're back at square one on the upgrade waiting list. At the end of that call, United Airlines tells me I have to pay more taxes for Maya now that we may be upgraded. OK. How much? We don't know, you have to call Vacations. Vacations: how much for Maya now that we may be upgraded? We don't know, you have to call United Airlines. Needless to say these mysterious extra taxes never materialized. There's only so many times I'm willing to call to give people my money.
For me and my family's needs, it caused a lot of extra stress dealing with two separate entities who although appear to be the same company, actually operate completely independently. There were too many issues that came up to manage to make the cost savings worth it to me. But if you strictly want to save cash, don't plan to upgrade and aren't traveling with a lap child, this might be a good option for you. Thanks for reading, happy to chat in comments if you have them.
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