Do airlines even read their own rules before they post them?

by Janice Hough on March 4, 2009

Okay, we all know that a lot of airline fare rules don’t make sense.

But some of them don’t make sense more than others.

While American Airlines is far from the only culprit, witness their current rules display for a one-way fare from San Jose, California to Orange County, California:

CANCELLATIONS

TICKET IS NON-REFUNDABLE

NOTE- TICKET HAS NO VALUE UNLESS PASSENGER CANCELS TICKETED FLIGHT RESERVATIONS PRIOR TO TICKETED DEPARTURE TIME.

CHANGES

CHARGE USD 150.00 FOR REISSUE.

Then there is a bunch of airline-speak about the ticket having value towards a future ticket for up to a year, although the change fee still applies. And that changes to a higher fare mean the fare difference plus the change fee.

All fine, except, the fare is $99 one way.

So let’s see, if you remember to cancel or change the ticket if you aren’t taking the flight, you can pay a $150.00 penalty plus fare difference on a $99 ticket. But if you no-show the flight you lose the whole $99.

Glad they let us know.

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Tagged as: airline jokes, American Airlines, fare rules

  • Matthew B

    My travel agent explained to me that on the computer systems most airlines use, any ticket that is anything other than fully refundable is marked as non-refundable. This may mean what it says or it may mean that there is a charge for a refund or change. I recently got a refund (less $200 fee) for a business class ticket to Europe that was marked “non-refundable”. The software company probably needs to change that designation, but then it probably discourages most people from seeking a refund for low value fares.

  • Ann, CTC

    I like the tag on this – airline jokes.

  • Skip

    Hey Janice, I like that paraphrasing from “Animal Farm” in the beginning. Sets the tone for what is to follow, so well.

    As Alanis Morrisette once said, “How-ow appropriate…”

  • Bill

    Well..to be honest, I don’t have a lot of problem figuring that out and either did you. The fee is a standard one and in the case of the ticket being cheaper than the change fee, one should not choose the change fee.

    Maybe the airline is doing an experiment to see how much attention people are paying!

  • The man who notices things

    How do you know an airline representative is lying?

    Their lips are moving.

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