Nonetheless, it would be an important step to bolster business in these trying times. I hope that the incoming administration appoints someone to the FAA who can draft the necessary regulation.

You're forgetting that if someone really needed to get someplace, they'd put themselves on the standby list and get the seat when the refundable ticket holder doesn't show up.

If anything, buying refundable tickets and not using them IS BETTER because it separates the lackadaisical traveler from those who are important and really need to go someplace. If I had it my way, all flights would sell out on refundable tickets and everyone else would go on standby. It would separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.

The best solution would be to stop restricting airside access to ticketed passengers only or just get rid of the stupid agency that began requiring gate passes to escort someone airside.

You know that airlines overbook flights to account for this sort of thing, right??

You may not like it, but with the way the TSA and airlines behave these days a typical and reasonable action such as escorting someone to or from the gate is now such a ridiculously inconvenient - and in some cases inaccessible - task to accomplish through their stupid rules.

So if I have a real reason to be at the gate I can either hope that the airline and TSA decide to cooperate or I can book a refundable ticket and know that they will cooperate. I have no qualms with that approach. You should've seen the look on Dave Barger's (CEO of JetBlue) face when I explained to him that I bought a refundable ticket just to see their new T5 on opening day. He didn't mind at all, though he was surprised that someone would go through that much effort to get there.

1) The whole point of a refundable ticket is that you're paying extra for the privilege of canceling with no penalty. A "small cancellation fee" would defeat that.

2) I am not the one who created the idiotic rules requiring a ticket and permission from the government in the form of ID/travel papers to get to the gate and forcing people to show up hours before their flight.

3) Buying and canceling a refundable ticket hurts nobody, particularly if you buy a ticket for the last flight of the night, print a boarding pass, and shortly thereafter cancel the ticket. The chances that someone will be denied travel as a result of this brief (1-2 hour) window are minuscule. And even then, it's more likely they would be denied cheaper travel than be denied travel at all, because many airlines are willing to sell full-fare tickets on nearly-oversold or actually-oversold flights.

Whenever I've bought a ticket for this purpose, I've bought a ticket on the latest available flight of the day and usually canceled it many hours before the actual flight.

OMG are you serious??? That is exactly the type of socialist idea that I fear is going to take hold in the current climate of bailouts and handouts and with the left gaining so much ground in the executive and the legislature. What would you have, the Obama TSA collect information on "purpose of trip" and conditionally dole out travel permission based on the worthiness of the trip? Who is going to be on the committee that makes those decisions? Will they give preferential treatment to women and minorities, since it doesn't matter if white men get to fly? Will it be the same committee that gets to decide if my wife gets a pap smear or my mom gets a mammogram under their future single-payer healthcare system?

Folks, this is exactly the kind of scary thing that the Dems could do with the infrastructure DHS/TSA has put in place. The justification could be "tough times," "reducing global warming," or "think of the children who aren't getting to see their divorced parents in the summer." Very very frightening for those of us that actually love liberty.

I see your point. But in my case, I'm not travelling on business but pleasure so if the flight was full, I'd just not purchase a ticket. When that person goes and cancels their ticket, that's a possible empty seat (providing there's was no-one on standby) on the plane that I could have occupied.

LOL... wow! Not sure what to say.

Air travel; it’s Serious Business.

Please allow me to repeat: Airlines oversell their flights to account for this type of activity.

I agree that airside access shouldn't be for ticketed passengers only. As long as you are able to clear security, you should be able to go. But I understand why they restrict it to ticketed passengers. There are some airports that are just so busy that it makes sense to only let those flying go through so as to not create more traffic.

REALLY??

The ridiculous inconvenience is a result of those who succeeded in flying planes with passengers into buildings. Do I like the TSA? No. Am I glad they are there? Yes... even if it really might be a false sense of security.

I think most airlines would provide gate/security passes to someone who wants to escort someone to the gate. Maybe they only issue it to someone who is taking an elderly/handicapped person or where a minor is traveling by themselves. Does TSA stop people from going through even though they have a pass from the airline?

