<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by mdtony:
The rules are all there for you to see. If you don't like them, don't buy the ticket. It's really that simple. If the price is too high for you, don't fly. If you don't like the rules, don't fly. Nobody is forcing you to fly.
You get the final word and you can vote with your wallet. I suggest that if you don't like the rules, you do so.</font>
I think the tax laws are poorly worded and onerous, too. Does this mean I should express my displeasure by refusing to pay taxes?
As part of my job, I
have to fly. (Yeah, I guess I could always get another job, but let's leave that aside for a sec.) That doesn't mean I forfeit my right to call out what I see as being inconsistencies, problems, and outright duplicity etched in the system.
Personally, I don't have a problem with requiring ID at the gate so that someone can prove it's me flying in my name. But there's a LONG list of other complaints -- things that are de facto ground rules of airlines these days -- that are there for NO other purpose than to raise revenue.
Have you seen your banking agreement recently? It's just about as long, legalistic, and convoluted as the rules and regulations associated with an airplane ticket. But what are my alternatives? Storing my money in a cookie jar?
All the banks have virtually the same virtually indecipherable fine print, there only to maximize revenue, as do almost all the airlines. And in most cases, there ain't nothin' no one can do about it. Welcome to the wonderful world of oligopolies.
LemonThrower brings up a valid point: corporations can pay for a "spot" at a convention, at a ballgame, at a trade show. Why not on an airplane?
SP