At least people without smart phones can still get a printed boarding pass whether it’s printed at home (which I’ve done) or at the airport after waiting on line .For some sports venues, only digital tickets can be used - no printed tickets at all.
Also, I’ve stayed at hotels that had kiosks where you could print out your boarding pass. I used these before I got a smart phone.
I think the airlines try to get volunteers to be bumped rather than bumping someone involuntarily. I was on a short Southwest flight (less than an hour) a couple of weeks ago, where the gate agent offered $600 for those willing to be bumped. And I flew United a couple of years ago and they send out email in advance of the flight asking people to bid on what they would want to be bumped. Presumably they bump the passengers asking the least amount.
Buggy whips and coal-oil lamps are also not allowed onboard.
One doesn’t need to have a smart phone, but the utility of one shouldn’t be ignored when a large super-majority of people do have one.
Almost all airlines have self-service check-in kiosks near the ticket counter which will print boarding passes. Yes, there is sometimes a short 3 or 4 minute line to use one of them. but it’s not like the line to speak to a live ticket agent that may be 30 or 40 minutes long.
Returning to @Digger11 's point:
One can travel without a credit card, without a cellphone, and without permanent press clothing or luggage with wheels. One can also rent a mule if by land or a sailboat if by sea to get there. Modern is the big red Easy button for everything.
Generally, they do, but not always. I was the beneficiary of USD$1500 per person (4 of us!) to take a VDB back in March.
At the end of the day, if the plane is oversold passengers will be left behind.
I don’t think the intent was to suggest many people are booking multiple flights for the same day. Just multiple flights to the same destination.
Think about my situation. At a previous job, I used to have to travel a lot for work, taking trips that could either be 2 days, 3 days or 4 days depending on how things went. If it was a busy travel season or if I was particularly interested in getting back home as early as possible, I might book all three return options. I didn’t need them to be fully refundable; I only needed to make sure I could keep the fare value as future credit because I knew I’d be flying that airline again soon.
Wait, what?
I’ve paid for my ticket. If something came up and I was not able to use it, I would never have thought to call the airline. How is that selfish?
Out of curiosity, was that $1500 real money? Or was it a voucher for use if you want to buy a ticket on a future trip , with lots of restrictions?
Unless it’s an emotional support coal-oil lamp.
When the ticket is nonrefundable, it’s certainly an unselfish thing to do to to make the effort to give somebody else the opportunity to use your unwanted seat.
But I don’t think the ethical obligation extends to phoning the airline when you’re likely to be left on hold for thirty minutes. That’s on them. I’d probably try to go online and cancel, which is usually quick and easy.
You’d think it might be smart for airlines to always give some kind of small refund on nonrefundable tickets to give people an incentive to cancel rather than just not show up.
I am not sure it is selfish to not call but it is in your interest to call so you can get a refund or (more likely) a credit to use for a future flight.
If you don’t mind sucking-up the cost of the ticket then don’t call.
I’ve had to cancel a couple of nonrefundable flights this year and in both cases I got a voucher good for the cost of the flight.
I find it hard to imagine any hotel I would stay at not printing a boarding pass on request, or at least having a “business area” with computers and a printer.
Quite flexible. Delta has a redemption site and you can pick any combination of gift cards - Delta, Visa, Amazon, Uber, etc. either virtual or plastic cards that get shipped to you.
What I wish they’d do: bump the people who’ve taken the piss when it comes to the size of their carry-on cases. Every flight now seems to have multiple people with 2+ oversize cases and multiple giant shopping bags.
I hope no one here believes that if you cancel a nonrefundable ticket, the airline simply keeps all the money. The funds are available for purchase of tickets for (usually) a year.
I used to operate like that, and then finally realized I was being paranoid. In the case of a temporary phone glitch, I can just step out of the boarding line and wait for my phone to get its shit together. In the worst case of my phone dying or getting lost/stolen somewhere between TSA and the gate, I can get a paper pass printed at the gate by showing my ID.
The thing I don’t understand is that when I check in for an international flight (on Delta at least), they print a paper boarding pass for me. They don’t even ask if I need one.
It amazes me in this day and age how many people persist in thinking that an airline ticket is like a theater or sporting event ticket: good on that one day for that one flight only. Miss it and you’ve lost your money.
Your ticket (payment for passage) and your reservation (which flight you’ll ride on) have always been two separate ideas only loosely connected. You need both to go, but they are not the same thing.
For a full-fare unrestricted ticket the connection is most tenuous. For a heavily restricted cheapo ticket the connection is firmer. But even the most restrictive ticket includes preserving most of the value paid if you n-call-no-show. And more (or all) of the value if you do-call-no-show.
This is the case for the legacy carriers, but I think many people are flying low cost carriers that a) have very cheap flights and b) have relatively expensive penalties.
For example, I picked a flight on Frontier Airlines on Nov 24 from ATL to MIA. Beyond the 24 hour free cancellation window, the admin fee to cancel is $99. The price of the ticket? $36.