5 ms·

Helping Fliers Avoid Change Fees for a Modest Fee

12 points by e15ctr0n 11y ago

hchenji 11y ago
Why doesn't the article mention Southwest Airlines??
- sardonicbryan 11y ago
  It does: "Only Southwest Airlines, which distinguishes itself among major airlines by largely shunning fees, does not charge to switch flights."
CaptainZapp 11y ago
Your plans suddenly change, and a flight must be switched. Soon you are paying a flight-change fee of $200 or so. (I really hate being a defender of the airline industry, but here we go anyway) If you're not sure about your plans you have three options: You can wait until you're sure to buy a ticket You can buy a ticket at a higher priced, refundable fare You buy a cheap non-refundable ticket and risk losing on it if you can't take the flight, or need to change it Flying, overall, got so incredible cheap. I read (meaning I can't give you a source, but it sounds realistic) that taking a flight from Europe to Australia 40 years ago required 8 average monthly salaries. Today it's less than half an average monthly salary. Sure the perks got less and less and while flying may have been a glamourous, champagne drenched affair then those times are certainly gone; at least in cattle class. I'm always bugged by whiners complaining that they bought a return flight from New York to London for 399$ and then complain that they can't change it, because they just don't seem to grasp the concept of non-refundable. If you want refundable, that can be had. For 4x the price. There are a lot of valid gripes about the industry. From penny pinching, to ridiculous fees (like 10EUR to have your boarding pass printed) to rotten "customer service", etc. But if you buy a cheap ticket, which is sold with restrictions that are communicated up-front then stop whining.
- trhway 11y ago
  >I'm always bugged by whiners complaining that they bought a return flight from New York to London for 399$ and then complain that they can't change it, because they just don't seem to grasp the concept of non-refundable. If you want refundable, that can be had. For 4x the price. giving the high volume (and thus in particular high statistical predictability available to airlines), the huge spread between refundable and non-refundable strongly suggests that there is something out of whack here.
- mathgeek 11y ago
  "I'm always bugged by whiners complaining that they bought a return flight from New York to London for 399$ and then complain that they can't change it, because they just don't seem to grasp the concept of non-refundable. If you want refundable, that can be had. For 4x the price." What are your thoughts on a system that allows for resale of unwanted tickets through a vetted third party (assuming that third party has the proper tools in place to vet purchasers through the normal security checks when buying a flight)?
  - CaptainZapp 11y ago
    In principle I think it would be a good idea, but it will never fly (sorry), since it would not only cut into the airlines' baseline, but totally sabotage the concept of yield management (or price discrimantion, if you prefer), which is totally essential to the business model of an airline (or hotel, or car rental company). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_management https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_management) While this may seem frustrating I can - to some degree - understand their position, since there would be a business model in that. A cabin is divided into a number of classes. That's not just first -, business - and economy -, but economy class as such is divided into a number of sub classes, which are sold under different conditions for different fares. For example: Swiss offers the following fare classes in economy (I assume this goes for the whole Lufthansa group, but didn't check). From most expensive to cheapest: B, Y G, H, M, U Q, S, V, W E, K, L, T Now they have a certain amount of seats available in, say, fare class K. Once they are sold out you can only book seats in classes S, H or even Y. It fluctuates, though. They may add more seats to cheaper classes if the flight is in danger of not selling out. Let's assume that I buy K class tickets for a flight, from which I assume that it sells out well in advance. Two weeks before the fllight is scheduled and only (much) more expensive tickets in B and M class are available I offer my tickets for sale and share the savings with the buyer, who, in theory would have been willing to pay a much higher price. So in essence it's the ability of the airlines to price discriminate, which would be endangered if tickets are resellable. You can argue that this is not right and unfair. Then again it's price discrimination, which enables very cheap flights. Provided you book in a timely manner and accept limited or no flexibility.
tamana 11y ago
Nice submarine PR for these new travel insurance companies, selling an old product with a new face.

