WhiteLightsLeadToRedLights

I apologize it was not meant to be annoying. I wasn't sure how much to post at that point. I have updated the original post with more information.

WhiteLightsLeadToRedLights

What happened to my original post?

WhiteLightsLeadToRedLights

MY ORIGINAL POST SEEMS TO HAVE DISAPPEARED, SO I HAVE COPIED IT HERE:

Hello! When attempting to book a flight on an American legacy carrier, I was told that the sales price was limited to passport holders of another country. I believe price discrimination based upon national origin is illegal in Europe. Is it illegal in the US? The restriction was also not mentioned in the ad.

I am in the process of drafting a complaint letter. Currently, my draft contains the following:

• explanation of the situation
• statement declaring situation to be unacceptable
• desire to solve this issue quickly by having an agent help book a ticket at the sales price
• cease price discrimination based upon national origin for current and future campaigns

Any advice or recommendations on the complaint letter (edits or additions)? Would complaints with the DOT's AirConsumer website, the BBB, or even the FTC be appropriate and/or effective?

Thanks!

THERE WERE TWO UPDATES, I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT WORDING, BUT THEY WERE APPROXIMATELY AS FOLLOWS:
Update 1: I apologize for the delay in responding. I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this matter.
Update 2: It was a multiroute China to US deal on Delta. I had a link to an Imgur album with pictures of the deal, but I'm thinking that might be why my post disappeared, so I'll post it in a separate comment.

WhiteLightsLeadToRedLights

http://imgur.com/a/c60TU

WhiteLightsLeadToRedLights

China to US via multiple cities

I found it via the US Delta.com English site. The ad made no mention of restrictions.
Pictures of the sale: http://imgur.com/a/c60TU

IMPORTANT: These fares are only available to RESIDENTS of Argentina, in accordance with article four of Resolution 35/2002 by the Ministry of Production's Secretary of Transportation. In the event that a passenger is not a resident, he or she can purchase tickets at some of LAN.com's international sites. When boarding, the passenger will be asked to provide documentation confirming his or her residency. A passenger with a ticket for this class will not be boarded if her or she fails to provide said documentation.

I found this online. This still seems to allows residents of said country to participate. You bring up a good point, though. However, many discount programs for locals seem to be government subsidized. This was an American company (Delta) with no subsidy.

Tchiowa

OK, now we have details we can look at. Cool. One last question. Clearly the sale offer doesn't say anything about nationality. You said that came up when you tried to buy the ticket. What nationality had the restriction?

MSPeconomist

Some airlines seem to offer two for one specials or sale prices for two tickets regularly. IIRC TK is one example and I think I've seem some of the major mideast carriers do this too. Some of these offers appear around Valentine's Day. It appears to be an attempt to exercise price discrimination against business travelers.

pinniped

Who exactly told you this? Someone on a web support line? A regular Delta phone ticketing agent? It is still possible that they are incorrect.

Europe wouldn't have any jurisdiction here. IANAL, and I think this thread has pointed out that there are a lot of grey areas where companies can effectively discriminate (legally). Thus if I had to place a wager, I would bet that Delta isn't violating U.S. laws with this sale.

The Latin America resident rates on various carriers get talked about a lot on FT. While many Americans and Europeans find their practices morally distasteful, they are specifically sanctioned by local law and they aren't really relevant to the Delta/China promo.

I still think something else is going on. How exactly did your attempt to purchase the tickets fail? Were you on Delta.com, an Asian Delta site, or a third-party site? Were you rejected immediately following entry of your passport number or upon entry of a credit card number? Is it possible that the rejection was due to the location of the bank that issued your credit card?

weero

That would entirely depend on the point of sale, wouldn't it? If these tickets are sold in Europe, then the airline would certainly break the law and the corresponding EU country would have the authority to intervene ... but the fares probably will have ceased to exist long before any action would be taken.
Not in Europe anymore ... which is where the OP based his question on.

pinniped

I guess this could become an IT infrastructure question. The images show the promotion offered on the main Delta.com site. Would a sale through that site always be conducted in a U.S. data center, regardless of where the planes are flying or where the passenger (or his credit card) is from?

I'm also guessing that the routes involved are DL metal only, and China-U.S. TPAC only. No way for Europe to be involved in some sort of long westbound connection.

geirfugl

When atempting to book a very low fare originating in the US on an American legacy carier,I have been redirected to a booking page for my UA billing adress and qoted a substantially higher price,only hapend a couple of times though.I would not think they would do it if its illegal,the web page actually states clearly that this might hapend.

A few years ago this used to be the norm,rather than the exception.

dvs7310

This DL is quite different, it is for multiple tickets for one person, so actually ideal for a frequent business traveler or commuter but won't work for someone wanting this price to take a holiday or a one off trip.

weero

You are likely right. After all the main Delta.com page is the US page and hence Europeans buying from there likely accept the rules offered by that portal.

If it is offered on the portal of a European country, I'd think that they'd have to follow local laws even if the servers are hosted in the US. But I am of course not sure and only keep riding the point as the OP specifically asked for it.
It maybe legal or at least legal in certain countries.

Sopwith

I recently tried to book a ticket from YVR to a US city on aa.com. The fare was quoted in US$. I have a US$ credit card issued by a Canadian bank, my billing address is in Canada. As soon as I entered Canada as the billing address the website recalculated the price into C$ at a total higher than the US fare multiplied by the prevailing exchange rate. When I enquired I received the following from AA:

"If the billing address is in another country the reservation will be repriced.

You may find the following verbiage on aa.com on our FAQs:

When the country of issuance of the credit card being used is other than
the country of the international version of aa.com you are visiting or
the country of residence that has been selected at the time of purchase,
aa.com will apply the flight availability and fare of the credit card
billing address country (the country where the credit card was issued).
Local currency may be used. "

I agree that it is common in the travel industry to apply price discrimination based on place of residence. However, if I was black, Jewish or gay this would be illegal. If I live in Canada, apparently not.

kettle1

If you are going to quote this - move it to OMNI.