Originally Posted by danielonn

AA and other airlines or hotels etc. can do a "Fare Lock" and get rid of holds all together. So for the FareLocks that are nonrefundable or applied to a new Ticket AA would have Made $3, 150 on the OP's tickets at $50 a piece which is reasonable but not the absurd $33,000. To take it a step further if AA wanted to monopolize on Basic Econ Tickets ( perhaps including a $10 off Bag Check and $10 off Seat Assignments for selecting them at time of ticketing)those Fare Locks would be $100. If you are not sure about the flight you want pay a nonrefundable $50 and when you book it the $50 gets applied to your reservation. In the end you would essentially have a week to confirm a ticket. I would much rather lose $50 than lose a $1000 nonrefundable ticket per ticket. Yes its a small price to pay but this would avoid these free holds to tie up inventory.