Ridiculous or not? US Airways closes a “loophole” – but opens a can of worms

A few weeks ago, Bob Johnson got an email from a US Airways employee that began, “They’re at it again.”

What was US Airways up to? At the beginning of the month, the carrier quietly added a new fee: Passengers who book a ticket through a travel agent but call the airline directly to make a change to their itinerary will now have to pay another $25 to speak with a phone agent. They were exempt from the fee before.

And here’s where Johnson comes in. Calling him a loyal US Airways customer would be an understatement. Johnson helped start a group called FFocus, which advocates for US Airways customers, particularly frequent fliers.

While he isn’t opposed to reasonable fees, he says this one makes no sense.

“US Airways defies logic on a minute-by-minute basis,” he told me. “This latest change is yet another example of the ongoing customer-unfriendly attitude of US Airways. Somebody explain the fairness of this new policy.”

I asked Jim Olson, a US Airways spokesman, for the airline’s side of the story.

“We have fixed a loophole,” he says. “Customers who purchased tickets at travel agencies were calling our reservations center to make changes and we were not charging the $25 fee. So in effect customers who originally booked through US Airways reservations were at a disadvantage to those who booked via a travel agent. We closed that loophole and are now charging travel agency customers when they call our reservations offices.”

There’s another way of looking at this: If you buy a ticket through a travel agency and you have to make a change through the airline call center, then you’re being charged twice – once by your agent, who adds a transaction fee to your ticket, and then again by US Airways, for talking to an agent.

Is that ridiculous?

Actually, it’s reality when you’re dealing with big airlines.

“Legacy airlines charge fees for full-service — telephone and airport ticket office — transactions, including full-service voluntary modifications of tickets originally made through any channel,” says Kristina Rundquist, a spokeswoman for the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). “These policies have been in place for many years.”

Seems US Airways is the last of the legacy carriers to close this loophole. Only JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and, curiously, Spirit Airlines, don’t charge a fee to modify an agency reservation, according to ASTA. The other major domestic airlines do, and their fees vary from the nominal $15 charged by AirTran to an eye-popping $75 billed by Alaska Airlines.

But just because everyone else is doing it, does that make it right? Rundquist took the high road when I asked about the fee, saying only that, “the agency channel provides an enhanced set of values as compared to the direct full-service channel,” and then listed those benefits in an email.

That’s certainly true, but a little beside the point.

I asked Art Pushkin, another frequent US Airways flier and FFocus member, what he made of US Airways’ closing loophole.

“This is tantamount to preying on distressed travelers,” he says, noting that the people who are likeliest to be hit with this fee would phone the airline as a last resort, either when their travel agent is unavailable or when the must make a last-minute change because of a storm.

“They might pick up an extra $25 here and there, but what will it cost in lost future revenue?” he asks.

Olson notes that passengers can still make itinerary changes for free – as long as they use the airline’s website.

What do you think? Is US Airways’ fee added to your travel agent’s fee too much?

You think so.

  • larry

    Chris, I expect Spirit Air to close that loophole in very short order after they see your article. Thanks a pant load!!!!!!!

  • Monica

    I guess I’d have to ask why call the airline to make a change and not the travel agent. Isn’t that what a passenger is paying travel agents for, managing your travel? Or would the passenger still get hit with the change fee from the agents side?

    I said the fee was silly. They already have the money one way or another, why penalize the customer more? At least they are still flying with the airline.

  • Nikki

    US Airways seems to have mastered the fine art of shooting themselves in the foot…

  • http://www.adprglobal.com Annie Cochran

    I used to work for US Air in the evenings on their reservations phones, as I worked as a tourism PR professional, and travel writer by day.

    I am shocked especially since most reservations agents are paid just above min wage per hour. I can’t remember what the top hourly rates was for agents but i sure it was not over $25 an hour. And it only takes less than 10 minutes to change a flight on the computer max.

    Why the cost? What explanation can they possibly have for charging this much? Charging $25 because a travel agent booked the flight is ridiculous.

    Again, Jet Blue comes out above the rest. I am shocked at what Alaska Airlines charges! If the people dont revolt things will not get any better!

  • Bryan

    Can we get rid of the legacy carriers? All they do is make it hard for us non-frequent fliers.

  • atlmom

    Doesn’t it cost them more than the $25 to actually charge it to you? Seriously – they have to do the change *and* they get some really bad publicity.

  • http://cestbeth.net Elizabeth Smith

    As an active home-based travel agent who uses the web, not a GDS, to book travel, this is ridiculous to charge customers more than once, especially during irregular operations beyond the customers’ control. Of course, there’s no fee to change online, but not all customers are flying around with laptops to access usairways.com and not all itineraries can be changed online. I had to call US Airways yesterday to make a change to an itinerary I had booked for four clients because I couldn’t make the change online for them. If it had been a domestic itinerary, my clients would have been charged the fee. The exception to this rule, I was told yesterday by the agent, is that international itinerary changes do not require the telephone fee. So even if an agent calls on your behalf, you will be charged the telephone fee except for international itinerary changes.

