The problem with airlines!!

On Mar 26, 6:51 pm, john_k...@m (John Kulp) wrote:
> A typical rant of an uniformed passenger.  Basically, he obviously
> bought a cheap advanced fare subject to the very conditions he is now
> moaning about.  If he didn't want that, he could have bought an
> restricted fare.  He didn't want to do that so he bought the cheapo
> one and wants it treated like a higher price restricted one.  That's
> all that's going on here.


I may not know everything about the airlines I do know that a
refundable economy ticket for my itinerary was only $1100. I could by
three of the economy tickets I purchased for that amazing price. All
I am saying is that sometimes plans change don't try to take every
last cent I have to make a change. Please tell me what is wrong with
my solution. A one way ticket for my flight home is currently at
$217. You add that to the $50 I pay them to change my ticket they
just made $267 that would not normally have made. That scenario is
considering that my flight home is full. Which right now the flight I
want has a lot more seats available then my flight home. So I ask you
how is the airline losing in this situation. Even if they don't sell
my seat they just made $50 more than they otherwise would have. I
also should state that I don't have to be home early, so I don't have
to leave early. Last point with the above scenario, they will still
make their money off of people who want a confirmed seat. So I
appreciate the post from you, the informed passenger.

>
> And if they allowed people to do that, why would anyone buy an
> unrestricted ticket at the higher price?

That is a good point. But I really wonder how many people buy the
unrestricted tickets anyway.

On Mar 26, 9:27 pm, john_k...@m (John Kulp) wrote:
> On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:08:53 -0700 (PDT), kyle051...@ wrote:
>
> >> And if they allowed people to do that, why would anyone buy an
> >> unrestricted ticket at the higher price?
>
> >That is a good point.  But I really wonder how many people buy the
> >unrestricted tickets anyway.
>
> Those that want to be able to change them at any time.

I said how many, not who buys them. But you are right those that want
to change it at anytime can pay 3x more than what I paid for my
ticket. What a deal...

>
> >I said how many, not who buys them.  But you are right those that want
> >to change it at anytime can pay 3x more than what I paid for my
> >ticket.  What a deal...
>
> Then why are you complaining if you got such a great deal.  You're the
> one reneging on the deal not UA.

Apparently you have never heard of sarcasm. I don't think I got a
great deal but that was the market at the time not much you can do
about it. Not sure where you get greedy. I think frugal or I am sure
you will say cheap. I can't just throw money around, apparently I am
not rich like you. I like deals as most people do and I don't like to
get screwed. In MY opinion they are trying to screw me. I choose not
to get screwed, because I have a choice this time.

As far as your other comment. Just because they sell the lowest fare
on their website does not mean it is a deeply discounted fare.
Apparently you do not travel much. Getting a deeply discounted fare
(by your defintion) is all luck of the game and I guess, your
defintion of a discounted fare. Prices change all day long for your
information. Again, I understand they are a business but that doesn't
mean they need to kill you with their fees. Yes according to you I
gave up the choice when I went for the "deeply discounted ticket" in
your words. But, they will let me change my ticket just take it to ya
when you do it.

On Mar 27, 1:42 am, "Mr. Travel" <mtra...@a.a> wrote:
> kyle051...@ wrote:
>
> > As far as your other comment.  Just because they sell the lowest fare
> > on their website does not mean it is a deeply discounted fare.
>
> You stated the full fare was over 3 times the price you paid.
> What amount of discount do you think would qualify as "deeply discounted"?
>
> You got a discount. I would guess there were multiple available fare
> choices for the same flights in economy, not just the one you chose and
> the highest priced one.

