Anyone miss their flight (due to traffic) using a non refundable ticket?
 

Recently we were shocked to find that the airlines have a new policy regarding showing up late and missing the flight if you have a non refunable ticket.<BR><BR>We got lost and ended up in a huge traffic jam on the way to Washington Dulles Airport. We were driving in from York, PA, usually a 2 hour trip. This time it took us 5 hours! We finally arrived at the airport 2 and 1/2 hours late. We expected to just be put on the next flight- stand by. We were shocked to find that our airline tickets on US Airways were now classified as worthless. They said that unless we arrived within 2 hours of our flight there was no standby option and our tickets had zero value.<BR><BR>We fought with them for awhile but got no where. Our vacation was cancelled. My kids and wife cryed all the way home!

I'm surprised USAirways didn't bend a little on this one, but I do think all of the airlines have adopted &quot;use it or lose it&quot; rules on the cheapest tickets. This really stinks for you, Guy...I'd write USAirways customer relations and see if they can help. (Be calm and polite in the letter. Ranting will get you nowhere).

I understand that in this situation rules are rules. If they give a break for one person it would not be fair to others who were not as good beggers or pleaders.

Yes, if they had bent the rules and word got out, all I'd have to do whenever I wanted to take a different flight is tell them I got stuck in traffic. Easy out.

I'm hoping the whole town isn't taken over by a buncha cowboys! j/k<BR>It will make for an interedting week, no doubt!

It appears that all the airlines have embraced these new draconian rules re: non-refundable tickets. I wonder if they'd allow you any leeway if while stuck in traffic, and knowing you wouldn't make the plane, to call them (another reason to have a cellphone) --- perhaps this way you could have gotten on to a later flight with &quot;only&quot; the $100 change charge per ticket.<BR>

Welcome to the era of hardcore airline cost containment.<BR>This is all about profits, Guy.<BR>If we were still basking in the middle of a tech stock boom and everyone was flush with profits, these rules would not exist.<BR><BR>As for airline profitability, they cook their books just like many large corporations and they always try to appear to be barely profitable (in good times) or very unprofitable (in bad times).<BR>They probably are genuinely hurting right now. But 3 years ago they were a lot more profitable than even their public accounting statements let on.

Clarification: You bought tickets for a certain flight, and you failed to show up and the flight flew off without you. I agree with the airlines, you failed to show up on time, that is your problem, not US air. What part of non refundable tickets didn't you understand? your tickets were good for said flight, you failed to meet your obligation by showing up hours late. I just don't see a correlation here non-refundable is just that. You stated you got lost, next time leave a day early or get a better map. Poor planning on your part is not an emergency on anyone elses. You are completely at fault here, deal with it and quit your bitchin.

If you had tickets to see a Broadway show and missed it because you were stuck in traffic, do you think they would give you tickets for the following week for no extra charge?<BR><BR>

That's interesting, because U.S. Airways stated policy is that you can fly standby on the same date of travel if you pay a $100 fee per ticket. It doesn't make any mention of a two-hour window for this. <BR><BR>In any case though, the policy changes that the airlines have made have been all over the news so I'm surprised that it came as such a total shock to you. Its not a good thing for travelers, but you have to understand the risk you're taking these days when you purchase a nonrefundable fare. My company recently advised that we should consider buying a fully-refundable ticket if we weren't sure if our travel plans were going to change, which is a major shift for our travel department.

Hmm. The original poster &quot;Guy&quot; says he was 2.5 hours late for his flight. His road trip took 5 hours instead of 2. So (doing the math) if he got to the airport 3 hours later than anticipated but was 2.5 hours late for the flight, then he planned to arrive at the airport only 30 minutes prior to departure. On a vacation with his family? Sounds a little foolish - I might cut things closer if I am alone for some non-important trip but I'd probably be there at least 90 minutes before departure for a vacation...<BR><BR>Or it could be that Guy has missed flights before and assumed he'd just get put on the next flight, no worries. Didn't pay attention to the new rules, I guess.<BR><BR>That said, all the airlines seem to have different rules. Though I think all the &quot;major&quot; airlines have gotten rid of free same-day standby, Contential for one says your tickets don't become &quot;worthless&quot; until 11:59PM the day of travel. US Air's two hour rule does seem a little strict. What if you planned to be at the airport 2 hours early and a traffic accident shuts down the freeway for 5 hours? And you're stuck in it?<BR><BR>Would trip cancellation insurance have covered this scenario? Will we see a big increase in the number of people buying trip cancellation insurance? <BR><BR>Southwest by the way does not charge change or cancellation fees at all, and your ticket doesn't become &quot;worthless&quot; if you miss your flight. But, to take a later flight (even one 30 minutes later) you must pay the fare difference, which could be quite high.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

