US Airways Dividend Miles - Is US's change fee different?

I don't change many legacy carrier tickets (the change fee tends to make them "use 'em or lose 'em"), but a phone call from my uncle has alerted me to a policy I was unaware of.

I always thought that if you had a non-refundable ticket and wanted to change your reservation, you paid the change fee (now a usurious $150) and then had a voucher for the remaining money (good for 1 year from original ticket purchase) to buy another ticket.

This is apparently NOT US's change fee policy! And here's where it gets complicated -- and very consumer unfriendly.

Let's say you (like my Uncle) originally bought a $400 ticket. You can't use that one, but now you want to buy a $300 ticket (perhaps to someplace else). US will not let you use that voucher and pay only an additional $50 (your $250 voucher plus the $50 difference). Rather, they will make you pay $150 for the new ticket! They get to this result through this rather obscure addition to the rules:


CHARGE USD 150.00 FOR REISSUE.
NOTE -
ANY UNUSED TICKET SEGMENTS WILL HAVE NO VALUE
UNLESS PASSENGER CANCELS/CHANGES TICKETED FLIGHT
RESERVATIONS ON/BEFORE TICKETED DEPARTURE DATE.
TICKET MUST BE REISSUED AND SERVICE FEE PLUS ANY
ADDITIONAL FARE MUST BE PAID AT TIME OF CHANGE.
TRAVEL MUST BE COMPLETED WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM THE
DATE OF COMMENCEMENT OF TRAVEL.
IF VOLUNTARY CHANGES REQUESTED BY THE PASSENGER
RESULTS IN A HIGHER FARE APPLIED TO THE TICKET
ANY DIFFERENCE IN FARE WILL BE COLLECTED AT TIME
OF REISSUE IN ADDITION TO THE APPLICABLE SERVICE
FEE.
IF VOLUNTARY CHANGES REQUESTED BY THE PASSENGER
RESULTS IN A LOWER FARE APPLIED TO THE TICKET
REFUND OF THE DIFFERENCE IN FARE IS NOT PERMITTED.
THE APPLICABLE SERVICE FEE WILL BE COLLECTED AT
THE TIME OF REISSUE AND ANY FARE DIFFERENCE WILL
BE FORFEITED BY THE PASSENGER.


So, basically, every time you cancel a US ticket and want to use the proceeds to buy another ticket, you will have to pay a minimum of $150 -- regardless of the value of your original ticket. This makes it particularly risky to buy a high value non-refundable fare, as you are basically forfeiting the entire value of the ticket if you don't fly -- or use it to buy another high value fare.

There also becomes no incentive to look for a lower published fare for reissue. So if you book a $400 transcon and cancel, it makes no difference if your re-ticketed flight is $250 or $400 -- the new ticket is still going to cost you $150. Of course, if it's more than $400, you pay the $150 plus the difference.

BTW, the rules may be different for int'l tickets. I haven't looked at them.

Does anyone know if the other domestic airlines now have this twist in their change policies? I know they didn't use to. Last year, for example, many flyertalkers were cancelling high-value TYN tickets on various airlines, paying the change fee, and getting vouchers for the remainder to use on multiple tickets. That, obviously, would not work with these rules.

...So, basically, every time you cancel a US ticket and want to use the proceeds to buy another ticket, you will have to pay a minimum of $150 -- regardless of the value of your original ticket....

Sadly, US has had this change fee policy for some time now, see e.g this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-airways-dividend-miles/947856-ticket-change-policy.html). Can't answer your question as to whether other airlines do it the same way...

It's been that way for at least a couple years.

Sadly, US has had this change fee policy for some time now, see e.g this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/us-airways-dividend-miles/947856-ticket-change-policy.html). Can't answer your question as to whether other airlines do it the same way...

Thanks. Didn't see that thread when I searched. So the policy is at least as old as April.

Awhile ago, I read that these crazy change fee rules are a response to leisure fares no longer having a Saturday night stay. So biz travellers are buying leisure tickets and -- business being what it is -- then wanting to change their plans. Apparently leisure travellers RARELY change their plans regardless of whether the fee is $50, $100 or $150. So the idea is to soak the biz traveller -- or, more accurately, the company buying the biz traveller's ticket.

Requiring an additional forfeiture above the $150 fee for certain changes does seem outrageous to me, though. I wonder if the extra revenue it brings in is worth the ill will generated by customers who obviously feel like they're being taken advantage of. I know that few people buy tickets by phone these days, but are the agents required to read this language to customers who buy their tickets that way?

EDIT:

BTW, I just looked at CO's rules on this subject. Their language goes on for pages, but the net result is that they do NOT confiscate the money when reticketing lower priced fares:

WHEN CHANGE RESULTS IN LOWER FARE REFUND RESIDUAL VIA VOUCHER AND COLLECT PENALTY

It's been that way for years. When I used to fly US alot for business, if I had a cancelled ticket I would save it for a trip that cost about the same instead of a cheaper one.

I just noticed that my flight to Berlin dropped $75USD from the time I purchased it in mid-Oct. If I bought a suit in Nordstrom and it dropped in price two weeks later, they'd give me an adjustment. How do airlines get away with this crap? It's frustrating.

I just noticed that my flight to Berlin dropped $75USD from the time I purchased it in mid-Oct. If I bought a suit in Nordstrom and it dropped in price two weeks later, they'd give me an adjustment. How do airlines get away with this crap? It's frustrating.

So if the price for your trip were to rise by $50 would you expect the airline to send you a bill for the difference? Airlines are a business and therefore are trying to make money.

Your comparison is not an apples to apples comparison in that an airline seat for a particular flight greatly fluctuates in value. Supply and demand - which is the driving factor for pricing for a particular seat, changes much more than your example of a suit in Nordstrom. At some point, once the flight has occurred, the value of an empty seat is nothing. I wouldn't expect the pricing of suits to mirror this type of pricing model.

It's been that way for years. When I used to fly US alot for business, if I had a cancelled ticket I would save it for a trip that cost about the same instead of a cheaper one.

Yeah, easy enough to do for the frequent business traveller, but not so easy for most leisure travellers -- especially if the ticket they want to change is a relatively expensive one.

And because the "US Airways wrinkle" is so unusual and obscure, a customer buying a high-value US ticket probably has no idea it exists. Is there ANY other airline that does it this way? I posted CO's policy before, and here is AA's:

WHEN THE ITINERARY RESULTS IN A LOWER FARE - NO
REFUNDS WILL BE MADE HOWEVER THE DIFFERENCE IN
FARE WILL BE RETURNED TO THE PASSENGER IN THE
FORM OF A NON-REFUNDABLE TRAVEL VOUCHER WHICH
MAY BE APPLIED TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF A TICKET
VALID FOR TRANSPORTATION VIA AA ONLY. THE CHANGE
FEE WILL APPLY.


This is what happened to my uncle -- he had no idea that US's policy was different. What "normal" traveller would? This stuff is confusing, counter-intuitive and BURIED in the rules.


I just noticed that my flight to Berlin dropped $75USD from the time I purchased it in mid-Oct. If I bought a suit in Nordstrom and it dropped in price two weeks later, they'd give me an adjustment. How do airlines get away with this crap? It's frustrating.

I actually don't have a problem with this. You buy your tickets and take your chances. There are some websites that will refund you the difference if another traveller books the EXACT same itinerary with them for less, but good luck with that -- I presume your odds of collecting on that are akin to winning the lottery.