As if we needed another reason devoutly to wish the immediate bankruptcy and annhilation of the major airlines, I found out (late, I’m sure) of another:
Let’s say you make an error with your ticket. Or you’re stuck in the Queens Midtown tunnel for an hour. For whatever reason, you don’t show before the plan backs up from the gate. You have a “non-refundable” roundtrip ticket. How much of it do you lose?
a. The ticket out, of course.
b. The entire thing - both halves of the ticket.
You, of course, can already tell what the answer is, because if the answer were a. there’d be nothing to rant about.
Yes, folks: the major domestic US Airlines are more than happy to sell you nothing for something! There’s a standard endorsement (which I think most of us lawyers would like to call a contract of adhesion, not that it would get us anywhere) that lets an airline do this.
And apparently the fact that it’s become “standard” is enough reason for American Airllines to continue to enforce it. Never mind that the airlines that are (ahem) making money (viz., Jet Blue and Southwest) don’t.
And yes, I’m aware of the economic theory behind it. I know that their business model depends on a combination of flights, and that prohibiting people from splitting tickets is a desparate measure to defend ludicrous degrees of differential pricing to support their enormous cost structure. Well, fuck 'em. It’s a model that’s utterly contemptuous of consumers. Let 'em die. Every big, bloated one of 'em. American, USAir, United, Delta - liquidate 'em.
But aren’t they usually happy to change your nonrefundable ticket to another flight, for an extra fee, of course? A sizeable, in fact whopping, extra fee, but who’s counting mere $$ when it’s corporate America doing it?
Wow, that’s pretty close to what happened to me. The airport shuttle took an inordinately long amount of time to get me to the airport, and after waiting in line for the initial screener, I was informed that I could not pass that point without a boarding pass, and was instructed to print one out at an automated machine. By the time I did that, the machine wouldn’t give me one, because the new rule apparently is that you must get the boarding pass 40 minutes before departure time. I went to the airline counter, but they wouldn’t help me. So even though I could have made it to the gate, I was not allowed to enter the secure area of the airport at all.
I realize that it was ultimately my fault for being late, and that they’re not responsible for the heightened security rules, but would it KILL them to make some mention of the fact when you buy the ticket, such as “WARNING - you will not be allowed to enter the airport without obtaining a boarding pass at least 40 minutes before departure time.” In fact, such information wasn’t available at all, and when I had tried to reach them by phone for information before the flight, I was only able to get an automated voice-recognition system of pre-recorded messages, none of which said anything about the change in boarding-pass policy.
AA’s best offer was standby on an overnight flight that would arrive the next morning, but they couldn’t guarantee a seat on the connecting flight (which was sold out), so I conceivably could have been stuck at the Chicago airport all night without ever getting to my destination. So it looked like my best option was to bag the trip altogether. I asked if I could get credit towards a future purchase, and after the agent made a phone call (they apparently don’t even have a coherent policy that the agents are informed of), I was told that I could book another flight for $100 “change fee”, ONLY IF I BOOKED IT THAT SAME DAY.
I’ve had to cancel non-refundable tickets for Southwest before, and they gave me credit for THE ENTIRE FARE towards ANY future purchase.
From now on I’m sticking with Southwest. American Airlines can lick the smegma off my glans.
Yup, the airlines will cancel your entire ticket if you miss one leg because people starting buying round-trip tickets for one-leg trips because it’s cheaper to buy RT. My uncle found this out the hard way. He had a RT flight booked to Savannah. At the last minute, he decided to drive his van down so that his wife would have it when she flew down later that week. He goes to catch his flight home and discovered they had canceled the entire ticket because he was a no-show on the first leg.
To make a long story short, he was a Delta Crown member because he flew so much. But he was so royally pissed at them for canceling his flight home (forcing him to potentially spend the night in the airport), and their stupid reasoning for doing so, that he canceled his membership in the CrownClub (where they make lots of extra $$) on the spot and vowed to never fly Delta again. Then he bad-mouthed Delta to everyone he could find with an ear.
So, Delta saved a buck on that flight, but lost a valuable, loyal customer in the process.
Why can’t the airlines dump their antiquated pricing systems and get in touch with their customers’ needs? Why is one-way more expensive than round trip? Why is a Saturday stay more expensive? Why does one person fly for $100 and the person next to them pays $400? Why do I have to drive 100 miles due west to Indy because flying out of my hometown hub is 25% more expensive? Why do the airlines, who are losing MILLIONS of dollars each year, treat their customers as if they are LUCKY to be flying them anywhere.
Flying is great. Last time I flew from Boston to Jacksonville, not only did I have the pleasure getting frisked, but I had a lovely layover in Detroit. And I got an excellent opportunity to practice being a contortionist, simply by sitting in an airplane seat.
