How fair are ticket change fees?

February 22, 2013

window From time to time, every consumer advocate tilts at a few windmills, and when Sheryl North contacted me about her US Airways flight, it was my turn.

North was scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to Kona, Hawaii, late last year. She was using a voucher to pay for the flight.

“Something arose unexpectedly and I was forced to cancel,” she told me. “I am now trying to use the voucher to rebook the same itinerary.”

US Airways doesn’t just want to charge her $150 to change the itinerary, which surprised her. “I didn’t realize the change fee would apply to use of a voucher,” she says.

Here’s the thing: Her new ticket will cost $100 less than her old ticket. But instead of apply that fare differential as a credit to her new itinerary, US Airways is insisting the pay the $150 change fee, despite the fare difference.

“They are just keeping the extra money,” she says. “I feel that this is not right.”

Call me a “kettle” if you want, but changing a US Airways ticket isn’t something I do every day. I was a little surprised by the funny math, and thought I would check with the airline. I know the carrier wouldn’t hesitate to ask for a fare difference if the price had gone up — so is it possible that someone didn’t understand the terms of North’s voucher and asked her to pay $150 when she shouldn’t have?

So I asked. Here’s what a US Airways representative told me:

We provide a credit for future travel with a non-refundable ticket, but do not refund the difference if the new fare is lower. Change fee still applies.

That is the risk folks take when purchasing a non-refundable fare in order to obtain the lowest rate. Refundable fares avoid this issue.

Just out of curiousity, I asked how much more a refundable ticket would have cost than the type of ticket North had booked with her voucher.

Depends on when she purchases. It will be a fair amount more than the non-refundable. But the money isn’t at risk.

I should have known better than to ask. Of course, none of this is new to me and nor should it be new to you if you read this site. But that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.

I find the “buy a refundable” fare response to be highly frustrating. Truth is, most of those tickets are double, triple, even quadruple the advance-purchase fare. The only folks who buy them are business travelers on a limitless expense account, not the Sheryl North’s of the world.

I can’t change the rules, but you can. By flying on an airline with reasonable ticket-change policies, you send a message to the entire industry that funny math is frowned upon by customers. Now that’s the kind of loyalty that matters.

In the meantime, is it too much to ask for just a little consistency when it comes to ticket changes?

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RonBonner

If any other business priced their product the way airlines do they would be out of business. Airfare tickets should be priced equally for the class of service. We have allowed airlines to bring these excessive fees and other charges by continuing to use their service. Stopp giving your money to business that abuses its customer.
RonBonner

If any other business priced their product the way airlines do they would be out of business. Airfare tickets should be priced equally for the class of service. We have allowed airlines to bring these excessive fees and other charges by continuing to use their service. Stopp giving your money to business that abuses its customer.
Michael__K

You might want to adjust for more than just inflation and fees: you also get less for what you pay for (comfort, amenities, service).

Regardless, even if apples-to-apples prices are lower that does not justify tossing transparency out the window. And asking for transparency doesn’t mean going back to 1977 and rolling back deregulation. That’s a strawman.

Instead of looking at this from US Airway’s vantage point (let them set whatever rules they want) look at it from their competitors standpoint. A competitor that wants to provide a transparent product at a fair profitable price is stuck with a dilemma: either they cede market share of non-expert price-sensitive travelers who are fooled into comparing their airline’s sticker prices with US Airways’ sticker prices without any adjustment…. or they have to play tit-for-tat and compete in a slippery slope towards less and less transparency.
Michael__K

You might want to adjust for more than just inflation and fees: you also get less for what you pay for (comfort, amenities, service).

Regardless, even if apples-to-apples prices are lower that does not justify tossing transparency out the window. And asking for transparency doesn’t mean going back to 1977 and rolling back deregulation. That’s a strawman.

Instead of looking at this from US Airway’s vantage point (let them set whatever rules they want) look at it from their competitors standpoint. A competitor that wants to provide a transparent product at a fair profitable price is stuck with a dilemma: either they cede market share of non-expert price-sensitive travelers who are fooled into comparing their airline’s sticker prices with US Airways’ sticker prices without any adjustment…. or they have to play tit-for-tat and compete in a slippery slope towards less and less transparency.
bodega3

I would never be a member of USAIR’s program as I refuse to fly them. We, in the travel industry, got notification.
bodega3

I would never be a member of USAIR’s program as I refuse to fly them. We, in the travel industry, got notification.
Michael__K

I.e. they notified their sales partners. They should have notified all their customers too.
Michael__K

I.e. they notified their sales partners. They should have notified all their customers too.
mikegun

I agree that service is not where it was. I am simply pointing out that fares with fees are cheaper than where they have been…pre or post deregulation.

The wording of your comment: “The facts are that while sticker-price airfares are historically low, the often-disguised additional fees that consumers are trapped with after purchase are historically unprecedented and growing.”, while correct, may make some believe that we are paying more when fees are added, which is certainly not the case.

The usage of a voucher and the rules of how to reprice tickets and how to handle the residual amount in a decrease is confusing. I was not disputing that either.
mikegun

I agree that service is not where it was. I am simply pointing out that fares with fees are cheaper than where they have been…pre or post deregulation.

