Comments on: Why won’t airlines follow their own change rules?

By: nadabrainiac

nadabrainiac — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:44:26 +0000

Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. The airline gets criticized for imposing fees, then the airline gets criticized if an employee exercises some latitude as a courtesy to a customer. For whatever reason; color, cleavage, mood or manner, different people get different treatment and breaks. Rules are good guidelines, but we all get and give special treatment to others. If that’s an uncomfortable reality, be sure to argue with the next policeman that offers to let you off with a warning. Demand your citation!

By: John.M

John.M — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:19:42 +0000

“Nonetheless, and by my experience, the reason passengers are turning to the airlines for reissues is because most travel agents nowadays don’t know how to reissue a ticket, and they are too lazy or scared to do it.”

I find this really hard to believe since most travel agents I know, not only know how to do ticket exchanges but do lots of them. As for being scared to do them, I can understand that given that the airlines debit them for anything and everything, even things that are permitted by the airlines own rules. Travel agents have to go back, research what happened, document it and then submit the evidence back to the airline and hope, and yes, it’s hope, that the airline will honor their own rules.

I know the agent in our travel department has been fighting a debit memo from an airline here for the last several months. The debit is, as I understand it, for taking a discount on a fare that the airline priced based on our corporate contract. The airline admits that the contract is valid and would apply but it seems that the airline’s accounting system cut off the last digit of some code that is required for the discount and thus it is our agent’s fault.

I’ve worked with a lot of agents over the years and I’ve never known any that I would accuse of being lazy. Now I can’t say that about some of the airline employees I’ve dealt with in the last couple of years.

By: vacationagent

vacationagent — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:12:19 +0000

Airport agents have significant authority to make changes for passengers who are standing in front of them. If I have attempted without success to get an airline to waive a rule or fee for me, I always advise my clent to try to finesse it at the airport but to be prepared to pay. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

As for airline agents not getting debit memos, Some airline agents get “error” memos when they waive fees, etc.

By: c. november

c. november — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:56:46 +0000

What you are not taking into account is that airline agents work for the airline, and thus may be pondering different issues when waiving rules. For example, if a change will move a passenger from a badly overbooked flight into a half-full flight, waiving a fee or fare diff is worth it.

Sometimes, also, airport agents are just too lazy to consider all the different rules, and, you see, they’re not getting a debit memo for being lazy.

Nonetheless, and by my experience, the reason passengers are turning to the airlines for reissues is because most travel agents nowadays don’t know how to reissue a ticket, and they are too lazy or scared to do it.

By: Barry

Barry — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:04:17 +0000

I have to agree with the writer, travel agents serve a dual role, agent for the consumber and agent for the airlines. Since travel agents are governed by the airline rules, the airline should abide by there own written rules each and every time, however that is seldum done, why? Because few of the airline own personal understand there rules. It is easier for personal to avoid the rule rather then understand the rule and make the proper change and collect the fee.

The agent however is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The consumer wants the least expensive way to make the change, the agent does want to accomplish this for there clients, however the airline penaltizes them if they make a simple mistake on the change whereas they do nothing to there own staff.

Every ticket should have the same rules applied no matter what or who they are.

By: Janice Hough

Janice Hough — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:22:37 +0000

No question that Elite status helped, but the airline saw the record and knew he was Elite when I called the help desk. Still wouldn’t let me do it. (And usually, only $40.)

By: Why won't airlines follow their own change rules? « EMALLY

Why won't airlines follow their own change rules? « EMALLY — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:49:21 +0000

[...] Read more from the original source: Why won't airlines follow their own change rules? [...]

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:24:38 +0000

Witness two cases this week in point:

The first were two people traveling to Paris about in a little over a week. The wife called and asked what it would take to change her return. The fare rule, which I verified with United, stated a $250 change fee, but that any changes made prior to departure required the fare to be recalculated, so that the travelers would pay the new fare plus the penalty.
They decided not to pay the higher fare, but the husband, an elite frequent flier member, called to check with United to see how much return space was available, to better judge their chances. The agent on the phone offered to change it for him for simply the fee. Which, of course, he accepted.
=====================================================

You THINK his ELITE STATUS had anything to do with it????

And, it should.

Bother way, HOW MUCH is your “service fee”?