And stop complaining about how they charge you if you cancel a flight. It’s not like they’re going to sell your empty seat to someone else, probably for twice what you paid.
If at all possible, the only way to return fuck them the honest corporate and capitalist way is to lean towards the Jet Blues and anyone else trying to do things right.
He is blaming the airlines for something that is his own fault. I love this. The fact that he is a Delta Crown member makes it all the more delicious. He should know the rules by this fault alone. Being a Club Member of any airline means you should have a better understanding about the nature of the beast. (presumably because you fly more) Being a Club Member does not mean you are treated like royalty.(Those days are long, long gone.) Mostly it means you pay a few bucks for the lounge service away from the unwashed masses and pre check in.
I’m sorry, but is the airlines suppose to hold open a reservation for someone who misses their outbound flight of a round trip? The airlines is not a mind reader at all. If you miss the outbound, then the record is cancelled. They don’t have time to call every missed flight to see if Mr. Doe is going or is he still sick or in a meeting.They are in business to make money. (What a shocker.) If he made a phone call, he probably could have reversed his ticket for a change fee or been advised of a buttload of fee and readjusted his trip accordingly… ** One call is all it would have taken. He didn’t bother and blames the airlines.** Apparently there is no accountability anymore.
Its about money and putting a paying body in the seat ( usually for more money as last minute flyers pay thru the nose.)
and I am not sticking up for them at all, the fuckers did everything they could to kill the travel agent industry. Talking about biting the hand that feeds you.
Oxy Won’t the airlines let you use your ticket as a voucher to be applied to a future ticket ( with penalties) within one year? If I were you I’d write a letter to customer service…it couldn’t hurt
This is why I am really glad I am not a corporate travel agent any more, that and the fact that the internet and 9/11 killed the entire industry. It gets very trying to educate the vacation traveler.
And the industry will never change their bizarre pricing levels and moronic rules. It makes no sense, it infuriates the customer and they are in the red. Why would they change a thing?
Ah, but his seat was sold on the return trip. Why do they need to be mind readers? He’s paid for the return trip already. They do it so they can re-sell a seat that’s already been sold.
Pre 9/11, I had to fly from Dallas to DC for a weeklong training class. I get to the airport with plenty of time, sit at the gate and wait for them to start handing out the boarding passes. After a bit I realize they had cancelled the flight but had made arraignments for everyone on other flights/airlines. Sounds great and this was a nonstop flight instead of having a layover in Atlanta and having to trek all the way across the airport.
Except that when I go to pick up my ticket in DC for the flight home they tell me that they cancelled the ticket because I hadn’t flown on the flight to DC.
I never made the news because they quickly discovered that the flight had been cancelled and that I had flown a different flight. All turned out OK in the end.
I havn’t flown since then and I really don’t think I want to fly anywhere with most commercial airlines. I might fly with SouthWest again.
I keep hearing this one about RT’s being cheaper than one way. About 98% of my trips are RT, but every once and a while I book a one way. In 11 years I have never seen a one way ticket, purchased under the same conditions, be more expensive than a RT.
I will grant you a RT bought with a three week advance will be cheaper than a 1 way bought the day of the trip, but that is not buying under the same conditions.
I’d ask for a cite, but this is the pit so fuck it.
Umm, maybe I wasn’t clear but he DID pay for his seat. He wasn’t asking for his money to be refunded, he was asking for the seat that he had already paid for. And, no, he didn’t realize that if you decide not to fly one leg of your trip, they canceled the whole itinerary. Why should they? HE PAID FOR THAT SEAT. And if he wants air molecules to take up his seat, that should be his prerogative.
I had a travel agent splain this to me once. (wonderful people travel agents, I wish I still had one ::: snif::
The long and short of it was that the ticket does not become valid until the first leg is completed. I don’t recall the reason, but I do recall that it seemed to make sense to me at the time.
While I agree that airline pricing and policies are absurd, and while I applaud Southwest for being this accommodating, I’ve got to ask: which part of “non-refundable” did you not understand?
If I purchased a non-refundable ticket, and then had to cancel, I’d certainly be delighted if the airline gave me my money back, or gave me full credit towards a future flight, but I would hardly be justified calling the airline bad names if they refused to do so.
Stick it up your ass, blowero. Refund or credit, you end up not being charged for a flight you didn’t take. It’s only different, economically, if you never intend to fly on that airline again in your life. In the normal course of events, “non-refundable” means that if you don’t use it, you lose. If you get a credit, you haven’t lost anything, have you? Or is this just too complicated for you?
