Originally Posted by
MIA-SAT
Although the vast majority of my business flying is for the entity of which I am the owner, I do have a policy that when I am billing a trip to a client, I never buy non-refundable tickets. That policy is clearly stated on our engagement letters. Funny, I have never had a client call and tell me that it is willing to pay for non-refundable ticket and the penalties when I have to cancel or reschedule.
I made the mistake of buying a non-refundable fare one time for an out-of-state deposition. The refundable fares were absurdly high, so I thought I was doing the client a service by springing for the much less expensive non-refundable fare. Of course, as Murphy's Law would dictate, the deposition eventually got rescheduled because of a medical emergency involving the witness. My client was good enough to pay the change fees (which still would up being less expensive than the refundable fare), thanked me for being cost conscious, and then instructed me that I was always to purchase fully refundable fares no matter how expensive or how gross the discrepancy between the refundable fare and the lowest available fare.