Ryan, assuming my example, there would be nobody scalping at the airport because no name change within one week of departure. And how about a maximum of one name change - that would curtail scalping, also number of tix per transaction restriction, or must have individual names assigned at time of purchase...as Nina said, most pax buy ahead of time anyway. The benefits to the airlines would be that they'd get to stay in business, by responding to what the public wants, thus creating demand for their product. Imagine if you had a trip booked, got sick and had to cancel at the last minute. "Honey take your sister - she can use my ticket"...I like it. Go for it, Delta!

Joan,
What you're suggesting is a bunch of new rules that the airlines now have to worry about enforcing. You suggest that you give a list of who you can transfer the ticket to. I'm not a computer expert but seems to me that there is a cost for the additional memory capacity that would result from 2 and 3 extra names per ticket. In addition, I can just imagine how many people will turn around and say "I didn't have them on my list but meant to." Which either leads to longer customer service calls on their 800 numbers or longer lines at the ticket counter while they fight it out.

In terms of people buying last minute tickets, plenty do. I traveled at least a dozen times on business last year and I don't think I purchased a ticket for any trip with more then 48 hours notice.

You might counter with, "well, leave it with spouses and children who are eligible" With a broader definition of families and spouses these days, you're opening up a Pandora's Box that will force an airline employee to spend time on a situation that earns them no additional revenue.

Bottom line, I think with all the real issues facing airline travelers today - this issue would seem to rank fairly low on the list of needed industry improvements.

You misunderstood me, Ryan...no list. That's not what I meant at all. I meant that to reduce scalping, at the time of purchase, each ticked must be booked with a unique name, which can only be changed (i.e. sold) one time. Simple. Do the same with the date. One set change fee, no matter whether it's the name or the date.

I still think this type of ticket flexibility would be a huge draw, business or pleasure.

I think these changes have been somewhat misrepresented by media headlines and misunderstood by the public. This will not result in lower fares for the infrequent leisure flyer who is already paying the lowest ticket prices. What it will do is result in lower ticket prices for travelers who need to purchase last minute walk up fares and it also eliminates the Saturday night stay requirement (all fitting the profile of business travelers). Those looking for cheap, cheap fares will most likely not see any difference at all. The reduction of the change fee from $100 to $50 is good news for everyone, but what hasn't been mentioned is that the change fee now also applies to date changes on award tickets which were previously free.

Joan,
I respect your view. But, I see no benefit for the airlines allowing transferable tickets. I just don't see that it would that big of a deal - unless the airlines figure out a way to tack on fees for a change and a premium for a transferrable ticket. Than, security issues notwithstanding, it'll be free money for them.

None of my current flights have changed at Delta. Guess you have to fly out of Scranton at Midnight and change planes twice to get the discounts!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6788948/

Delta has Hawaii(HNL) special now, book by Jan 6 for travel thru March 15.
http://www.delta.com/travel/plan/spe...2204/index.jsp

eg JFK $522, BWI $522, BOS $440 r/t +taxes

After seeing the big "news" about the huge fare cuts at Delta on every morning show on TV, I ran to the computer to once again, check the fares from NY to Orlando in April.....guess what? The cheapest flight just went UP again, to $233 round-trip (I need 7 seats), and that's not even nonstop....Give me a break, I've never paid more than $150 for a non-stop for that route.....

Like I said, Delta is getting a lot of free advertising for what amounts to nothing for their customers BIG DEAL!!!!!

Wow - what a bunch of cynics.

One of our favorite flights went up around $150, but another one went down about the same. Luckily the more expensive flight is normally easy to get with FF miles, so we're pretty happy.

Tom42,
Cynic? Quite the contrary. I'm very optimistic that I'll be correct when I state that a company that has lost $3 Billion dollars in 9 months will be signing it's death certificate if it cuts revenue by 60% on a substantial portion of its business.

Delta is also cutting back its DFW operation severely..giving up 24 gates.

Have been reading all of the news, about the "fare cut", as well. While I know it mainly applied to full-fare coach, I certainly didn't expect leisure fares to be impacted . . . boy, was I wrong!!!

Have been checking fares for BWI-PSP for late May-early June. Yesterday, DL had a fare of $268 r/t -- pretty good. Today? It's $378! Some decrease! Hope this idea goes over like a lead balloon (except for the change in the change ticket fee).

I received the email announcement from DL this morning. Looks like they've reduced the number of fare classes on domestic flights to only 6 in coach and 2 in FC, thereby reducing the gap between the lowest and highest fares. This isn't an across the board fare cut but rather a change in the fare structure. In light of this, I now think that we'll see some increases in the lowest fare classes. They can't lower the top fares without raising some of the bottom fares.

An additional note... Delta has now joined the rest of the major 6 in charging an extra fee for tickets issued over the phone ($5) and at the airport counter ($10). This was included in the email annoucement.

It's good for some - my CLT-ATL flight which is normally $700 dropped to $135 today.

The Atlanta- LGA ticket that I have been pricing for the last couple of days has had at least two price reductions since yesterday. I just booked online for $167, which is about $100 less than it was yesterday.

You folks make me laugh. If you only took the time to read Patty's replies, you may understand what this is all about. She's the ONLY one that knows what she's talking about here.

This will NOT have very much impact on the leisure traveler, in most cases NONE!!!
This is a fare simplification, and most of the savings are aimed at the business traveler.

You all pretend to be or want to be travel agents and yet a thread like this shows your lack of understanding the basic concepts of air travel and fare structures.

Please read Patty's 1st reply above. She is the ONLY one here that knows and understands what Delta is trying to do.

For the casual, leisure traveler, this announcement has very little meaning. Don't expect that the $200 fare from ATL-LAX will become $140 fare from now on. IT WON'T!

The 60% is real and will happen. The big question is if the others will match? AA tried fare simplification in 92 or 93 and they were beaten back by the other majors. Within 6 months they had no choice but to go back to the old ways. This time it may be different, but the others will still put up a fierce fight, so it remains to be seen.