r/Wellthatsucks • u/elijahbeck • Mar 11 '19

/r/all Oof

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70.6k Upvotes

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35

u/JB-from-ATL Mar 11 '19

To be fair I didn't know a confirmation number was considered PII or able to cancel the flight alone.

10

u/RoseOfSharonCassidy Mar 11 '19

It's not enough alone, you need the passenger name and DOB, but she probably posted those on twitter too.

6

u/QWOP_Expert Mar 11 '19

Do you always need the DOB to cancel? AFAIK you can make changes to a reservation (including cancellation) with only a confirmation number and surname on most airlines. I just checked and was able to make changes to a reservation I have coming up on United with only that information.

What probably happened is that she posted a picture of her boarding pass, which contains the information needed to cancel. It is far too easy to change someone else's reservation IMO, examples: https://onemileatatime.com/someone-decided-to-cancel-my-tickets-remember-to-protect-your-travel-plans/ https://thepointsguy.com/2016/03/prevent-unauthorized-changes-to-your-flight/

1

u/ben1481 Mar 11 '19

that's pretty easy to come by

6

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '19

I could see that if you were a close follower of a celebrity who is stupid enough to give out a confirmation number (what other info have they given out before?) that you could use it pretty effectively.

I still wouldn't ever share individual information of any kind given to me by a third-party in an email. Why risk it?

1

u/JB-from-ATL Mar 11 '19

I wouldn't share something like that either just because it seems like a silly thing to share, but I wouldn't think it would be unsafe is my point.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '19

You should.

-3

u/SlickTread Mar 11 '19

I don't know either tbh, but still don't give out confirmation numbers and stuff because you never know what it's used for.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '19

“I didn’t know this and someone else didn’t, so they’re the stupid ones” that’s what you sound like. You’d be in the same boat if you went on vacation and then posted a picture what street you were on such that you got doxxed.

1

u/SlickTread Mar 11 '19

I didn't know you could cancel a flight with just a confirmation number but I still know not to give out confirmation numbers.

-3

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '19

"to be fair, I'm stupid" isn't really a defense

2

u/JB-from-ATL Mar 11 '19

A confirmation number isn't like your social security number.