Parker Threatens End of Changes/Change Fees to Non-Refundable Fares
Sep 19, 2018, 8:25 am
#32
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Austin, TX - AUS
Programs: AA Platinum, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott
Posts: 1,625
I see this as a calculated half-full threat. AA won't eliminate the change fee for inflexible tickets, but may well eliminate SDC. That would leave the standard domestic change fee for the typical inflexible ticket at $200 and not drop it to $75 or $0 on the day of travel. People who require flexibility will purchase flexible fares and the revenue from change fees is protected.
The reality is that UA & DL will move in lockstep and that will leave WN in a pickle. It cannot survive taking over broad swaths of business which changes "for free" constantly or it will suffer the same problems others suffer now. Or, its fare structure, not exactly a bargain today, will take a significant jump.
The reality is that UA & DL will move in lockstep and that will leave WN in a pickle. It cannot survive taking over broad swaths of business which changes "for free" constantly or it will suffer the same problems others suffer now. Or, its fare structure, not exactly a bargain today, will take a significant jump.
Sep 19, 2018, 8:53 am
#33
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Houston
Programs: UA 1K and Million Miler, *A Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hertz Five Star,
Posts: 1,301
Faulty observation in article: "Doing away with changes to nonrefundable fares would make airline flights more like baseball games or concerts, where customers aren’t typically reimbursed if they buy tickets and can’t use them. Carriers currently consider the ability to change a nonrefundable ticket as a service that carries a cost. Such fees, which run up to $200, anger many passengers."
Stubhub allows you to do just that....
Stubhub allows you to do just that....
Sep 19, 2018, 8:54 am
#34
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Houston
Programs: UA 1K and Million Miler, *A Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hertz Five Star,
Posts: 1,301
Sep 19, 2018, 8:58 am
#35
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
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Posts: 50,262
How would a US version of EC 261/2004 do anything in this situation?
EU carriers, for the most part, do not offer changes to inflexible tickets, do not offer a "flat tire" and are much stricter about deadlines. The referenced regulation may provide a cash windfall to delayed passengers, but not sure how increasing carriers' operating costs to put a bit of cash in the pockets of employees traveling on the employer's dime helps.
If you want to see just how well micro-managing regulation worked in the US, just take a look at the CAB and fare-structuring prior to the ADA.
EU carriers, for the most part, do not offer changes to inflexible tickets, do not offer a "flat tire" and are much stricter about deadlines. The referenced regulation may provide a cash windfall to delayed passengers, but not sure how increasing carriers' operating costs to put a bit of cash in the pockets of employees traveling on the employer's dime helps.
If you want to see just how well micro-managing regulation worked in the US, just take a look at the CAB and fare-structuring prior to the ADA.
Sep 19, 2018, 9:24 am
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: jfk area
Programs: AA platinum; 2MM AA, Delta Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,291
How would a US version of EC 261/2004 do anything in this situation?
EU carriers, for the most part, do not offer changes to inflexible tickets, do not offer a "flat tire" and are much stricter about deadlines. The referenced regulation may provide a cash windfall to delayed passengers, but not sure how increasing carriers' operating costs to put a bit of cash in the pockets of employees traveling on the employer's dime helps.
If you want to see just how well micro-managing regulation worked in the US, just take a look at the CAB and fare-structuring prior to the ADA.
EU carriers, for the most part, do not offer changes to inflexible tickets, do not offer a "flat tire" and are much stricter about deadlines. The referenced regulation may provide a cash windfall to delayed passengers, but not sure how increasing carriers' operating costs to put a bit of cash in the pockets of employees traveling on the employer's dime helps.
If you want to see just how well micro-managing regulation worked in the US, just take a look at the CAB and fare-structuring prior to the ADA.
], tickets were fully refundable and the airlines were in the black.The USA261
would be modified for the USA marked.
Sep 19, 2018, 9:49 am
#37
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
Posts: 19,719
These posts wailing that "All AA cares about is the bottom line!" amuse me. What else are they supposed to care about? AA is not a philanthropy. They are simply testing, all the time, to see how much worse they can make the total value proposition before it costs them measurable traffic. Mr. "Let's-charge-everyone-for-water" Parker has a long history on this front.
Sep 19, 2018, 9:51 am
#38
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Here and there
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,551
I miss the Choice packages of a few years ago where you could pre-pay for changes at $80. It was a way to construct a flexible fare. Some airlines elsewhere in the world offer several grades of flexibility at time of purchase, would be good see AA bring that in.
Sep 19, 2018, 9:53 am
#39
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
You're being overly literal. The point is that government regulations can often work to the advantage of consumers without overly burdening businesses, and EC 261/2004 is an example of that even though it has nothing to do with change fees.
Sep 19, 2018, 9:56 am
#40
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: DCA/IAD
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Posts: 7,819
And if you think back pre-911, there was indeed one: the newspaper. Who else remembers ads for "AA one way ticket available, male passenger, SAN-PDX on 11/08. $150.00 OBO"?
Sep 19, 2018, 10:13 am
#41
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Groveland, FL, USA
Programs: Starriot Platinum, DL PM, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Explorist
Posts: 1,041
Stubhub only works if the tickets are transferable, or if the ID isn't checked. That is no longer the case for airline tickets.
Sep 19, 2018, 10:21 am
#43
Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: WAS
Programs: Free Agent
Posts: 1,757
If concert and sports venues had a Government agency willing to enforce non-transferability policies on their behalf in the name of "national security" Stubhub wouldn't exist either.
Sep 19, 2018, 11:19 am
#44
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Lafayette, LA
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, BA Gold, UA Gold MM, DL SM MM, Hyatt Glob, HH Diam, Marriott Ti/LT Plat, IHG Plat
Posts: 274
AA may already be tightening up its policy on change fees. A couple of months ago I made a change to a complex international itinerary. My motive for the change was that I wanted to return on a different day. But since there had been a time change on one of the partner codeshare segments on my original itinerary, the EXP agent was able to waive the change fee, which I am virtually certain she said would have been $200. A few days ago, with most of the trip already completed, I tried to make another change in the return portion of the same itinerary. I asked whether the change fee might once again be waived, since there had been a couple of further small involuntary changes to my itinerary. This time the EXP agent said there was no way to waive the change fee, which had somehow gone up to $250. "We received a memo recently that from now on in order to waive the change fee the reason needs to be something really serious."
Sep 19, 2018, 11:24 am
#45
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
The question is would AA lose more corporate business that would offset the impact from use it or lose it tickets. The $200 (pure profit) revenue potential would be gone. Did Parker speak off the cuff or does AA have empirical evidence this would work financially to their AAdvantage? Also this would make historical revenue models irrelevant for a period of time as likely behavior would change (more people might fly if the value of the entire ticket would be lost and changes can't be made.)