One of the comparisons that the airlines are using regarding discounted tickets being like concert tickets..."use-em or lose-em" is rather one-sided. While I can understand the concept in it's simplest form, the one fact they are forgetting to mention in this comparison is that a concert ticket I can give to a friend or even sell if I am unable to use. Thus, this is no comparison at all and quite frankly it is insulting to me. I think that we should all set up scalping zones at the airports and begin to hawk our tickets for upcoming flights that we are unable to make....just think, a whole cottage industry could be born from this!

I'd loved your post so much that I fired off the following to USAirways:

I have just read about the new policy regarding non-refundable tickets. I am specifically interested in this statement from the website: "This change makes purchasing airline tickets like many other products that people buy for a specific date and time such as Broadway shows and sporting events. If you miss the event, your ticket isn't good for the next day," said Baldanza. "

This being said, as I can't use an upcoming USAirways ticket, I'd like to give it to a friend of mine, just as I would with a theatre ticket I can't use. Please honor your comparison and make this possible. Many thanks.

[This message has been edited by zrs70 (edited 08-29-2002).]

I'm waiting to see if airline people will really have the b*lls to tell a passenger bound for a relative's funeral, "Sorry, you'll have to pay $2000 for a new, full fare ticket to get to your mother's funeral. It's no different than if you had missed a baseball game!"

I too love the like a concert seat ticket thing.

Lets see, if I don't want to see the opening act and just the main act, I can show up late. Try using only the second segment of an airline ticket

I can give my ticket to somebody else if I can't use it. Try that with an airline ticket

I can sell my ticket if I have to, again can't do that with an airline ticket

I am 100% guaranteed a seat, when was the last time a concert was overbooked?

I have a decent variety of food and beverage choices, though it will cost me, it's my choice

I've never had a checked bag at a concert not be there when I went to get it

If I don't like the show, I can leave early, and come back again later

I can get a full container of soda, and don't have to beg for a plastic knife.

Security at concerts is much better then security at airports for catching stuff

I can leave my cell phone and pager on the entire show

I can park and get to my seat in about 5 or 10 minutes, without taking off my shoes

If there is a show I want to see, and there are still seats available for next week, I won't be paying fourteen times what somebody did two weeks ago to sit next to me.

That industry has already been born. It's called Priceline. (or Hotwire, as to your tastes). However, US Airways doesn't like the taste of realizing the true market value of their tickets, they've left those markets.

That analogy shows the simplistic mindset of those who are the mouthpieces of the airline. My three year old niece has a better grip on reality than these executives.

In line with the broadway show comparison, If I do miss the show and want to buy another ticket for later in the day I won't be charged ten times the price of the original.

Been there, done that, and yes they do have the b*lls to tell you that.

The airline was NWA, but luckily I was able to get a flight with Southwest. Although I had to go through each and every security precaution (it was after 9/11). I must have taken off my shoes about a dozen times.

Reminds me of the scene in the movie Airplane where they run past a scalper in the airport. He's calling out to passers-by, "I got smoking, non-smoking, by the aisle, by the window."

Just like concert tickets? If I am 30 min late to my flight, can I still sit through the remainder of the flight segment? At least at a concert or sporting event, you still get in when you are late.

If we are renting a specific seat, then that seat better earn FF miles, even if I am not on it! - assuming non-refund will still earn miles at all.

US meant to say that it has all the disadvantages of a concert ticket with none of the advantages. I hope this clarifies things.

and of course: concert ticket prices are posted, there are no hidden pricing schemes, and the published prices do not escalate prior to the show, when purchased from the ticket booth.

A) You have a decent variety of drinks on board an aircraft, more so than you do at your local fast food restaurant. The choice is yours.

B) And you would have to check your bag at a concert... why? I am not aware of arenas/stadiums/concert halls allowing bags at all, not even a holding place. Many stadiums would turn you away, bag and all.

C) Using another example US Airways used, a Broadway show.... you would never be able to leave and come back later, you leave, you lose. Anyone with theatre ettiquette would be able to agree.

D) Generally, you can get a full can of soda on board an aircraft, just ask. It may not be a container, they have no space for Big gulps, but a can would surely suffice. By the way, can't get a can on Southwest or JetBlue either without asking. As far as begging for a knife.... if they had one, you would get it, if they don't have one, no point in begging, wasting a lot of your time, aren't you? That's like going to a Broadway show and expecting them to provide you with something because you decided to not to bring your own. Wait, whatever would you need a knife for at the theatre anyway? Theatres and concerts don't allow outside food and drinks.

E) I hardly doubt security at a concert would be better able to detect what is detected at airports. Theatre's don't even have security checks. But, bet that would change if a terrorist were to hijack you and other patrons while watching the opera.

