MilesBuzz! - $10. TSA Security fee applicable to tickets issued before February?

I posted this in the CO forum, but didn't get any answers.

I had a reward ticket issued last September for travel in July. Last week I got a recorded message informing me of a change in my reservation. I called reservations twice only to find that there had been no changes since a schedule change which I had been advised of a couple of months ago. A supervisor was called in and advised me that I had to pay the $10 per ticket in order to put the reservation in "sync".

Does anyone have any experience with the $10 fee being applied to tickets issued before February 20?

My understanding is that it has nothing to do with the time of your reservation - everything to do with when you fly. The security fee is in place for when you fly after its implamentation date, not when you made the orginal reservation of any kind, paid or free. Because of various res system challenges, there may be instances when some weren't charged correctly, but those situations are being corrected in real time.

I was under the belief that the fee was charged based on when you made your reservation, not when you fly--in other words, if you booked a ticket on 1/31/02 to fly on 2/1/02, you did not pay a fee (the fee came into effect on February 1), but if you walked up to the ticket counter on the first to buy a ticket for the same flight, you would have had to pay the fee. See http://www.dot.gov/security/fedreg122801.html ("Direct air carriers and foreign air carriers must collect the security service fees on air transportation sold on or after February 1, 2002"-emphasis added).

However, if for some reason an itinerary that was booked before 2/1/02 was changed after 2/1/02, you would then be charged the security fee (this happened to me with a reward ticket on CO for which I wanted to change the dates).

Old Gold--my guess is that it would be difficult to try and avoid paying this fee (CO will argue that it is a government fee that they have no control over), but you might try to counter-argue that (a) it was not a change you made, but that CO made, and (b) in reality there was no change at all. Good luck with this.

On DL, it is based on time of ticket issuance. If you need to reissue your ticket, then the September 11 security fee is applicable.
Exception: involuntary rerouting, and this includes schedule changes. So Old Gold - if you did not make any voluntary changes, CO should be to absorb the Sep 11 security fee.

Thanks for the link, EnhancedByCO, There were both involuntary and voluntary changes to the itineary since February.

I think a complaint to the DOT may be appropriate, It's not unreasonable to argue that the date that the air transportation was "sold" was in September, when I exchanged my valuable OnePass miles.

In spite of changes that the CO claim caused a "reissue" of the ticket, and thus the liability for the charge, it's the September transaction date that determines the ultimate validity of the ticket. (One year from the date of issue)

but when a ticket is "reissued" it is a new ticket number, and therefore, a "new" ticket, subject to the new tax. technically, a "reissue" is always an exchange. a reendorsement of an existing ticket is a use of the same ticket.

Here's a draft of my complaint to the DOT:

In September of 2001, I exchanged 120,000 Continental OnePass frequent flyer miles for 2 airline tickets. In the time since then there have been involuntary and voluntary changes to the itineary.

Continental claims that changes made at my request after February 1, 2002 require that the TSA $10 security fee be added to these tickets.

The DOT summary clearly states that the fee is applicable to tickets sold after February 1, 2002, but does not specify tickets reissued, or for travel after that date.

A reasonable person would agree that the "sale" of a frequent flyer reward ticket occurs when frequent flyer mileage is exchanged for a "ticket".

The published OnePass rules provide that the ticket may be reissued within a period of one year from the date of issue, but retain the original reward expiration date. The "reissue" is therefore permitted under the terms of the original transaction and therefore does not represent another "sale" since the original expiration date is retained, and there is no other valuable exchange required.

I believe that the assessment of this charge in this case is not warrented under the DOT or Continental OnePass rules, and should be reversed.

According to the summary in:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Transportation Security Administration
49 CFR Chapter XII and Part 1510
[Docket No. TSA-2001-11120]
RIN 2110-AA01

Imposition and Collection of Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fees

"The security service fee will apply to passengers using frequent flyer awards for air transportation, but may not be imposed on other nonrevenue passengers.

Direct air carriers and foreign air carriers must collect the security service fees on air transportation sold on or after February 1, 2002. "</font>
The OnePass program literature states:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">"Reissuing Tickets

Reward flight tickets may be reissued for a different date and/or destination (covered by the reward mileage redeemed), except when prohibited by the fare purchased using an Upgrade reward. Your new tickets will be subject to the original reward expiration date.

Reward Expiration Dates

OnePass reward tickets and certificates are valid for one year from the date of issue. Upgrade reward tickets involving a fare with an earlier expiration date are subject to the earlier expiration. Return travel must originate by midnight on the expiration date of your reward."</font>

Hey, I don't make the rules, I just want everybody to play by them http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/rolleyes.gif


[This message has been edited by Old Gold (edited 06-10-2002).]

Regarding a letter to the TSA:
This all assumes they operate under some kind of logic. Anyone reviewing the whole situation would quickly realize logic has been removed from their dictionary and operating procedures.

They are unable to read their own rules.

They, or I should say the American Public thinks their process makes us safer, somehow.

We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to protect against something that HAPPENED and that could still happen today. At least the part about bad guys walking through security with small knives. Reality is they would have minimal success taking over a plane though.

Meanwhile, over a million people are out of work, families are breaking up, homes are lost, kids are going hungry, millions of people are being hassled and/or not flying, etc. etc.

For what?

Bottom line? The $10 charge is the least of our worries.