Originally Posted by
nosecohn
Even if they charged a small change fee ($35-50) and imposed restrictions (no checked bags, option only available within 30 minutes of boarding, can be bumped by any other passenger with a higher fare code trying to do the same thing), it still seems like it would be to their advantage to accommodate me. And if implemented company-wide, a cascade effect could take place, where the latest flights each day would have the most available seats that the airline could resell at a high price to last-minute travelers.
From what I can tell, everybody wins. What am I missing here?
What if the high fare last minute passenger wants the seat on the flight you want to be switched to and purchases a walk up fare?
I've had it both ways, sometimes even as a non-elite I've been able to switch to an earlier flight on United for free, I think because the flights were so ridiculously empty.
You book a restricted ticket, you should expect to fly the flight you booked. Same with upgrades the way they are now, you want first, you should buy first.