Guy

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.

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.

We fought with them for awhile but got no where. Our vacation was cancelled. My kids and wife cryed all the way home!

Adam

I'm surprised USAirways didn't bend a little on this one, but I do think all of the airlines have adopted "use it or lose it" 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).

Neil

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.

xxx

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.

xxx

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

suze

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 "only" the $100 change charge per ticket.

Barry

Welcome to the era of hardcore airline cost containment.
This is all about profits, Guy.
If we were still basking in the middle of a tech stock boom and everyone was flush with profits, these rules would not exist.

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).
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.

xxx

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.

bob

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?

xxx

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.

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.

Andrew

Hmm. The original poster "Guy" 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...

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.

That said, all the airlines seem to have different rules. Though I think all the "major" airlines have gotten rid of free same-day standby, Contential for one says your tickets don't become "worthless" 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?

Would trip cancellation insurance have covered this scenario? Will we see a big increase in the number of people buying trip cancellation insurance?

Southwest by the way does not charge change or cancellation fees at all, and your ticket doesn't become "worthless" 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.

Andrew

Write

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.

Whatever happened to trying to please the customer, making exceptions, having compassion and just plain doing the right thing?

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.

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.

nina

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.

xxx

I'm old enough to remember those flights too, but at the time I don't remember the airlines offering "non refundable" tickets that were even more greatly reduced than the standard "super saver fare". When the public demanded even lower cost options and "super discounts", the airlines came up with "non refundable" fares to "please" them.

But nowadays people want to buy the absolute lowest price fare that is clearly marketed as "non refundable" but then want the agents to bend the rules for them as they would and even still do for tickets that aren't "non refundable". 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.

ps: I really like the person who figured out that Guy only planned to be at the airport 30 minutes before the flight.

xxx

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.

Kay

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!

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).

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 "no-frills" airline.

Me

Its funny how people want to buy "non-refundable" 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.

Bing

Non refundable tickets are just that.

Should you be treated differently from the rest of us?

You are a very small person to wish hundreds of thousands of people to lose their jobs. I feel sorry for you.

jimbo

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?

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 "play by the rules". Totally uncalled for. Even if the next "empty" flight were the next day, Guy's family would have been able to save their vacation.

The airlines are trying to "force" 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.
It's a slow, growing marketing move to try to "up" 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.

Me

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.