  • http://www.asdfghjkl.org Fred

    Like all fees, the only reason this seems really ‘ridiculous’ is because they weren’t charging for it before, even though most other airlines were.
    Also, nobody should really ‘have to’ pay this fee – either book through the airline directly (like I always do), or talk to your travel agent, and if they can’t change it, you probably shouldn’t have bought your ticket from them.

  • BillC

    I find most fees to be out of whack when comparing the actual cost of the service to the cost of providing that service. While not excusing any business that does this I wonder how many people would choose a higher cost ticket in exchange for lower fees? It is more likely they would choose the lower price and adjust their requirements(baggage, etc) to lessen the fees that they have to pay.

    In this case the client does have an option, use a travle agent or the website.

    The only way to get airlines to either eliminate or come clean on fees is for the public to stop using the airlines. As long as people keep flying, the fees will keep coming.

  • Phil

    If you don’t book your airline ticket directly with the Air Canada, if you use a travel agent etc, then Air Canada wants nothing to do with you if you have a problem, change etc. In fact when you go to their website to look at your itinerary the first thing one notices is a note in red saying, “oops, you have booked this travel outside Air Canada’s website so go to where you booked it for help” I have had AC change a couple of things even though I booked outside their website, have not been charged but am an elite with a *alliance partner. So IMO AC is treating alot of its customers as 2nd class citizens. Way to go AC, you have always been a non customer service airline and you continue to be that way. Your customer service reps are arrogant. The sooner AC goes down the tubes the better for all, perhaps we will get another airline in Canada like Westjet who feels just the opposite from AC in the way they treat their guests.

  • http://www.autoslash.com Jonathan

    I think the most shocking part of this article is that Chris has identified the ONLY fee that Spirit Airlines currently does not charge. This is akin to finding Atlantis or the Arc of the Covenant.

    This is the airline that now charges to put bags in the overhead bin, and is installing non-reclining seats so they can pack more cattler (er passengers) in the their flying econotube.

    The real question here is how long it will take someone from Spirit to discover this thread, and change their policy to extract the last few remaining crumbs from their customer’s pockets.

    Clock is ticking…

  • Kaxxina

    I have to second Monica’s question… why bother calling the airline when you have PAID someone to act as an agent for you? I’d just call my travel agent. Is there a reason someone wouldn’t? I’d really like to know…..

  • http://cestbeth.mtravel.com Elizabeth Smith

    I want to know what one does if they’re stuck at the airport during a storm, with no laptop or web-enabled smartphone, and the line is hours long to see an agent. Should a customer be punished with another fee because he/she has to call in this situation? What if the ticket can’t be changed online anyway? Not all tickets can be modified online for various reasons. It’s in situations like these that customers should not be charged yet another fee.

  • Kami

    Speaking of stupid telephone fees, this new fee is rediculous, but still not as bad as Delta. You have to book an unaccompanied minor via the telephone, however, they then want to charge you an extra $100 to pay via credit card over the phone at time of booking. The only way to get out of this fee? Go to an airport, find the Delta counter and pay it in person!

  • bodega

    The airlines do not pay travel agencies to sell their product. So there is a fee charged to issue a ticket. Any changes also have a fee, so many people would call the carrier to by pass the agency change fee, which is on top of the change fee that we have to collect based on the rules of the fare. The airlines figured out what was going on and added the fee to discourage this practice, even though they are making $75-$200 based on the change fee in the fare rule.

  • Michael K

    “Olson notes that passengers can still make itinerary changes for free – as long as they use the airline’s website.”

    In my experience, airlines websites often don’t allow certain types of changes (for example, changes to the return flights after the outbound leg of the journey has been completed)

  • BucksterSF

    Businesses can charge what they want. if you don’t like it don’t fly them. I personally do not ever fly US Airways, even if it is the lowest fare or most convenient. I vote with my money.

  • Mary Graham

    Let’s stop giving the airlines our money, how about that? If you don’t have have to fly because of business or an emergency, don’t fly. Vacation closer to home.

  • DJP

    Am I missing something ????

    If I book through a travel agent and pay a fee and then I need to make a change to my flight would I be charged a change fee of $150?

    Thus a flight change through an agent on the phone becomes $175 ???? and $150 was quite a bit given how rather easy it is. Why not the airlines charge you a much less fee if done online.

    Most airlines exempt frequent fliers from these fees…the higher ranking the more fees are waived.

    If Bob Johnson is one of those elite passengers would he even pay the fee.

    Such a practice would be an issue with business fare travelers who do change flight plans on a moments notice.

    I guess the other game will be played to bypass this is to book multiple flights under the same passenger name under the fully refundable fare and then cancel at the last second those reservations.

  • Joe R

    I keep seeing the possibility that “this is the last straw” from so many people, but honestly, will there be a last straw? As long as airlines can make up for lost passengers with extra profits from their fees, there’s really no incentive to change.

    And how many people really have a choice on whether to fly or not? I’m guessing a huge portion of the revenue they make comes from business flyers who pretty much *have* to fly to get places. I might choose a vacation closer to home so I can drive, but again, if the airline makes enough from fees and people who have to fly, what do they really care about me?

