Why wouldnt airlines let you change the passenger for a $200 change fee. Seams like it could be a revenue stream?

Because they'd rather get the $900 for the last-minute ticket...

It has to do with fare buckets and such.

Company knows they will need 5 tickets for new employee orientation from ZZZ-YYY Jan 8-12 but doesn't know who it will send yet. They buy tickets at the lowest price point let's say $250/ticket and books in generic names and then a few days before the list is finalized and they pay the $200 name change fee bringing the airfare to $450. At this point tickets are going for $550 if the company had to wait until it had names.

What model do you think the airline likes?

How about $200 plus difference in fare. I bought my sons frend a $1100 ticket to Maui and they bailed now I cant use the ticket only the friend can

Stop giving them these stupid ideas. They already raised the bloody change fee recently. How much more do you want them to scam you out of?

If a flight gets canceled, do I charge United a change fee to get rerouted?

Why are you so eager to hand them cash?

The most they should do is charge the different e of fares and do the name change. That extra 200 is just a ridiculously bad suggestion.

Now THAT is a great idea. I'll be using that next time, as well as my own "difference in fare" calculation.

Change the ticket to the cheapest OW/RT you can find, say $100 or less, pay the change fee $200 and the remainder will be issued into a vouchure that can be used by anyone. You are out the roughly $300 but at least you get an useable $800 vouchure.

doesnt some of this have to do with the tsa checks and whatnot on the tickets name?

this rule / limitation long predates TSA , airport security.
(yes there was a time when there was no airport security)

Imagine how easy it is to steal someone's ticket and change the name for $200...

Imagine scalpers.

An air ticket is a contract between the airline and the passenger. That's why there is a contract of carriage. Unfortunately, the norm in the US is not to not allow name changes at all. In Asia, you actually can, at least on some tickets (I think my last ticket on Thai actually allowed it to be done for ~$50).

Unfortunately, that's not going to help you. Even canceling the ticket won't help, as the credit generated will only be useable by the original passenger (at least, initially).

In the end, why they don't allow it doesn't really matter, unless you plan on legally challenging it.

My sister is actually going through something with Aeroplan - she recently changed her last name (including on documents, etc.), but booked the ticket using both of them. They are actually willing to let her pay the re-issue fee to have it changed - but she doesn't want to. We'll see where that ends up.

The issue only arises when you buy non-refundable tickets. If you choose to do so, that's your decision and you enter the contract with eyes wide open.

If you purchase a refundable ticket for someone who can't travel, all you do is cancel it, take your refund and buy a new ticket for the new pax.

Why is it that way? Because it is what consumers willingly agree to in order to save money overall even if they lose money once in a while.

I successfully talked a Southwest agent into changing a name on a ticket a few weeks ago. Had to change a first name from Dean to Konstantinos. They happily did it and charged me nothing. I was impressed!

No. The last thing I want to deal with is an unscrupulous agency purchasing tickets for popular flights they know will sell out way in advance and then scalping them to people who actually need them. The system as it stands now may not be great, but at least everyone is playing by the same rules.

Use a good travel agent. They got the hook ups to change for free with their airline sales reps. Its worth paying the extra service fee to be taken care of, believe me.