The wording of your comment: “The facts are that while sticker-price airfares are historically low, the often-disguised additional fees that consumers are trapped with after purchase are historically unprecedented and growing.”, while correct, may make some believe that we are paying more when fees are added, which is certainly not the case.

The usage of a voucher and the rules of how to reprice tickets and how to handle the residual amount in a decrease is confusing. I was not disputing that either.
y_p_w

Not only that, but the credit can be used to buy a ticket for any passenger as long as the original ticketed passenger can physically make it to a ticket window and produce ID. That’s not a problem for me, but some people live in areas where it’s far away from an Amtrak ticket window.
y_p_w

Not only that, but the credit can be used to buy a ticket for any passenger as long as the original ticketed passenger can physically make it to a ticket window and produce ID. That’s not a problem for me, but some people live in areas where it’s far away from an Amtrak ticket window.
AUSSIEtraveller

dumber & dumber.
It’s very clear & most U.S. airlines aren’t making any money !!!
AUSSIEtraveller

dumber & dumber.
It’s very clear & most U.S. airlines aren’t making any money !!!
Miami510

I’d like to tell all of you how silly the change fees are; refundable or not.
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I had just returned from Europe to Atlanta on Delta and had a three hour lay-over for my return flight to Miami. Our European flight landed early and I saw there was a flight to Miami in 40 minutes. I asked if there was room on the flight and the desk person said, “The flight is 3/4 empty.” She added that changing would cost us $150.
.
I mentioned that my flying on the earlier flight was a benefit to both me and Delta since the flight was 3/4 empty and they would have an opportunity to clear a seat on a later flight. Of course, they didn’t buy that logic.
.
I waited and the later flight was sold out. I never found if they turned away a paying passenger on that flight, but if that had happened, this would make the perfect illustration of why owners of Delta stock should be outraged.
Miami510

I’d like to tell all of you how silly the change fees are; refundable or not.
.
I had just returned from Europe to Atlanta on Delta and had a three hour lay-over for my return flight to Miami. Our European flight landed early and I saw there was a flight to Miami in 40 minutes. I asked if there was room on the flight and the desk person said, “The flight is 3/4 empty.” She added that changing would cost us $150.
.
I mentioned that my flying on the earlier flight was a benefit to both me and Delta since the flight was 3/4 empty and they would have an opportunity to clear a seat on a later flight. Of course, they didn’t buy that logic.
.
I waited and the later flight was sold out. I never found if they turned away a paying passenger on that flight, but if that had happened, this would make the perfect illustration of why owners of Delta stock should be outraged.
bodega3

It is in the rule of their fares, so it is there when shopping for flights and prices.
bodega3

It is in the rule of their fares, so it is there when shopping for flights and prices.
Michael__K

If you shop from a GDS. Not if you shop from usairways.com.
Michael__K

If you shop from a GDS. Not if you shop from usairways.com.
bodega3

The rules are there, but you have to put in a name, phone number, email address after you book the flight and then you get a link for the rules. What a PITA just to get to it! I also found the rules to be condensed compared to what we have access to.
bodega3

The rules are there, but you have to put in a name, phone number, email address after you book the flight and then you get a link for the rules. What a PITA just to get to it! I also found the rules to be condensed compared to what we have access to.
Michael__K

Interesting… so you have to pay them before they let you see the rules. And then you have to quickly ask for a refund if you don’t like what you see.

I haven’t seen that because I avoid US Airways myself — haven’t flown them since 2008, and even then it was because flying direct was important to my wife and they were the only choice on that route.
Michael__K

Interesting… so you have to pay them before they let you see the rules. And then you have to quickly ask for a refund if you don’t like what you see.

I haven’t seen that because I avoid US Airways myself — haven’t flown them since 2008, and even then it was because flying direct was important to my wife and they were the only choice on that route.
Michael__K

You can draw very difference conclusions about whether fares with fees are really cheaper depending on the start and end points you use.

If you checked in 2009 (at the bottom of the depressed economy) it sure looked like fares were cheaper than ever.

If you go by 2012 (at least the official BTS numbers thru Q3), last year saw the highest average fares since 2003. That’s AFTER adjusting for inflation and BEFORE accounting for the ancillary fees that represented ~1% of revenue in 2003 and ~15% of revenue in 2012. So compared to 2003 at least, we are paying substantially more today.

Granted there are a lot of variables that affect airfares (most notably jet fuel prices) so these kinds of comparisons don’t really prove much, at least not without a lot of additional context..
Michael__K

You can draw very difference conclusions about whether fares with fees are really cheaper depending on the start and end points you use.

If you checked in 2009 (at the bottom of the depressed economy) it sure looked like fares were cheaper than ever.

If you go by 2012 (at least the official BTS numbers thru Q3), last year saw the highest average fares since 2003. That’s AFTER adjusting for inflation and BEFORE accounting for the ancillary fees that represented ~1% of revenue in 2004 and ~15% of revenue in 2012. So compared to 2004 at least, we are paying substantially more today.

Granted there are a lot of variables that affect airfares (most notably jet fuel prices) so these kinds of comparisons don’t really prove much, at least not without a lot of additional context..

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