If you mean the no restriction fare as the full fare then I guess I
received a deeply discounted ticket but then I guess 98% of the
passengers received a deeply discounted fare. To me a discount is
off of what an average person would pay. I do not consider, nor do
many other people consider a no restricted fare as a normal fare. How
can it be the fare you base your savings on if a very, very small
percentage of the passengers on that flight use it. I paid $350 for
my roundtrip ticket about a week later I saw it for $279. That is a
discount. Like I said above getting a deeply discounted ticket is
luck of the draw. It has nothing to do with me going to the airlines
website and because their website says it guarantees the lowest price
that I received a good deal. I may have received the lowest price
that hour but doesn't mean overall I received a smoking deal. The
$279 was a smoking deal. To clarify I am not complaining about the
purchase price, I am complaining at the way the airlines try to sock
it to ya if your schedule happens to change.

Here is the problem I have. I just looked at priceline to see what I
could get a one-way ticket for $115 and that includes all taxes and
fees (this was not a name your price fare, I could book this today for
that price). I can get a cheaper ticket going elsewhere then with the
company I originally got my ticket from. If I go with UA and pay all
of their ridiculous fees, they not only get that they will also get
the money from selling my seat on my original flight. All this and I
can get a one way ticket on another airline for cheaper then what they
are quoting. That is great customer service. Makes me want to keep
flying UA. And yes I know than I should buy the ticket off priceline,
which is probably what I am going to do.

Well, let me tell you how this ends. I called up United to tell them
that I could get a ticket cheaper from another airline and asked what
would happen if I cancelled my flight home. They told me they would
refund the ticket price of the one way and then take off $100 for the
change fee when I use it for a later flight. I would have ended up
receiveing like $20. She than told me she would be willing to charge
me the $100 for the change fee but send me a $100 voucher to use
within the next year. That is what I wanted from the beginning,
someone who was willing to work with me on the situation and not
charge me up the wazoo. All the other representatives said that there
was going to be a difference in fare charge for any flight I picked on
the day I wanted to go home. This lady said what time would you like
to fly home and I will see what I can do. This is what I am talking
about, talking to someone who actually acted like they cared and
wanted to try and fix the situation. This is what i don't get, I
talked to 3 different people today and she was the only one that was
willing to do that. If any of the other representatives would have
offered that I would have been very happy and it is a win-win
situation. They get their $100 change fee, I get a $100 voucher that
I have to use on United which means they still have my business.
Isn't that what they wanted in the first place, is to keep my
business. It amazes me how much different each call can be as far as
the willingness to help out customers. Well persistence pays off. I
wish the first lady was as helpful as the last. Anyways, appreciated
your comments. I will check back to see the comments on how it ended.

So good to hear from you John, I will just touch on all of your
insightful posts here.

>Good. And don't forget to tell them what you think you should really
>be paying for their ticket when you do.

Not sure what you mean by that. I never argued about the price of the
ticket, but it looks like you have a hard time reading and
comprehending.
If my ticket was non-refundable, non-changeable why does every airline
allow you to do it. I understand there are fees involved but once
again, in MY opinion I think it is horrible customer service to tell a
PAYING customer "deeply discounted ticket or not" we will let you
change your ticket however we are going to charge more than what you
can go to our competitor and buy the same ticket for (and that is how
we value you as a customer by charging you more). If you think that
is good business skills please tell me what business you are in and I
will make sure I don't buy anything from you (not that I would anyway)
but you get the point (don't you). My feeling is you should help out
those customers that already paid you money, and charging me almost
double what I can get a ticket for from another airline is poor form.

I know according to you I have this great fantasy about the airline
paying for my ticket and buying me lunch when in reality I wanted to
be treated like a paying customer. I finally was and am happy. You
on the other hand live in your rich world driving around in your
beamer, living in your big house and throwing money here and there
without a second thought. Well, good for you. I am graduate student
with a new little baby and can't be throwing money around like that.
So, if I can save a few bucks than yes that is what I am going to do.
Again, I did not have to leave early but thought it would be nice to
get home a few days earlier. The first two agents weren't helpful the
last one was and like I said acted like she cared about my situation
and found a solution that was beneficial for both parties.

