I find it disengenuous to think people can go on and effectively "rip off" every benefit and loophole they can find, and also expect companies not to respond by tighening the rules and being less flexible. I stand by my post: you buy insurance or you pay the change fee. This has resulted because too many people have been cheating the arilines, so until the rest of us take a stond to reestablish a moral order, benefits will continue to be reduced. Why should be expect anything different.

Sure, a company can be flexible from time to time and bend the rules. But the airlines have been taken advantage of, and thus changed the rules.

I have even had posts on FlyerTalk asking what the best way was to convince an airline that the poster was sick, so he and his partner could stay a few extra days in Europe without having to pay a change fee, or the higher fare a change would result in. This is not what FlyerTalk is for in my view. I will assist in the honest seeking of resolving problems or increasing ones miles earned, but not to commit or condone fraud.