6 ms·

I work in a pretty big GDS/IT company and that wouldn't happen in our systems. Virtually no airline asks for such a retarded business rule, flexible classes all

I work in a pretty big GDS/IT company and that wouldn't happen in our systems. Virtually no airline asks for such a retarded business rule, flexible classes allow generally 1 to 5 changes in departure date/time(no questions asked), after that it requires manual intervention on a case by case basis.

brador 13y ago
In that system, could you not buy a ticket, do 5 changes, then cancel the ticket and rebuy, repeat?
- anaphor 13y ago
  It would be a lot harder to make back the cost of the ticket though.
  - michaelhoffman 13y ago
    Since the ticket would be fully refundable, it would just increase the time and hassle involved, not the monetary outlay.
- Uberphallus 13y ago
  Technically, if it's already ticketed it's a refund, not a cancel (at GDS level at least), but airlines use both the same at marketing level. You can try that but full refunds are unusual, normally there's a penalty fee. More than for preventing ripping off lounges, it's to prevent third parties from playing tricks on the seats' availability. Maybe it still pays off, have a look!
  - _delirium 13y ago
    > full refunds are unusual, normally there's a penalty fee. At least on United (not too familiar with other airlines' policies), full-fare tickets (Y, J, F) are refundable without a fee. If it was paid on a credit card, they'll typically just reverse the charge.
    - Uberphallus 13y ago
      Probably refundable within 24/48h of the purchase. Many companies do that. Normal penalties apply from then on. So unless you buy your ticket in the last moment, no, it wouldn't work.
      - khuey 13y ago
        Refundable within X hours usually doesn't apply if you book within Y hours of the flight. The US DOT rule is refundable within 24 hours if booked at least 7 days in advance.
      - _delirium 13y ago
        No, fully refundable fares are fully refundable at any time up to the flight. That's the whole point of a "fully-refundable" fare; it has no penalties for refunds. This is made pretty clear in the fare rules, and is the basic reason to buy full-fare tickets rather than discount fares (apart from the mileage bonus, I guess). The 24 hour limit is for refunds on non-refundable fares. Most airlines will still let you cancel any ticket within the first 24 hours, even a discount fare (in the US, the DOT requires this for tickets booked at least 7 days in advance).
        MichaelGG 13y ago
        I thought the basic reason for full fare tickets was to show economy on your expense report but get an immediate, guaranteed upgrade.
brk 13y ago
I'm thinking he never changed the actual flight info, he just manually "photoshopped" the data on the ticket. Even with the barcodes, many airports and lounges do not actually check the barcodes, they just visually verify the info. There was a story a few years back when Delta and some others started doing boarding by zones. People were doing online checking, saving their printable ticket as a PDF or whatever, and editing that file to change the "Zone 4" text/image to "Zone 1", and then getting early boarding. If you travel with any regularity you soon realize that all these special checks and verifications are pretty weak. Even when you are in a place that DOES use the barcode reader to pull the data, it wouldn't be that hard to hack the barcode. The reader devices appear to be non-networked, so they are just scanning a code and displaying text. I haven't personally tried it, but that kind of "encryption", if there is any, is pretty easy to reverse engineer. You can have multiple data samples (tickets), and you know at least some of the key info contained within (passenger name, flight info, etc.) and you can experiment endlessly until you figure it out.
- kaybe 13y ago
  That could explain why on my last few flights boarding was done according to random-seeming letters. At least you can't guess them that easily.
  - aestra 13y ago
    I think some airlines let you pay for priority boarding.
- leoedin 13y ago
  I don't understand the apparent desire for early boarding. Almost every airport lounge I've been in has been more comfortable than the aircraft. The plane's not going to leave without you. I much prefer sitting in the lounge and wandering on last.
  - chime 13y ago
    Space for carry-on luggage is limited. If you board last, there is a high possibility that the airline will check-in your carry-on luggage instead. This will cause you a delay since now you need to wait in the baggage claim area after arrival. Had you boarded just 5mins prior, someone else might have to wait 30mins in baggage claim instead of you.

brador 13y ago

In that system, could you not buy a ticket, do 5 changes, then cancel the ticket and rebuy, repeat?

anaphor 13y ago
It would be a lot harder to make back the cost of the ticket though.
- michaelhoffman 13y ago
  Since the ticket would be fully refundable, it would just increase the time and hassle involved, not the monetary outlay.
Uberphallus 13y ago
Technically, if it's already ticketed it's a refund, not a cancel (at GDS level at least), but airlines use both the same at marketing level. You can try that but full refunds are unusual, normally there's a penalty fee. More than for preventing ripping off lounges, it's to prevent third parties from playing tricks on the seats' availability. Maybe it still pays off, have a look!
- _delirium 13y ago
  > full refunds are unusual, normally there's a penalty fee. At least on United (not too familiar with other airlines' policies), full-fare tickets (Y, J, F) are refundable without a fee. If it was paid on a credit card, they'll typically just reverse the charge.
  - Uberphallus 13y ago
    Probably refundable within 24/48h of the purchase. Many companies do that. Normal penalties apply from then on. So unless you buy your ticket in the last moment, no, it wouldn't work.
    - khuey 13y ago
      Refundable within X hours usually doesn't apply if you book within Y hours of the flight. The US DOT rule is refundable within 24 hours if booked at least 7 days in advance.
    - _delirium 13y ago
      No, fully refundable fares are fully refundable at any time up to the flight. That's the whole point of a "fully-refundable" fare; it has no penalties for refunds. This is made pretty clear in the fare rules, and is the basic reason to buy full-fare tickets rather than discount fares (apart from the mileage bonus, I guess). The 24 hour limit is for refunds on non-refundable fares. Most airlines will still let you cancel any ticket within the first 24 hours, even a discount fare (in the US, the DOT requires this for tickets booked at least 7 days in advance).
      - MichaelGG 13y ago
        I thought the basic reason for full fare tickets was to show economy on your expense report but get an immediate, guaranteed upgrade.

brk 13y ago

I'm thinking he never changed the actual flight info, he just manually "photoshopped" the data on the ticket. Even with the barcodes, many airports and lounges do not actually check the barcodes, they just visually verify the info. There was a story a few years back when Delta and some others started doing boarding by zones. People were doing online checking, saving their printable ticket as a PDF or whatever, and editing that file to change the "Zone 4" text/image to "Zone 1", and then getting early boarding. If you travel with any regularity you soon realize that all these special checks and verifications are pretty weak. Even when you are in a place that DOES use the barcode reader to pull the data, it wouldn't be that hard to hack the barcode. The reader devices appear to be non-networked, so they are just scanning a code and displaying text. I haven't personally tried it, but that kind of "encryption", if there is any, is pretty easy to reverse engineer. You can have multiple data samples (tickets), and you know at least some of the key info contained within (passenger name, flight info, etc.) and you can experiment endlessly until you figure it out.

kaybe 13y ago
That could explain why on my last few flights boarding was done according to random-seeming letters. At least you can't guess them that easily.
- aestra 13y ago
  I think some airlines let you pay for priority boarding.
leoedin 13y ago
I don't understand the apparent desire for early boarding. Almost every airport lounge I've been in has been more comfortable than the aircraft. The plane's not going to leave without you. I much prefer sitting in the lounge and wandering on last.
- chime 13y ago
  Space for carry-on luggage is limited. If you board last, there is a high possibility that the airline will check-in your carry-on luggage instead. This will cause you a delay since now you need to wait in the baggage claim area after arrival. Had you boarded just 5mins prior, someone else might have to wait 30mins in baggage claim instead of you.