>You are just completely naive then. Businesses are attempting to
>maximize their profits for their shareholders. They do what makes
>sense to do that. The reason they allow changes if you pay for them
>is, well, you PAY for them. It makes them more money. Got it yet?

Did you see how well they were maximizing their profits, I was going
to fly out on a different airline and they were going to lose my
business. How is that maximizing their profits? Got it yet!!

>You were treated like a paying customer. You got what you were
>entitled to and agreed to when you bought your ticket. Your babbling
>about not throwing around money is irrelevant. You will make someone
>a fine employee some day, as you no doubt think you can take from your
>employer whatever you think is fair. As for what you got, they no
>doubt had put notes in your record saying something like "this nut has
>taken up so much of our time and is costing us so much to endlessly
>explain to him why he should stick to his agreement with us that just
>give him something to get rid of him and go on to rational
>passengers." Or maybe she will get fired for violating UA's rules.
>Who knows. Let me tell you how much sympathy I have for cheapos that
>don't want to live by their agreements. NONE.

Will you please tell me where in my fare rules it says "If you change
your flight we are going to charge you MORE than what you can get the
same ticket for on another airline. When this happens we expect you
to be grinning from ear to ear and give us no grief.and open up your
wallet. Thank you for your understanding"

Not sure why throwing money away is irrelevant. You obviously have a
lot and have no problem paying ridiculous fees. Good for you. You
are why they keep charging these ridiculouos fees, you have no sense
of what a buck is worth. I bet your parents paid for everything when
you were growing up. It must have been nice to be rich.

Please answer this one question. Do you think it is good business to
charge someone almost double for something when they can go to a
competitor for cheaper?

I hardly want your sympathy. My reason for this post is I was
irritated about the ridiculous fees. Again if you think paying twice
as much for a ticket in not ridiculous then that is your opinion. The
highly competitive airline industry is apparent as when I told them I
could get a flight home for less than what they were offering they
came up with a solution. Amazing how that works. Please save your
sympathy for someone who cares.

On Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:08:53 -0700 (PDT), kyle051777@ wrote:

>
>>
>> And if they allowed people to do that, why would anyone buy an
>> unrestricted ticket at the higher price?
>
>That is a good point. But I really wonder how many people buy the
>unrestricted tickets anyway.

Those whose plans change a lot..if you need maximum flex, you buy
refundable/changeable tickets...I buy them sometimes when I am not
sure if a particular date and time will be cast in stone.

You wiegh the cost/benefit of the higher prices vs. buying a locked in
ticket. If at the last moment I have a change in plans, the fully
refundable/changeable one paid off big time. Sometimes the el cheapo
is better and you just eat the ticket price as the new one and the old
one are less than the cost of the fully refundable one...this is what
adults do: Make informed, rationald ecisions based on their needs.

Don't think of the deeply discounted tickets as the "normal" price
even though that's what everyone wants. Overall, ticket prices at
most levels are still incredible bargains compared to thirty years
ago.

I recently flew LAX to FRA for almost half what I paid to fly the same
route in 1980! For that price, I don't expect to be able to change
the date or get a refund for free.

JIm P>

>
> And your reasoning is not sound. You say that if you pay them $50 and
> go on an earlier flight then they can sell your original seat for a
> flexible fare price and you both win. That is not the case. What if
> the earlier flight's cheap seats are already sold out? Then the
> airline is losing money by selling it to you for $50 plus your
> original fare when they could be getting 3 times that amount of money.
> What happens if your original flight is not in demand and they cannot
> sell your seat again?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Well, I disagree. I checked the flight that I was scheduled on and
the flight I wanted to get on and the flight I was originally booked
on had less seats available then the flight I wanted to go on. So, my
original flight was in more demand than the one I wanted to change to,
therefore they would have an easier time trying to sell my seat than
the seat I wanted to get. I realize this is not always the case but
that is why I found this particular flight. It didn't really matter
what time I flew home so I was able to be flexible. So, I highly
doubt they are going to have a problem selling my seat.
Thanks for your reply,
Kyle