Couldn't agree with you more DS, especially with regards to non existent customer service. If people don't expect any service that's exactly what they'll get, nothing.<BR><BR>Whatever happened to trying to please the customer, making exceptions, having compassion and just plain doing the right thing?<BR><BR>Guy, I would recommend writing a letter to the seniormost person you can find at USAir, and providing any documention you may be able to find about the traffic (was it construction, an accident?). I don't care what anyone else says, it isn't fair to be penalized for something out of your control. Who would leave a day early before their flight? That goes above and beyond what is reasonably expected of the traveler.<BR><BR>The least USAir could have done is put you on another flight and charge you a change fee. How difficult could that have been for them? Bottom line is they have zero customer service.

Guy, try writing to Ombudsman at Conde Naste Traveler Magazine. Really. This sounds like just the type of situation they might be able to help you with. They're very adept at getting to the right person who can bend the rules when some peon says you're out of luck. They're also are good at helping out when the situation was out of your hands, which was clearly the case here.

I'm old enough to remember those flights too, but at the time I don't remember the airlines offering &quot;non refundable&quot; tickets that were even more greatly reduced than the standard &quot;super saver fare&quot;. When the public demanded even lower cost options and &quot;super discounts&quot;, the airlines came up with &quot;non refundable&quot; fares to &quot;please&quot; them. <BR><BR>But nowadays people want to buy the absolute lowest price fare that is clearly marketed as &quot;non refundable&quot; but then want the agents to bend the rules for them as they would and even still do for tickets that aren't &quot;non refundable&quot;. Guy could have clearly paid a little more for a different kind of ticket and the rules might have allowed that kind of bending, but he didn't.<BR><BR>ps: I really like the person who figured out that Guy only planned to be at the airport 30 minutes before the flight.

By the way, just two months ago a flight of mine was delayed and I missed a connection. The agent not only got me on another flight within an hour, but he bumped me to first class, which he didn't need to do. So I don't think the atmosphere has changed, just the types of tickets have. And perhaps you have changed as well, or you've just been unlucky at getting good agents along the way.

I recently had an excellent experience with - believe it or not - America West. I had booked separate tickets from Zurich to Newark (on Swiss) and Newark to San Francisco (on America West). Believe me, these tickets were nonrefunable - they were the cheapest I could find for my itinerary! <BR><BR>My flight from Zurich was delayed due to bad weather, and I missed not only my own scheduled flight, but even the last flight out from Newark to SFO that night. Not only did America West get me on the first flight out in the morning WITHOUT charging me any change fees - they also booked me into a fairly decent local hotel at what seemed to be a discounted rate (60 USD at the Newark Airport Wyndham).<BR><BR>I don't know if this is typical of AW or if I just got a sympathetic person at the check in desk, but I was very impressed, especially as they are supposed to be a &quot;no-frills&quot; airline.

Its funny how people want to buy &quot;non-refundable&quot; tickets with the rules clearly stated, and then get upset when they aren't allowed to violate the rules. Even under the current restrictions, you can still change your flight if you pay a fee and make the change within the allotted time period. If you can't live with these rules, don't buy a non-refundable ticket. Its not that complicated.

Non refundable tickets are just that.<BR><BR>Should you be treated differently from the rest of us?<BR><BR>You are a very small person to wish hundreds of thousands of people to lose their jobs. I feel sorry for you.

Non-refundable tickets were always valid for same-day standby travel. This insane new airline rule will only assist more airlines in their neverending quest to go bankrupt. Guy, his family, friends and relatives will never fly US Airways again. How many more people do they have to alienate? <BR><BR>It would not cost the airline anything to put a family on the next flight that happened to have empty seats. Most flights these days are half-empty. Instead the airline decided to &quot;play by the rules&quot;. Totally uncalled for. Even if the next &quot;empty&quot; flight were the next day, Guy's family would have been able to save their vacation. <BR><BR>The airlines are trying to &quot;force&quot; people into buying refundable seats. They now have several options available, such as non-refundable @ $250, refundable with restrictions @375, refundable with less restrictions @ $475, and totally changeable and refundable for $1350. <BR>It's a slow, growing marketing move to try to &quot;up&quot; the price of airline tickets over the next few years. They cannot continue to keep flying us all across the country for $250, the price hasn't changed in 15 years. People are now tuned in to getting a rock bottom fare and just won't budge unless they get it. This is the airlines way of starting to inch-up the price of tickets. All at the expense of people like Guy and his family.