F) What theatre would allow you to leave your cell phone on? I take that back, you do have the option to silence it. However, when is the last time transmissions from your cell phone interupted a show. Okay, so it hasn't been entirely proven to have done that on board a plane, but then again, who would be willing to try it and test it. Get serious.

There are many comparisons to make in regard to concert/theatre tickets and airline tickets, not all would match up, they are two different things, after all. But when you buy a concert ticket, you aren't buying a contract with the venue or performers. When you buy a ticket from an airline, you buy a contract. You can't just scalp your will on to some passerby because you don't think you are going to die. There are legalities to be handled, like so much in life. Get used to it, if you haven't already done so. Life is not fair. Air travel is something you pay for, not something you earn, to do with what you like.

No, I have what they tell me I have, and it's not much. Any local concert or broadway theatre has a much larger selection

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B) And you would have to check your bag at a concert... why? I am not aware of arenas/stadiums/concert halls allowing bags at all, not even a holding place. Many stadiums would turn you away, bag and all.

And some have a secure area where you can leave the briefcase, laptop, etc and pick it up later, some have lockers. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't exhist

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C) Using another example US Airways used, a Broadway show.... you would never be able to leave and come back later, you leave, you lose. Anyone with theatre ettiquette would be able to agree.

Not true at all. If I'm at a broadway show and I want to go out for a smoke or a soda, I can do so, and return when I want. The only restriction is during the beginning of the first act when they penalize the late comers, but other then that you can come and go as you please, or with very little delay for a break. I wouldn't do it, but I could.

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D) Generally, you can get a full can of soda on board an aircraft, just ask. It may not be a container, they have no space for Big gulps, but a can would surely suffice. By the way, can't get a can on Southwest or JetBlue either without asking. As far as begging for a knife.... if they had one, you would get it, if they don't have one, no point in begging, wasting a lot of your time, aren't you? That's like going to a Broadway show and expecting them to provide you with something because you decided to not to bring your own. Wait, whatever would you need a knife for at the theatre anyway? Theatres and concerts don't allow outside food and drinks.

Continential's new policy is you have to ask for a knife for breakfast, it will save them $80,000 this year. There are many concerts that allow picnic baskets, coolers, and bottles of wine, again because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Even if itis in an arena instead of an outdoor one that may not let in the food, there are still plastic knives available without being made to feel you are responsible for the demise of the airline because you asked for a knife.

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E) I hardly doubt security at a concert would be better able to detect what is detected at airports. Theatre's don't even have security checks. But, bet that would change if a terrorist were to hijack you and other patrons while watching the opera.

I would tend to think the woman who carried the loaded gun through atlanta, the man with the knives in chicago, the shoe bomber guy, the woman who flew from upstate New York to White Plains with the loaded gun, the guy who boarded the Southwest flight with a loaded gun would all disagree with that, though none of them probably had a nail clipper. I would also venture that all of them would not have made it into a concert where they were checking people, because as sad as it is, the concert security people care about their job and are way more intelligent then the airport security people.

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F) What theatre would allow you to leave your cell phone on? I take that back, you do have the option to silence it. However, when is the last time transmissions from your cell phone interupted a show. Okay, so it hasn't been entirely proven to have done that on board a plane, but then again, who would be willing to try it and test it. Get serious.

Every theartre and arena lets you leave your telephones and pagers on. Exactly how many airplanes have been downed because of a cell phone or a pager being left on? Do you really believe they are all turned off all the time?

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There are many comparisons to make in regard to concert/theatre tickets and airline tickets, not all would match up, they are two different things, after all. But when you buy a concert ticket, you aren't buying a contract with the venue or performers. When you buy a ticket from an airline, you buy a contract. You can't just scalp your will on to some passerby because you don't think you are going to die. There are legalities to be handled, like so much in life. Get used to it, if you haven't already done so. Life is not fair. Air travel is something you pay for, not something you earn, to do with what you like.

Wrong again. This entire notion of it being a contract is bull. It's not a contract, I am buying a service. I agree to no terms, I sign nothing. The contract of carriage is 40 pages long, and there isn't any way an airline is going to say that in the 30 seconds they processed my transaction that they fully explained everything in that contract to me and I agreed to all of it. This notion of a contract will probably very soon be tested should United charge somebody for back to back tickets, and there isn't any way the airline will win. You can't have a contract if one party is not made aware of the conditions, and they never agree to them.

US Air started the comparison, saying it was the reason for some of the changes. You are right, there are many comparisons that can be made, and in most of them the broadway show or concert come out ahead. The new rules are there to screw people out of money, make flying more inconivinient, and cause people to fly other airlines that don't have silly rules like this, or not fly at all. The airlines will be committing suicide if the big six all commit to this over the weekend.

Lastly, my post was in jest, you take things way too seriously.



[This message has been edited by cordelli (edited 08-30-2002).]

This analogy with the concert ticket is laughable.

Some genius.

Does anyone remember that comparison " If airlines sold paint?".

That's more like it.