AC flash re nonref tickets
 

Following the lead of several U.S. airlines, AC has anncounced:

"Effective for tickets issued on/after 6 Sept. for travel on/after 1 Oct.,AC's nonrefundable tickets must be used for ticketed flights, except where customer pays a change fee prior to departure. After the departure date, nonrefundable tickets will have no value and cannot be changed or used for any purpose. This applies to all tickets issued for travel within N. America, excluding Mexico."

I know this will catch more than a few clients by surprise.

And I don't want to hear " well it happened in the US"

We are in Canada.....NOT the US......

Chip Chip Chip....

more nickel and diming......

This is a crock....you have to buy the ticket inadvance unless you want to pay 10 times the market value.....

Then it has no value if you can't make it....surely there are some consumer rights here...

Yeah,the same rights as those who buy Hockey
tickets but cannot make it to the game.....

Funny it took them so long to change this policy. If you go out and ask any leisure travellers, they'll assume that non-refundable means non-refundable and would know nothing about using the ticket for a future flight. That's what I think about those tickets too before I joined FT - I always think of them as 'if I don't use it, tough luck!'.

This move is most likely targetted towards business travellers.

But I can sell or give my hockey tickets away...

sorry......not washing with me...

But those tickets can be sold, auctioned, or given away to someone. Can't do that with an airline ticket.

....and what do we get in return for this reduced flexibility? Our AC friend Gazou compares it to a hockey ticket but, there a few other differences:
1. The hockey team doesn't get to sell the ticket to someone else or overbook your seat.
2. The hockey ticket price did not change to these options from a more customary policy.
3. The hockey ticket doesn't hold on to a security charge.
4. The hockey ticket doesn't hold on to fuel surcharges and NAV fees.
5. I can be late for the hockey game and still enjoy most of it.
But - I don't get Aeroplan miles with either ticket so the comparison is actually pretty accurate despite my carping. I hope the players at AC get paid the same as the players at the hockey game. So now I see that it isn't called the Air Canada Centre for nothing!

Let me say this about that!

The majors are of course emulating the policies of airlines like Ryanair and British Midland.

But recently, BD started to permit name changes - and this is indeed a first. Some of you may remember the failed attempt of www.fairair.com to do just this with the object of trading tickets in their mini 'stock market' of air tickets. And then I saw another one and I can't remember which one, but it was this week, perhaps Virgin Express.

So ... patience ladies and gentlemen. What 1 starts and 2 continues cannot be ignored by competitor 3. Transferable tickets may achieve some universality [is that a paradox?]yet.

Moreover, you can leave halfway through the game without penalty -- just throw the ticket away on the way out the door. In fact, you could do that on several successive tickets.

Using the "hockey ticket" analogy is a HUGE mistake, and as this thread has demonstrated, will make the airlines look worse, much worse, not better.

Moreover, it rather legitimizes the concept of "throw away ticketing" where you buy a round trip ticket that is cheaper than a one way, and simply "throw away" the return portion.

You simply "get stuck in traffic" on the way back to the airport for the return trip, and voila, the airline "throws away" the ticket for you. Airline endorsed throw away ticketing.

And of course, this limitation is easily defeated, particularly if you already expect to be paying the change fee. (If you don't, then this new restriction probably doesn't have a lot of significance, except in exceptional circumstances.)

You simply book the return trip for the last possible day according to the fare rules "Maximum Stay" -- a year, 6 months, 90, 60, or even 30 days. What does it matter, most trips, especially business, are less than 30 days long.

Then when you are certain of your return date, you simply call up, pay the change fee, and book your return. There's no advance purchase requirement except for the first segment, so you can book it even up to the last minute, presuming there's space in the correct fare class.

Even better, you can wait until 7, 3, or 2 days before your intended return, and pick your return flight based on upgrade availability. Once again, confirmed at time of booking upgrades, even for Prestige and Elite, at least for the return trip.

So this new restriction/limitation actually gives a corporate flyer more justification to engage in creative ticketing, particularly for upgrading. Prior to this restriction such a tactic might be discouraged by your travel manager, as you might actually be able to fly home on the originally ticketed date, thereby saving the change fee. Even if you had to change the return you could simply allow the reservation to lapse, then pay the change fee when your return plans firmed up. Now it's a lot easier to justify the safety factor in booking Maximum Stay tickets.

And of course that'll really screw up yield management, because half the bookings made using this technique will actually be phantom bookings.

Ya hafta wonder, does anyone ever think these things through?

It does seem strangely curious that when convenient the argument is "we're not the US" and when conversely convenient the argument is "well the US is doing it."

This is one example, another is the "We can't let the Americans in because they will just skim off the good routes without serving the smaller communities that Air Canada does." 'Course that's now just what AC is doing -- skimming.


[This message has been edited by Ken hAAmer (edited 09-06-2002).]

BONUS!!!!!....

Thanks Ken, that really is a bonus, and its legal!.

And finally, this could be a real bonus and windfall for WestJet and the like, as even though they have the same use-it-or-lose-it restriction on their tickets, you could change your ticket up to 7 times and still be ahead of a single Air Canada ticket change. But the "uioli" restriction is actually a fare deal given that WestJet does not oversell. You guarantee to show up, they guarantee to have your seat available.

Air Canada on the other hand reserves the right to reneg on the seat at the last minute, while you get hosed if you try the same thing. You guarantee to show up, they may or may not have a seat for you.

WestJet should jump on this advertising opportunity. It's one more thing to push business travellers to the discounters, or others who require a little more flexibility. And given the WJ allows same day standby, on all their fares and regardless of what fare classes are available on a given flight (contrary to repeated claims by the head of Aeroplan) it won't be long 'til WestJet is seen as the full service carrier and AC and the restriction-prone discounter.

Ferrari,what happened did you get food poisoning on one of our planes again????

Yes,indeed you say you can sell your Hockey ticket but in fact you cannot(legally). The Hockey ticket was not a good analogy as people were all over the map.

Anyways,I think there are some things that AC has been trying to change for years now.
While in fierce competition with CP,neither would dare take the first step. With close to 80% of domestic market,they do not dare take the first step as they would be attacked as a
monopoly by all sorts. So, what do they wait for nowadays are American carriers to implement these changes and then they declare that it is "Industry Standard" Voila!!!!! AC is only abiding by the Industry standard.....

Yeah Thats the ticket!!!!
Oh by the way .... Happy New Year to our
Jewish friends