THE MIDDLE SEAT
By SCOTT MCCARTNEY

Airlines 'Nickel-and-Dime' Fliers,
Now That Gouging Won't Work

Last week, US Airways Group Inc. decided to make its advance-purchase tickets more difficult to use and stopped giving its frequent fliers credit toward elite status when they fly on cheap tickets.

AMR Corp.'s American Airlines matched pieces of the US Air move on Friday. Now, you can't avoid a $100 charge to change flights on a non-refundable ticket by waiting on the standby list. Continental Airlines followed American's move. Others will probably fall in line this week or next.

Just as those customer-friendly changes were being announced, The Wall Street Journal reported1 that airlines are now slapping huge "oversize luggage" fees -- up to $270 per bag -- on large suitcases that they have happily carried for years as checked baggage. Also, several carriers told travel agents that they would no longer grant waivers to fare rules that let corporate customers -- the very people they need to win back -- fly on cheap tickets.

At a time when airlines, especially ones in bankruptcy proceedings like US Air, need to please customers, they seem to be going out of their way to anger them instead. Since fliers won't agree to be gouged by outrageously expensive business-travel fares, airlines instead seem intent on nickel-and-diming patrons. And to think airline executives and workers wonder why people hold them in the same esteem as, say, baseball owners and players or cable-television companies?

For several months now, airlines have been hammering on stupid security rules imposed by the Transportation Security Administration. From confiscating nail clippers to strip searching customers to "random" frisking during boarding, not to mention long lines and rude attitudes, carriers argued that silly security rules that did little to enhance safety were only driving customers away.

If stupid security rules drive away customers, why wouldn't stupid ticketing rules?

Take US Air's moves. The airline wants to sell more high-priced tickets and fewer cheap tickets to boost its revenue. Airlines are having a very difficult time raising prices these days because of heightened competition from low-fare carriers and the impact of the Internet, which gives customers unprecedented power to search out low fares. What's more, there are too many seats flying in the U.S. relative to demand, so to fill them, carriers are offering lots of cheap deals.

Unable to raise prices, US Air wants to change the mix. Some customers may switch to a higher fare in order to earn full credit in their frequent flier program. Some may buy a more expensive ticket that would allow them to change flights easier. And some may spend 10 times more for an unrestricted ticket because US Air now made its non-refundable tickets completely non-refundable -- no more $100 change fees and one year to use up credits.

"This change makes purchasing airline tickets like many other products people buy for a specific date and time, such as Broadway shows and sporting events,'' said Ben Baldanza, US Air's senior vice president of marketing.

The analogy only goes so far for airlines. Baseball teams don't overbook their stadiums, and perhaps "use it or lose it" airline ticketing should force airlines to curb over-booking. Second, baseball tickets can be traded, given or sold to another person. Not airline tickets. And many sports teams or theater companies will accommodate their best customers by exchanging tickets at the box office for alternate dates -- without a $100 change fee.

If airlines want to equate a seat on a plane with a seat in a theater or ballpark, then all the rules ought to be the same, not just the ones the airline favors. Airline tickets should be transferable and change fees should be eliminated.

Just as infuriating to customers, judging by how my e-mail and voice mail has lit up, is the end of standby changes on non-refundable tickets. US Air has eliminated it entirely; Continental and American will charge $100 standby changes. To travelers, it's hard to see any cost to an airline for filling an empty seat on the same day of travel. (Imagine if baseball teams played 10 or 20 games a day...) Sometimes, it's to the airline's advantage for a passenger to take an earlier flight, freeing up a seat on a later over-booked flight. Standby lists are generally no fun for travelers, but an airline can build a bit of goodwill if someone can get out of a meeting and perhaps catch an earlier flight home to have dinner with the kids.

Travelers point out that airlines have free rein to cancel flights and change your schedule, but travelers don't have the same rights. If airlines charges $100 if a customer wants to take a later flight, should airlines pay customers $100 if they when they force customers to a later flight?

Rebooking has changed drastically, too. You can call before departure and not lose your investment in airline tickets, but you have to rebook immediately to a specific flight, and pay a $100 per ticket change fee, plus any higher fare. In the past, you could carry forward a credit for one year. Now, if you have a family emergency and have to postpone the family trip to Hawaii, you have to immediately have a new date lined up, or you'll lose thousands of dollars. Good luck.

Airline ticketing is already a hard-to-fathom minefield, and it seems to have just gotten worse. Maybe you've read the e-mail comedy routine, "If Airlines Sold Paint?"2

How much is a gallon of paint? That depends on when you want to use it, and how you want to use it... It could be $9 a gallon, or $200 a gallon. Whatever you buy, you have to use it all, because there are penalties for not using all the paint....

If a paint store is having trouble selling paint, does it make it harder for customers to buy paint? The great lesson of the current airline depression is that the paint stores that offer value and decent service are making money, and the ones that confuse and confound aren't.

Write to Scott McCartney at [email protected]

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Updated September 4, 2002