Originally Posted by
Eryeal
SUPERBLY written article. The more you try and game and take advantage of a system or a mistake, the harder it will be in the future to use the system (if available at all). Sometimes you have to know that even though a rule or law says one thing, doesn't make it the absolute right thing. Even if DOT enforces this and requires the tickets to be valid - it still doesn't mean it is right in the end. There are millions of examples of companies starting out with the best intentions (whether it's liberal returns policies or something completely different), and then due to so many consumers taking wrongful advantage, those intentions come to an end. It doesn't end because their rules, or lack thereof, were faulty. It ends because of so many folks abusing the system. Yeah, Sam's Club may have an unlimited returns policy, but I'm not going to take the TV I bought a year ago and accidentally dropped in for a refund or replacement, despite the fact they will accept the return.
I love the #3 comment on the bottom of the article by "Bob" - saying exactly what the article points out is the wrong way to think.
My lord! 100+ comments overnight! I'm already behind...
Had to comment on this post. The argument makes logical sense as far as it goes, it just happens to be wrong. There have been pile-on mistake fares for years, and it would be patently absurd to claim that UA's customer-unfriendly turn since 3/3 is because of mistake fares. What is more, many disagree and feel that CO policies are more customer friendly than UA's were.
So where's the evidence? Show me a single example -- backed up with evidence -- of how customers have been negatively impacted by mistake fares...other than the fact that airlines have taken measures to prevent them from happening as often.
Mistake fares are blips of speed bumps for the airlines relative to everything else they have to deal with. Claiming otherwise, IMHO, is silly.