Originally Posted by
vrbaba
For those who think $150 change fee for a ticket that probably costs $250 is reasonable just because they state that beforehand, you are crazy!
Sure airlines are allowed to make their own rules, but so am I allowed to vent my displeasure with it (especially on FT
). I am willing to pay a nominal $25 fee, heck even double that considering the added airline costs, to $50, for airline's trouble of changing it. In the end, I am buying the then cost of the ticket, which is no different than a person who buys it late for the first time. Just because one has millions of miles and status with an airline, it does not mean they have to agree to everything the airline states no matter how absurd it might get.
I think you're missing one vital point here. I have no idea what route you have in mind, but on a route I'm familiar with, you can certainly buy AUS-SJC roundtrips at $250. That's a total of almost 3,000 miles round trip. I'm willing to bet that AA would lose money at an 80% load factor with everyone paying $250 for a round trip so you could view that as an uneconomic, subsidized fare which comes with conditions and penalties for changes. Would you prefer the option to pay the real economic cost of the trip, every trip, in order to keep the change fee down? You would probably vote with your feet!