Originally Posted by
defiance96
I wonder why the airline industry is so uncreative to think about other business models.
For example: The change fee doesn't apply to those who buy a refundable fare. Of course, those fares are usually insanely higher.
Why couldn't airlines allow passengers to pick their fare based on their sense of risk as to how confident they are that they will/or won't need to make a change.
deepest discount fare, non changeable, non refundable (but perhaps a small refund as a courtesy for reporting plan to not use)
next highest fare, subject to 100 change fee and non refundable
next highest fare, subject to 50 change fee but non refundable
next highest fare, changeable but non refundable
highest fare fare, changeable and refundable
I would guess airlines might make some money on the people who get burned not able to use nonchangeable/nonrefundable tickets. At the end of the day, it might create the necessary fee structure for more revenue, but at least give the perception to organized and reliable customers that they were a bit more in control of their risk.
On some routes and some tickets some US-based carriers do this sort of thing. CO sells a lot of H fares (one below full Y) that are non-changable and refundable less a small fee. It isn't perfect, but it is better than the money remaining in a travel credit form.
Ultimately I think that the breakdown of the market consists of people who have a company policy (foolish or not, and I think it generally is) that requires a fully refundable purchase. For everyone else the policy is buy cheap. There is no middle ground. Why would you pay more to have a ticket that you can pay slightly less to change? The margin there is too small, though I guess you could get some people who don't understand it and make more revenue by fooling your customers. If the "reduced" change fee is $25 v $100, how much more would you pay for that ticket? Anyone willing to pay more than ~$25 more is doing something wrong in their math or is too flakey to figure out a travel plan and stick to it. I understand that things change from time to time, but how many times are you changing a ticket for a trip that you're going on??