Originally Posted by
gcashin
The area where it could have a payoff would be in reducing oversold flights. I'm sure there are plenty of instances each day where a customer would prefer to move from an oversold flight to a flight with space, but doesn't because of the fee.
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I agree, although I have had experience that suggest that AC will try and avoid this result if it is drawn to their attention. On at least three occasions, I have suggested that I would be agreeable to a no-fee same day change at the airport (at least once was for a later flight) and was given one. In those instances expert flyer suggested that my flight was likely oversold. A couple times I have asked and was refused on the basis that the flight I was aiming to move to was oversold.
This little example of pareto efficiency does not, however, equate with AC offering free SDC with people adjusting their original ticket purchases to reflect optimized price/SDC probabilities for instances in which flights are not oversold.