Is 5 bucks really that big of a deal to someone that can afford to travel on a refundable ticket? I know the point of a refundable ticket. And while I agree that a small cancellation fee would defeat the refundable ticket idea, it would make a person think twice before booking a ticket just to get to the gate vs. someone who wants to buy a refundable ticket for legitimate travel (whether they make the trip or not). You're basically getting all your money back but a few bucks. To not have to deal with the high cancellation fees of $50-$100-$150 and receive a voucher for future travel... I think it's fair to say that the privelege of canceling without penalty would still be there cuz you'd still be getting a full refund (pretty much).

Like I said, I have no probs with people buying and canceling refundable tickets whether it is days ahead or 1 minute before the flight. It's when it's not for a legitimate reason... such just going to sit with someone at the gate. Just get a pass from the airline! But to each his own and this is my opinion (which I'm entitled to).

All that said, are we OT?

Yes, I still have this elderly person in a wheelchair. We've been waiting for you all to sort this out.

No... we addressed that! You should be able to get a pass from the airline. If you can't get one, don't all airlines offer free wheelchair service?

Last week I was flying from CLT to FLL. The wheelchair service person brought an elderly person to the gate and left her. Before she had brought her, there had already been a gate change announced. The poor little old lady had to walk it to the next gate which was only 3 gates away... but to a little old person who could barely walk, that's a long way.

Shouldn't she have made sure there were not gate changes before she left her? I have sympathy for elderly people because of my parents and would hate for that to have happened to my mom or dad.

My mother is 90 years old and I always request a wheelchair for her even though she could probably walk to the gate slowly but I have never been able to get a gate pass to accompany her at either BUR or LAX so YMMV.

I have had the same experience at LAX. I wanted to escort my mother-in-law to the gate who was on her 2nd only flight (well 3rd as she connected on the way) and is in her 60s and cannot speak ANY English (just Polish). I was not able to get a gate pass issued so sent her in a wheel chair. I followed her up to the security checkpoint and then tried to explain to her about taking out her boarding pass for the checkpoint (in Polish) when I was harassed by 5 TSOs wanting me to step further away from the checkpoint than I was (note I was already away and was NOT in the lines or anything). They also said dont worry we have people inside security that speak Spanish! I didnt know whether to laugh or cry at that statement/ignorance.

Next time I will buy a fully refundable ticket and not have to deal with asking an airline for any sort of assistance.

E

Even before the TSA, airport security screening stations would occasionally refuse people other than ticketed passengers, if the load was too high (too many people waiting for the number of screening lanes, sometimes due to equipment failure). Basically, they made the decision to prioritize passengers who might miss their flights if the line got too long over non-passengers meeting arriving passengers at the gate or whatever.

The problem with that back then was that many arriving passengers expected people to be able to meet them at the gate, so they would leave the plane and wait at the gate, while the person meeting them was not allowed to go through security screening, and no announcement was made to that effect to let the arriving passenger know that the person meeting them was outside of the security screening. But that was before cell phones were common; these days, if non-passengers were allowed through, but were sometimes blocked due to high loads, the arriving passenger and person s/he is meeting can contact each other by cell phone. Buying a refundable ticket in that situation just to get through security was not a realistic option because the arriving passenger might decide to exit the secured area while the person meeting him/her was in the ticket counter line, making it even more difficult to find each other.

Fully refundable ticket.

Don't beg the airlines or a Communist agency like TSA to "permit" you to go airside. Use your credit card and go airside whenever you damn well please.

My 83 year old mom had a great experience with Air Tran out of BWI. I got a gate pass no problem, the wheelchair man was helpful and waited while I helped her in the restroom, and the wheelchair guy was waiting for her at the destination airport as well. I recommend calling ahead for your escort gate pass, getting the wheelchair on the other end just so the traveler does not have to make decisions about how to get to the airport exit, and mailing the clothes back US mail so there is no baggage complication. Mom called me from her home that night and sounded so proud of herself about travelling "solo" -- you would have thought she had flown the plane!