Originally Posted by
Flying Lawyer
When I compare the number of paid tix I have with the number of award tix I prefer it the way it is. You dissenting opinion seems to be governed by the fact that surcharges on award tix go out of you own pocket whereas you don't care about paid travel paid by somebody else. Being a partner in my firm I care about both.
In fact I pay for most of my own travel, and when not I'm still required to book a cheap ticket. What I dislike is having to pay higher fares to accrue my miles, and despite of the extra revenue that I already gave to LH to help them offset high fuel costs, being required to pay LH for the "free" ticket I earned.
Originally Posted by
Flying Lawyer
This year and last year I had to commute between LCY, DUS and TXL on weekends. I bought E class tickets for every weekend far in advance. If I use them great, if not I risk a few Dollars. Thats it. Good deal. And it is neither complicated not less transparent because I know what costs. Believe it or not, the average airline consumer is not the blonde.
That
is a good deal. A deal very few are aware of. If you book and end up not using E tickets more often than you redeem awards, then I guess the current system works for you. For the vast majority of us, it does not.
The OP, who as a FTer is a lot more educated than the average airline consumer, wasn't aware that LH revenue for his/her ticket is 54 euros rather than 14 euros. The whole system of surcharges is meant to:
a) Make passengers believe that tickets are cheaper than they really are.
b) Be able to increase ticket prices while saying that they didn't.
c) Collect revenue on award redemptions (for seats that, in most cases, would have gone empty otherwise).
Yes, there are a couple of negative points for the airlines, like when passengers claim taxes and fees back from unused tickets. But it's a very small trade-off for a huge PR and revenue boost.
Of course, this is not LH-specific. In fact, LH at least mentions explicitly that taxes and fees from unused tickets can be refunded, and makes the process simple. Try that with a LCC...