US Airways changes non-refundable policy!

[Ray Lozano]

US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!

They have finally followed the rest of the industry and loosened their
harsh policy on non-refundable tickets. See their press release at
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030913/dcsa001_1.html

I don't know if this will help my situation, but I want to thank the
more than 1,000 people who visited my web site since it went online on
last weekend.

--
Flyer beware!
Ray Lozano
http://www.usairways.tv

[mrtravel]

Ray Lozano wrote:

> US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!
>
> They have finally followed the rest of the industry and loosened their
> harsh policy on non-refundable tickets. See their press release at
> http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030913/dcsa001_1.html

You would have had to pay a change fee to use the tickets on a future
flight. This wouldn't have stopped you from buying the one way AA
tickets and losing your US return flights. You would have had to pay a
fee of probably $100-200 per ticket to have them credited on future
travel.

[Mark Hewitt]

"mrtravel" <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
> Ray Lozano wrote:
>
> > US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!
> >
> > They have finally followed the rest of the industry and loosened their
> > harsh policy on non-refundable tickets. See their press release at
> > http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030913/dcsa001_1.html
>
> You would have had to pay a change fee to use the tickets on a future
> flight. This wouldn't have stopped you from buying the one way AA
> tickets and losing your US return flights. You would have had to pay a
> fee of probably $100-200 per ticket to have them credited on future
> travel.


Thus meaning the aren't non-refundable tickets any more?

[mrtravel]

Mark Hewitt wrote:
> "mrtravel" <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...
>
>>Ray Lozano wrote:
>>
>>
>>>US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!
>>>
>>>They have finally followed the rest of the industry and loosened their
>>>harsh policy on non-refundable tickets. See their press release at
>>>http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030913/dcsa001_1.html
>>
>>You would have had to pay a change fee to use the tickets on a future
>>flight. This wouldn't have stopped you from buying the one way AA
>>tickets and losing your US return flights. You would have had to pay a
>>fee of probably $100-200 per ticket to have them credited on future
>>travel.
>
>
>
> Thus meaning the aren't non-refundable tickets any more?
>

They are still non refundable, but for a brief time some airlines had
made them unchangeable

If they were refundable and changeable, what would be the point of
buying more expensive tickets?

[Yaofeng]

mrtravel <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message news:<GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>...
> Ray Lozano wrote:
>
> > US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!
> >
> > They have finally followed the rest of the industry and loosened their
> > harsh policy on non-refundable tickets. See their press release at
> > http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030913/dcsa001_1.html
>
> You would have had to pay a change fee to use the tickets on a future
> flight. This wouldn't have stopped you from buying the one way AA
> tickets and losing your US return flights. You would have had to pay a
> fee of probably $100-200 per ticket to have them credited on future
> travel.

I don't understand why it stated the change to following the rest of
the industry. As far as I know, CO still has this policy that you
must comit to a change prior to departure. This means if you want to
change but haven't decided when to fly, you have to pay change fees
twice. The announced policy change is good. I hope CO follow suit.

[Mark Hewitt]

"mrtravel" <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:znL8b.7234$d_2.5407@newssvr25.news.prodigy.com...
>
> They are still non refundable, but for a brief time some airlines had
> made them unchangeable

I see. I thought non-fundable tickets meant the flight details were fixed
and no changes would be allowed and no refunds given. That was the case with
some domestic British Airways tickets I bought this year.

I believe my transatlantic tickets could have been changed for a £75 fee
however.

[Rosalie B.]

x-no-archive:yes
ychen@bmwe30.net (Yaofeng) wrote:

>mrtravel <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message news:<GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>...
>> Ray Lozano wrote:
>>
>> > US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!
>> >
>> > They have finally followed the rest of the industry and loosened their
>> > harsh policy on non-refundable tickets. See their press release at
>> > http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/030913/dcsa001_1.html
>>
>> You would have had to pay a change fee to use the tickets on a future
>> flight. This wouldn't have stopped you from buying the one way AA
>> tickets and losing your US return flights. You would have had to pay a
>> fee of probably $100-200 per ticket to have them credited on future
>> travel.
>
>I don't understand why it stated the change to following the rest of
>the industry. As far as I know, CO still has this policy that you
>must comit to a change prior to departure. This means if you want to
>change but haven't decided when to fly, you have to pay change fees
>twice. The announced policy change is good. I hope CO follow suit.