12 points by e15ctr0n 11y ago

hchenji 11y ago

Why doesn't the article mention Southwest Airlines??

sardonicbryan 11y ago
It does: "Only Southwest Airlines, which distinguishes itself among major airlines by largely shunning fees, does not charge to switch flights."

CaptainZapp 11y ago

Your plans suddenly change, and a flight must be switched. Soon you are paying a flight-change fee of $200 or so. (I really hate being a defender of the airline industry, but here we go anyway) If you're not sure about your plans you have three options: You can wait until you're sure to buy a ticket You can buy a ticket at a higher priced, refundable fare You buy a cheap non-refundable ticket and risk losing on it if you can't take the flight, or need to change it Flying, overall, got so incredible cheap. I read (meaning I can't give you a source, but it sounds realistic) that taking a flight from Europe to Australia 40 years ago required 8 average monthly salaries. Today it's less than half an average monthly salary. Sure the perks got less and less and while flying may have been a glamourous, champagne drenched affair then those times are certainly gone; at least in cattle class. I'm always bugged by whiners complaining that they bought a return flight from New York to London for 399$ and then complain that they can't change it, because they just don't seem to grasp the concept of non-refundable. If you want refundable, that can be had. For 4x the price. There are a lot of valid gripes about the industry. From penny pinching, to ridiculous fees (like 10EUR to have your boarding pass printed) to rotten "customer service", etc. But if you buy a cheap ticket, which is sold with restrictions that are communicated up-front then stop whining.

trhway 11y ago
>I'm always bugged by whiners complaining that they bought a return flight from New York to London for 399$ and then complain that they can't change it, because they just don't seem to grasp the concept of non-refundable. If you want refundable, that can be had. For 4x the price. giving the high volume (and thus in particular high statistical predictability available to airlines), the huge spread between refundable and non-refundable strongly suggests that there is something out of whack here.
mathgeek 11y ago
"I'm always bugged by whiners complaining that they bought a return flight from New York to London for 399$ and then complain that they can't change it, because they just don't seem to grasp the concept of non-refundable. If you want refundable, that can be had. For 4x the price." What are your thoughts on a system that allows for resale of unwanted tickets through a vetted third party (assuming that third party has the proper tools in place to vet purchasers through the normal security checks when buying a flight)?
- CaptainZapp 11y ago
  In principle I think it would be a good idea, but it will never fly (sorry), since it would not only cut into the airlines' baseline, but totally sabotage the concept of yield management (or price discrimantion, if you prefer), which is totally essential to the business model of an airline (or hotel, or car rental company). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_management https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yield_management) While this may seem frustrating I can - to some degree - understand their position, since there would be a business model in that. A cabin is divided into a number of classes. That's not just first -, business - and economy -, but economy class as such is divided into a number of sub classes, which are sold under different conditions for different fares. For example: Swiss offers the following fare classes in economy (I assume this goes for the whole Lufthansa group, but didn't check). From most expensive to cheapest: B, Y G, H, M, U Q, S, V, W E, K, L, T Now they have a certain amount of seats available in, say, fare class K. Once they are sold out you can only book seats in classes S, H or even Y. It fluctuates, though. They may add more seats to cheaper classes if the flight is in danger of not selling out. Let's assume that I buy K class tickets for a flight, from which I assume that it sells out well in advance. Two weeks before the fllight is scheduled and only (much) more expensive tickets in B and M class are available I offer my tickets for sale and share the savings with the buyer, who, in theory would have been willing to pay a much higher price. So in essence it's the ability of the airlines to price discriminate, which would be endangered if tickets are resellable. You can argue that this is not right and unfair. Then again it's price discrimination, which enables very cheap flights. Provided you book in a timely manner and accept limited or no flexibility.

tamana 11y ago

Nice submarine PR for these new travel insurance companies, selling an old product with a new face.