Originally Posted by
FlyingMoose
I've never understood why EU carriers did not adopt the US model. Nobody is going to fork out any kind of serious cash other then perhaps a fixed administrative fee to change to an earlier flight. It's a free of charge tool that is great for keeping paying customers happy.
The few justifiable situations for actually paying for an earlier flight are usually of such a nature that it's just another blow when the price is through the roof.
That said, I've had a few occasions where SAS actually automatically rebooked me to an earlier connection when arriving on an ahead of time long haul with a connection within Scandinavia.
I have tried a couple of times when I have found myself back at the airport before time and each time the cost to change the ticket has just been so stupid I just check in and go and sit in the lounge.
Last time was CPN to ARN I arrived 4-5 hours early and had the option to catch several earlier connections but at 9000 SEK would have had a difficult time justifying it to the customer who was paying. Instead I sat in the ok lounge and just did the paperwork for the job plus had a whinge on flyertalk.