Yes, but that largesse from the airlines was made possible by the business travelers paying full fare who subsidized these rock bottom leisure fares. Now that business travel has dropped off significantly and hasn't picked up again, the airlines have to make up the difference on the leisure traveler. Its simple economics.

I think it's curious that it is always so easy to fly standby on an earlier flight if there are empty seats. My job is such that I never really know what time I'll be able to get on the plane, so I usually book later in the day. About half the time, I try for an earlier flight and get it at no cost.<BR><BR>Seems inconsistent.

I don't think the new rules are even that the tickets are totally nonrefundable on all airlines, sometimes you can apply them to another ticket with a change fee. US Air does actually define nonrefundable as that way but it's not a secret, those policies are stated when you buy a ticket. ALso, even on US Airways yon pay the $100 to fly standby the same day if you want. <BR><BR>Somebody who has to travel that distance to a flight with a lot of people on a major vacation who doesn't plan for traffic problems and &quot;getting lost&quot; and refuses to outlay the extra $100 per person doesn't have my sympathy. I don't even believe this is a real post, because it sounds so dopey.<BR><BR>Conde Nast Traveler wouldn't waste their time on such a ridiculous complaint. The idea that airlines should waive their nonrefundable rules for any passenger that has traffic problems or &quot;gets lost&quot;, even if they call on the phone to say they are having traffic problems (oh yeah, like no one could ever lie about that) is not very reasonable. This is a typical case of someone violating rules (partly through their own fault, such as the getting lost part) which were clearly stated when they bought discount tickets and then whining because they don't get special treatment compared to everyone else.

Jimbo, I don't know what airline you've been flying on lately but from a road warrior, most flights ARE NOT half empty. In fact, quite the opposite, most are oversold.<BR><BR>How about some personal responsiblity from Guy? Find it pathetic that he can't state it was his fault he missed the flight and wants to bad mouth USAir for following procedure? <BR><BR>He's like the little kid who gets into trouble and then whines that it isn't his fault.<BR><BR>And what kind of asshole would want a business as large as USAir that employs over a hundred thousand people, to go under?

Thanks for all the interesting responses!<BR><BR>They would not let my family fly for a hundred dollar fee. That only works up to two hours after and before the flight leaves. I was told that effective two hours and one miniute after the flight leaves the gate, if you are not checked in, the ticket is absolutely worthless!<BR><BR>We lost over a $1000.00 and a number of Priceline reservation hotel rooms.

Here's where I think most people are having problems with your post, Guy.<BR><BR>The math is just all wrong. <BR><BR>You say your trip ended up taking you 5 hours, which made you 2 and a 1/2 hours late. But you also say the trip should have taken 2 hours anyway. In that case, under the best case scenario-had you not gotten lost and hit traffic- you would have arrived only 1/2 hour before take-off. <BR><BR>Even prior to 9/11 that would have been cutting it too close. And especially now, everyone advises that you arrive at least 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours prior to take-off. Plus, on top of that, everyone knows that when travelling to congested airports you always have to allow additional time for traffic, accidents, etc. So you should have planned to leave at least 4 hours prior to your take-off time. If you had, and it had taken you the same 5 hours, you would still have missed your plane, but at least been within the 2-hour window to allow you to fly for the $100 additional fee.<BR><BR>What it seems to boil down to is that you thought you could leave it to the last minute and just zoom in. You gambled and lost, and now are mad at the airlines. Yes, I agree that you were treated harshly, and it's very unfortunate, but I think if you look back over your timing, you'll see that people aren't being terribly sympathetic to your cause because you played a big part in your own misfortune and won't admit to it.

Hey, Guy, thought maybe you'd left. Why don't you let us know why you originally planned to be at the airport only 30 minutes before flight time? Since you said the 2 hour trip took 5 hours, and you've confirmed that the flight was gone 2 1/2 hours before you got there, your original calculations would have only allowed 30 minutes. With a two hour drive, that just doesn't make much sense.

sorry, didn't mean to be so repetitive. Judy and I were posting at the same time.

With non-refundable tickets and non-refundable hotels reservations through Priceline, you were cutting it way too close Guy. I guess you didn't realize that the airlines were serious about the new restrictions. Oh well, live and learn.

