What really irks me is having to pay the airlines $150+ fare difference to change a ticket or name on the reservation. What I can't get is why can't this fee be waived if I go and change it online?

I can understand paying the fare difference just like when you return an item to the supermarket and the item you want is more you pay the difference.

Here is what really irks me is the $150 fee was carried over from the old days of paper ticketing.

Now with computers all you do is modify your ticket or name on the reservation with a few keystrokes.

When I made a mistake on a nametag I printed for an event all I did was reprint it without charging a fee.

When I need to change my hotel reservation and I call before the deadline I don't pay a fee and I am fine with the rate change if there is a change. I let the hotel know in advance I don't need the room so they can resell it.

I think its pure extortion for an airline to charge $150 x4 for a family to change the fee yet waive it for premiere travelers. No one should be subjected to the change fee or booking with an agent. If you have a disability and cannot use the computer its discriminatory and against the ADA to charge a fee to make a reservation.

I think the Department of Transportation needs to stop this extortion. Let alone all first bags should be free and I can see the airlines charging for a second. That is fine because I always travel with one bag and one carryon.

If a passenger has a disability the fee for their bag should be waived over a premiere traveler because its hard for them to go through security. In fact the disabled traveler should have access to Priority Access lanes to expedite the process.

I think there is a clause in the ADA/Air Carriers Act that states that companies cannot charge more for travelers with special needs and reasonable accommodations shall be made. So a reasonable accommodation would be for the airline agent to make the reservation without a fee let alone the checked bag fee be waived.

I hate this outsourcing United Airlines does and why should we pay these outsourced people? I mean if they were American agents sure I will do anything to stimulate the economy but an agent who has a thick accent and having to wait over an hour on the phone and then be subjected to fees is quite nerving.

The agents are on the clock so why should we have to pay them extra as a tip to book us that is what they are supposed to do. The same goes for the baggage handlers why do we tip them more plus the fee? Why do we have to tip the curbside agent after being charged $25?

When I gave tours of a college campus as part of my job no one tipped me or even gave me a Starbucks Card and I did not ask for anything. One of the instructors gave me a giftcard after volunteering my services due to the budget cuts. But other groups with hard to manage students did not even think to buy me a pound of coffee for the hard work that I did for planning the tour. Some of the students were immature. Here I have to pay $25 to book a reservation? You could technically call my position as part of the service community but then its part of an educational institution.

I worked at Starbucks as part of a job training and they did not give me tips as a busperson who had to clean the messes of other people and the restrooms. Other people got the tips but not me. It does not matter who is paying me(the job experience program paid but even still I was owed the tips). I got so fed up after the end of the program and I walked into Starbucks around the country and world and did not tip the Barista as a punishment for not tipping me when I worked hard.

I have had my eye medication almost confiscated at the TSA checkpoint and they said you have to check your bag so off I went and I said if you don't wave the fee for my bag I will file a report with the FAA and local government. My eye medication is important and your lousy TSA agents made a fuss when I had the prescription from my doctor.

I need to take more liquids due to my eye condition in addition I need to have special dandruff shampoo and its so bloody expensive to replace it .Its not fair that TSA takes away liquids and then you are forced to buy it again thats extortion too. If I stole an item from a TSA agent I would be put in jail but they are allowed to confiscate my legal liquid. They need to have testers in all checkpoints to allow more than the 3-1-1. In fact its been so many years after 9-11.

Instead of wasting money why not force airlines to allow one free checked bag per person domestically and 2 internationally and then charge for more bags?

And must I tip the bartender in the lounge who happens to be the lounge attendant? I see in many clubs the lounge attendant has more than one hat. I think airlines should pay their employees equally.

Oh and the attendant who assists me expects a tip due to my disability. It should be extortion to require a tip for assistance. One attendant who left me in the rain and then failed to leave me where I wanted demanded a tip.

You don't tip the paratransit driver who takes your elderly mother to and from appointments. You don't tip the flight attendant for serving you alcoholic beverages but yet you tip the bar tender at a lounge where you pay your annual dues.

Whats your take?

its tough in the field....i agree w/you.....

I think you just want to use your disability to pay less than everyone else.

It's one thing to be accommodated, it's another to expect to pay less than everyone else.

[Unduly personalized text deleted by Moderator per FT Rules.]

So the barista loses out on her tip because you are unhappy with your job training program?

If you bought something, Starbucks made a profit and I'm sure they appreciated your business. But wow, you sure taught those Baristas a harsh lesson they will never forget.

The "nice" answer would be -

A bunch of entitlement-driven nonsense. I disagree with almost every word.

I would say that the ticket change fee is not about charging you what it costs to have a person make the change. From a different perspective, the airline is actually going above and beyond its obligation to you by allowing you to change the ticket for a fee. They could decide to not allow any changes at all, and you lose the value if you don't fly what you bought. So, with that in mind, the $150 is actually a voluntary option.

Rant=success. OP credibility=FAIL.

But he didn't even spell the word Rant correctly in the thread title...

Therefore Rant=Fail, credibility=Fail.

OP is further proof that post count doesn't correlate very well with the substance of posts.

OP - Although his various concerns suggest that he is an experienced traveler, simply did not spend 10 seconds to rethink what he wrote:

1. Ticket change fees are not a reimbursement to the air carrier for the cost of reprinting a ticket. Of course it doesn't cost the carrier $150 to make a change (and it wouldn't cost that much even if the carrier printed a paper ticket and mailed it as in the "old" days). However, OP is plain wrong. There are no change fees on air tickets unless he chooses to buy a discounted ticket which does not allow for changes. The change fee is not the cost of changing the ticket, it is a penalty for making a change after agreeing that you want a discount in return for not making changes. Put simply, who in their right mind would buy a full fare ticket if they could get the same for less.

2. OP's other concerns run the gamut between airline fees and socially acceptable norms. For instance, some air carriers charge a fee for using the curbside check and that fee is above and beyond the bag fee. It pays for the convenience of curbside checking. One cal always check at the counter.

3. Tipping people who help you is an accepted norm in the USA. Yes, we tip the shuttle driver for the hotel / car rental shuttle. No, we don't tip the FA. That's the way it is.

4. There are countries where tipping is not expected and it's easy to find lists on any number of travel sights. If that's what motivates OP, he should then look at the visa & work permit requirements for those countries and move to one. Or, participate in society here.

Regrettably this thread is a "Fail", but it is so because a relative number of posts ignore the basic FlyerTalk Rule to discuss the subject and not other members and to avoid personal attacks on other members.

The thread is now closed. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator.