Change Fee

My friend just bought a roundtrip ticket on Airfare for Novemmber to
France and then an hour later had something unexpected come up that
would prevent her from going that week but not the next. Airfare.com
charges $350 to change an international flight which is just shy of the
ticket cost. Are there any options for her? Is this a BBB issue or
does she stick with a ticket she can't use?

Thanks!

Eric

wrote:
My friend just bought a roundtrip ticket on Airfare for Novemmber to
France and then an hour later had something unexpected come up that
would prevent her from going that week but not the next. Airfare.com
charges $350 to change an international flight which is just shy of the
ticket cost. Are there any options for her? Is this a BBB issue or
does she stick with a ticket she can't use?

Why would the BBB care about this?

I didn't know what the rules and regulations regarding charging
extremely high penalty fees were. Is it considered price gouging or
something....There are numerous complaints against them at the BBB
already. If they charged the ticket price in the penalty you aren't
really making a change, you are basically buying a new ticket. Do you
think its reasonble to charge a penalty that costs almost the price of
the original ticket?

No!! But legally (and remember the law has absolutely nothing to do with
justice or 'fair play') they have met their contractual obligations to your
friend in that they have provided the ticket for the originally nominated
day. Your friend now wants something different! That's another different
transaction - new implied contract.



wrote in message
oups.com...
I didn't know what the rules and regulations regarding charging
extremely high penalty fees were. Is it considered price gouging or
something....There are numerous complaints against them at the BBB
already. If they charged the ticket price in the penalty you aren't
really making a change, you are basically buying a new ticket. Do you
think its reasonble to charge a penalty that costs almost the price of
the original ticket?

wrote:

I didn't know what the rules and regulations regarding charging
extremely high penalty fees were. Is it considered price gouging or
something....There are numerous complaints against them at the BBB
already. If they charged the ticket price in the penalty you aren't
really making a change, you are basically buying a new ticket. Do you
think its reasonble to charge a penalty that costs almost the price of
the original ticket?


That is the trade off with buying cheap tickets. If you want flexibility
, then don't expect it with the cheapest ticket classes. I am not aware
of any rules restricting change fees. If you are talking about a
transatlantic ticket where $350 is almost the cost of the flight, then
it would seem that the ticket cost was cheap to begin with. If your
friend wanted lower or no change fees, why did she buy this ticket?
Oh.......yes, the price.....

wrote:
I didn't know what the rules and regulations regarding charging
extremely high penalty fees were. Is it considered price gouging or
something....There are numerous complaints against them at the BBB
already.

What is BBB? Board for Blockhead and Braindead?

The airlines make the rules within conditions governed by LAW.

You can find out the rules, and play the game.
You can find out the rules, and NOT play the game; and use
other modes of transportation.
You can find out the DIFFERENT rules by different airlines
and choose to play the game with the one you like
better or not play at all.

This is the FREE market, when it comes to YOUR choice.

I have a roundtrip ticket, purchased yesterday, roundtrip from
in coach on CO from ATL to EWR. The several choices available
to me we

1. $168 for the non-refundable e-ticket.

2. $560 minimum for a refundable ticket of the same.

3. A change fee would be $100.

4. I could use 25K for a free coach ticket, and because I am
Platinum on CO, I can change or cancel with no fee anytime
and have the miles re-deposited to my FFM account; non-Plat
flyers have to pay to change.

5, I could also use 45K for a First Class ticket, with no change
or cancellation fee, for the same Platinum status reason.

Given (1), (2), and (3), only morons and some business folks (those
are not mutually exclusive) would choose (2).

I ruled out (4) because 25K FFM are worth more than (1) and (3).
I ruled out (5) because I'll get complimentarily upgraded to First
Class on the $168 fare anyway.

So, I chose (1).

I didn't even have to consider another airline if I didn't like
any of the choices.

That's the way the game is played in the Free Market. Whining
are for folks like Vitaly Shmatikov (BS), Paul Tauger (PTravel)
and their likes.

-- Bob.

In message .com
wrote:

I didn't know what the rules and regulations regarding charging
extremely high penalty fees were. Is it considered price gouging or
something....There are numerous complaints against them at the BBB
already. If they charged the ticket price in the penalty you aren't
really making a change, you are basically buying a new ticket. Do you
think its reasonble to charge a penalty that costs almost the price of
the original ticket?

I don't think it's reasonable to purchase a product without researching
the details first.

Don't get me wrong, it sucks, but it's a learning experience.

--
You're not as stupid as you look, or sound, or our best testing indicates.

wrote:
My friend just bought a roundtrip ticket on Airfare for Novemmber to
France and then an hour later had something unexpected come up that
would prevent her from going that week but not the next. Airfare.com
charges $350 to change an international flight which is just shy of the
ticket cost. Are there any options for her? Is this a BBB issue or
does she stick with a ticket she can't use?

She's stuck. It's not a BBB issue because it's a competely fair deal
and the airlines make it very clear up front that the tickets can't be
changed.

The reason you get flights that cheap in the first place is that the
airline is trying to get bums on seats on flights that are close to
empty (usually low season). So they offer the great deal and tell you
right up front that you can't change them.

Your friend gambled and lost.

Hilary wrote:
My friend just bought a roundtrip ticket on Airfare for Novemmber to
France and then an hour later had something unexpected come up that
would prevent her from going that week but not the next. Airfare.com
charges $350 to change an international flight which is just shy of
the ticket cost. Are there any options for her? Is this a BBB issue
or does she stick with a ticket she can't use?


Is it all a change fee or is part of it a difference in fare?

If it's all a change fee then she can ask very nicely if they will void
the ticket for her. This only works same day, and is entirely up to
them. If they allow her to do this they will charge her a fee for
voiding the ticket (it costs them money to do so) but it should be
cheaper than changing. I don't know if they'll agree to this, as it
wasn't an error on their part, but it's worth asking.

Hilary



I went through the booking process. I selected a trip to CDG.
On the page where you enter your name, address, and payment info after
booking the flight, you will see (In RED),

************************************************** *************
By clicking the Proceed button below you verify your intent to purchase
and that you adhere to the rules and regulations of the ticket.
These tickets are NON-refundable.
************************************************** *****************

"rule and regulations" in the above statement contains a link to
https://www.airfare.com/rules.htm

It's not like the fees were hidden. They are clearly posted as $200
domestic and $350 international.

What would the OP tell the BBB? Did they click the "proceed" button
without reading the statement highlighted in red immediately above it?

On 16 Sep 2005 15:35:27 -0700 in rec.travel.air,
wrote:

My friend just bought a roundtrip ticket on Airfare for Novemmber to
France and then an hour later had something unexpected come up that
would prevent her from going that week but not the next. Airfare.com
charges $350 to change an international flight which is just shy of the
ticket cost. Are there any options for her? Is this a BBB issue or
does she stick with a ticket she can't use?

She bought a cheap ticket. They usually come with restrictions,
often non-changeable, non-refundable. She knew that when she
bought it, right, or at least she was notified that was the case?
If so, she has NO VALID COMPLAINT.

And the BBB is a useless organization designed primarily to fool
consumers into thinking that smaller local businesses that belong
couldn't possibly screw consumers. It has no teeth, and
certainly doesn't deal with airlines, which are regulated by
FEDERAL law.