Christina, do you work for Conde Nast Traveler? How do you know they wouldn't address guys so called &quot;ridiculous complaint&quot;. I've seen people complain because jewelry was stolen from their hotel room when they didn't even put it in the safe (talk about personal irresponsibility), and Conde Nast not only took their case put got some compensation from the hotel!<BR><BR> I happen to have some compassion for guy and think he really got the raw end here. You know there have been incredible traffic jams and delays that could cause just such a situation, you can't really expect people to get to the airport a day ahead of time. And all the people chiding him for buying non refundable tickets, excuse me, but maybe that's all some people can afford for a family trip. Paying twice the lowest fare for a family of 4 isn't always in the cards. It's a different ballgame when the company isn't paying for your fully refundable ticket. It's easy to say &quot;Well don't be cheap, just pay $700 instead of $200 for each of those 4 tickets.&quot; Uh, come out of that dreamworld some of you are living in. You can't really think most people can afford to buy those types of tickets for their family vacations, can you?<BR><BR>Or do you think people who can't afford it should just not be allowed to fly?

I think people who buy the tickets should understand the restrictions. Guy still hasn't explained why he left so little margin of error for reaching the airport.

Nina, I don't have any argument with you about the nonrefundable aspect of the ticket in that most of us couldn't even contemplate flying if we had to buy unrestricted tickets. But you're ignoring the whole time allotment issue. Especially knowing that the tickets were nonrefundable, what would be the justification for only planning to get to the airport with 30 minutes to spare?

Nina, you really miss the point. No one is &quot;chiding&quot; Guy for buying the non-refundable tickets. We all know that is probably the only affordable ticket to buy for most travelers and there is nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is buying that ticket and then expecting the same rules that come with the more expensive tickets.<BR>Sort of like buying a Honda and then demanding that it have all the extras that come with a Mercedes.

I have to side with Judy on this one. I don't think Conde Naste would look at it either. No extenuating circumstances. If it were due to a family emergency then maybe but traffic? Come on Nina, you are well traveled person. Millions of people every day buy bottom tier tickets and book rooms through priceline and are able to get to the airport on time. If Guy had shown some personal responsibility, I'd have more sympathy.

I have a nephew who always cuts his flight departure time so closely, that one day this is going to happen to him! I feel bad for you, Guy, but you simply didn't allow enough time.........I don't think you'll get relief, but I wouldn't be above writing a pleading, begging letter to the airline. It can't hurt! Good luck!

OK, I definitely stand corrected. I didn't realize he was cutting it that close. I try to arrive an hour and a half early since we fly out of NY, and you never know what kind of traffic you'll encounter. Had he even aimed for an hour early I suppose he would have made the 2 hour post flight cutoff.<BR><BR>I guess he'll leave a lot earlier next time.<BR><BR>

Since 9/11 the airlines have requested that passengers arrive at least two (2) hours prior to takeoff. When you couple that with a jaunt from York down to Dulles you're driving through a lot of heavy traffic. For all we know it might have been when traffic was shut down on at least 6 occasions because of the snipers in the Washington/VA area. At best, York to Dulles/Reston is a two hour trip and that is truly under the best conditions. In hindsight, you may have been better off taking a hotel near Dulles the night before. It does sound like you were running late from the start but I do think I'd try to talk with USAirways customer service and they may help you out a bit.

Actually the airlines have relaxed the 2 hour domestic recommendation since they seem to have smoothed out security checks.<BR><BR> They now officially request (not require) arrival 1 hour prior for domestic and 2 hours for international travel. I remember shortly after 9/11 they wanted you there 2 hours prior for domestic flights and 3 hours for international, which sometimes made certain trips slower to fly than to drive to.<BR><BR>Official cut off times to check-in vary by airline anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour prior to departure, depending on the airline.

Guy I'm confused... If you live in York why didn't you fly out of BWI??? Its hours closer and far less of a hassle. Even when I lived in NoVa. I preferred BWI. I missed a flight this past June from Nantucket to NYC on USAir. USAir simply asked CapeAir if they had room, they did and I ended up with a better connection but honestly I didn't pay a dollar more because of it.

Hi again, something just doesn't seem right here. Even if Guy did err I'm not sure USAir did everything it could have. I didn't use a USAir ticket last year to Jackson, Miss but I was still able to apply that ticket to a future ticket. I remember I had up to a year after the purchase date NOT the travel date to do so. Unless this was some feat on American Express Platinum travel it seemed pretty standard policy to me?

Jim, the operative part of your post is that your situation occurred &quot;last year.&quot; Most airlines have adopted stricter new regulations that change everything. And that is what Guy got caught up in. <BR><BR>But even so, had he still missed the plane but arrive within two hours after, he would have had other options. The key here is that he made a choice to not allow himself enough time to get to the airport. Hey, look at his handle: LASTMIN.com. It says it all!