AIRLINE OFFERS FREQUENT FLIERS RESERVED SEAT TO GOA HOME MINISTER by Aneesh Phadnis

JANUARY 4: If you thought the frequent flier tag could help you secure a seat of your choice and get some extra service think twice.  City-based Susir Kumar, a frequent flier was in for a rude shock when his reserved seat was allegedly offered to a minister without his consent on January 2.

Frequent Flier Susir Kumar

Kumar said that he had booked three tickets for his family on the Mangalore-Mumbai Jet Airways flight.  “Forty-eight hours before departure, I had done a tele check-in and blocked three seats in the second row. I even got a confirmation of the seats,” Kumar said, adding, “However, my seat was offered to Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik.”

As a result Kumar was forced to sit away from his wife and son in the 21st row. Kumar alleges that the 2A seat, originally reserved for him was later allotted to Naik without informing him.Kumar alleges that when he questioned the airline staff, they said that the problem was due to a technical error.

“The minister was unwilling to change the seat. How can the airline first block the seats for me and then give it away to some one else without consent?” Kumar asked.

When contacted, Naik said he had nothing to do with the issue.

“It’s the airline’s problem. Why are you asking me? I travelled from Goa to Mumbai and then onward to Mangalore. I collected all the boarding passes including the one for Mangalore-Mumbai flight from Goa airport at 7 am on Saturday,’’ Naik said.

Airline admits error

In a statement, Jet Airways said: “As per standard operating procedure, seat allocation is only confirmed when a guest calls to tele check-in.

In the case while Mr Susir Kumar had requested for seat allocation, his seat was pre-reserved, but inadvertently the booking did not have a remark confirming the pre-reservation and it was erroneously confirmed to another guest.’’

However, airline sources said that pre-reservation is different from check-in which is actual seat allotment.

A pre-reserved seat is simply blocking a seat and airlines can allocate it to another passenger depending on requirement or priority.

“In case of a check-in a seat can be changed only with passenger consent,’’ a source said. (MM)