  • DJP

    At what point will we see them use 1-900 numbers and you just pay by the minute…..

  • Heather

    @DJP

    If you take the cost of fees and divide it by the actual time you spend on the phone most people are probably already there. :(

  • Ashbet

    I was just charged this fee when I needed to book a fare for myself and my cat to fly cross-country (we’re moving, so I don’t have a choice about flying with a pet.)

    There’s no way to book pet travel on the website, you *have* to call it in, and of course you get the $25 fee tacked on top of the $100 pet fee (for a carrier that fits under the seat.)

    Needless to say, I’m not a terribly happy customer . . .

  • Brooklyn

    In Europe, you already need to use a 1-900 number to find out if your flight is cancelled (in bad weather, they don’t keep their websites up to date) and, if so, to rebook (since, here again, the website doesn’t yet know the flight is cancelled so you can’t rebook online). They keep you on hold forever at something like a euro per minute and unfortunately, the European passenger rights legislation does nothing to address this problem.

  • http://cestbeth.net Elizabeth Smith

    Clarification from my point of view as a travel manager: There are hefty fees for VOLUNTARY changes to a non-refundable ticket prior to departure, such as the $150 domestic change fee and the $250 international change fee. Those would be charged both on the phone and online, plus any additional fare, if the fare you purchased is no longer available. If you call to make such changes instead of making them online, add on a $25 telephone agent fee to the aforementioned fees/possible fare increase. If the itinerary changes are due to weather and you didn’t originally book at usairways.com or through US Airways Reservations, but through a travel agent or a third-party travel website, the change fees are usually waived, but you will pay a telephone agent fee of $25 if you call US Airways. This is where the real gripe is, that even when travelers are distressed due to weather or other irregular operations, they would be hit with the $25 phone fee if they were to call instead of make the changes online. The problem is that not everyone travels with a laptop or has computer access while traveling and some tickets just can’t be changed online.

  • Jesse

    I once traveled to Mexico and called the airline to get something done…

    I was told that there was a $15 fee for something and asked if I agreed with it. Having no choice I consented and the customer rep told me then “check to see that you do have the charge on your credit card, if you do not, please call us to put the charge on your card.”

    RIGHT!

  • Bill

    I see Phil has made some negative comments about Air Canada. I am an Air Canada Elite and have been treated very well by AC. It is a pain when you book through an agent (made that mistake once) but it is also true when you use an agent to book through United, etc.

    There seems to be much ado about how Westjet is this fantastic airline and AC is not. I found them pretty much the same. Flying Westjet was actually pretty much a non-event.

    Oh wait, the beef sandwich was “more horrible” on Westjet, and their TV’s worked less than Air Canada’s.

    I think you are fine flying either Westjet or Air Canada, but I just wanted to point out, if I were to compare, the preference came out to Air Canada…

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    @ BillC – “I find most fees to be out of whack when comparing the actual cost of the service to the cost of providing that service.”
    - – - – - – - -
    Most of the fees that airlines charge have nothing to with the actual costs to change a flight, change a ticket, etc. It has everything to do with two things:

    1. The fees are there to prevent certain behaviors. The $ 150 fee to change a reservation. The hub & spoke airlines do NOT want passengers to change their flights. Most flights are oversold and if passengers could change their flights without a $ 150 fee this will play havoc with the hub & spoke distribution system of the legacy airlines. If there were no $ 150 change fee, there will be more involuntary bumped passengers from flights which will cost the airlines $$$.

    2. Another reason is that the prices for fares are lower today than 10, 15, 20 years ago. The fare of my first flight in 1984 was $ 325 and using the inflation index, the fare should be $ 605 today but the fares are under $ 200. There is an unlevel playing field that needs to be addressed.

    If you are a non-elite frequent flyer that doesn’t need to check a bag, doesn’t need to make a change, etc. you are NOT going to pay any fees.

    Even if you have to check a bag and pay a fee, I have found fares on legacy that were cheaper (including the fees to check bags) than Southwest.

    In this case, it was simple. US Airways is telling its customers if they purchase the ticket from a travel agent then call that travel agent to make changes or to pay a $ 25 fee. Another way to look it is if you don’t want to pay this $ 25 fee then buy the ticket from the US Airways website.

  • http://www.aaa.com Bill Lasich

    I’ve been a Travel Agent for 40 years and I was shocked at a recent fee. I booked a couple on a cruise, with air, and the cruise line showed no seats assigned. I called American to check, and was advised they would book seats for me, but the fee would be $15.00 per seat per passenger. However, I was told I could go on line and do it for free, which I did. Also, I was not able to find seats for another couple on US Airways. I called as one of them was handicapped. I was told there were no more coach seats to assign, but I could buy assignments for $25.00 per seat. I have one year to retirement, and it can’t come soon enough.

  • Peter

    I live in rural Alaska and am forced to fly Alaska Air all the time. They have a great mileage plan, but we do indeed pay $75 for changes of any kind if we do it online, and $100 if we do it over the phone. Sorry, I can’t get worked up over people having to pay a $25 fee when they can make the same change for free online, and while other airlines charge far more.