A Late Night

My friend Steve's grandmother passed away last night, so he called upon me...his travel agent friend to help him get back to Seattle for the funeral. I didn't know anything about it until after I got home from work, so I was trying to figure out options from home using the Internet, rather than my airline computer at work. I called United and got a quote on a bereavement fare that even though it wasn't the lowest option, seemed to make the most sense. So, Steve comes over with a bottle of wine in hand, (always a good idea when you ask your travel agent friend to work after hours) and we decided to call United to hold some space until I could ticket it tomorrow. He gets a res agent on the phone and tells her his dates of travel and she tells him there is absolutely nothing available at the bereavement fare. I found that hard to believe as I had been watching availability for a few days, knowing that this was coming. So, we decide to traipse off to my office at 11pm and check it out for ourselves. Sure enough, the flights are WIDE OPEN!!!! ...just as I had suspected. What is wrong with these res agents.? Believe me...it's not that hard to spot these open seats. It took me about 15 seconds. Grrrrr......I can't stand incompetence. The lesson here is....it pays to check with someone who knows what they are doing...and never believe anything an airline tells you.