IIRC, the original change on USAir was because of their ongoing
bankruptcy. They cut to the bone everywhere they could, and this was
one way they could reduce losses.

Over the years, there have been changes in the non-refundable ticket
policies. It used to be (back in the late 90s) that if you bought a
ticket and got it cheaply because it was more than 60 days in advance
of the flight, that you could change the tickets in one of two ways
(this is what the policy was on AA at least). You could take a
voucher for no charge, or you could pay a fee (which gradually
increased from $50 to $75-$100) for the change.

I would often buy tickets in June for a trip in January or February,
and then in August there would be a brief period of time when the
tickets were a lot cheaper. Say I bought BWI to St. Thomas USVI
tickets that were $500 RT. And then in August I could get the same
tickets for $385 RT. It was worth the change fee to trade the $500
tickets in for the $385 tickets, even with a $50 or $75 change fee,
and if I was willing to take a voucher for the difference, I didn't
even have to pay anything for the change. (I would trade in the
tickets and buy new ones.)

So the airlines, which always said on the ticket policy section that
the tickets were non-refundable, started actually making them
non-changeable. That is once you bought a ticket, if you didn't use
it that meant that you'd thrown the money away. Because not only
would they not give you money back, but they wouldn't allow you to
change flights either. USAir started this idea - as I said it was
because of their bankruptcy.

And the other airlines said - hey - good idea - we'll do that too.
People quite naturally protested. It didn't matter if you were in an
accident on the way to the flight, or if you just decided not to show
up. So most other airlines relaxed this policy a bit.

As for the OP - he must have either had his head buried somewhere to
be so completely clueless or he is just a very nasty person. What he
has done is completely stupid (more so because he HAS traveled
recently) and his attempt to portray US Airways in a bad light for his
own hysterical reaction is inexcusable, and if *I* were US Airways, I
would think seriously about a lawsuit for libel.

grandma Rosalie

[Ray Lozano]

mrtravel <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223
@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com:

>
> You would have had to pay a change fee to use the tickets on a future
> flight. This wouldn't have stopped you from buying the one way AA
> tickets and losing your US return flights. You would have had to pay a
> fee of probably $100-200 per ticket to have them credited on future
> travel.
>

As I wrote in my letter to US Airways in August, I was fully prepared to
pay extra for any changes in my itinerary.

--
Flyer beware!
Ray Lozano
http://www.usairways.tv

[mrtravel]

Ray Lozano wrote:

> mrtravel <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in news:GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223
> @newssvr14.news.prodigy.com:
>
>
>>You would have had to pay a change fee to use the tickets on a future
>>flight. This wouldn't have stopped you from buying the one way AA
>>tickets and losing your US return flights. You would have had to pay a
>>fee of probably $100-200 per ticket to have them credited on future
>>travel.
>>
> As I wrote in my letter to US Airways in August, I was fully prepared to
> pay extra for any changes in my itinerary.

Then why didn't you pay for a ticket on the next US Airways flight
available after you got your birth certs?
When the US Airways person told you to talk to your travel agent, did
you ask to speak to a supervisor?

As I understood it, your TA talked to US and for $700, you could have
use the tickets on another flight. I think there was some confusion with
the TA on whether you could simply pay this fee and change your current
trip's flight. So, the question is, why did you end up paying for a new
ticket on a different carrier and not simply try to make a later US flight?>

[Ray Lozano]

Rosalie B. <gmbeasley@mindspring.com> wrote in
news:j647mvo1nm6pp5h9qsb53kl4v9vi80coih@4ax.com:

> x-no-archive:yes
> ychen@bmwe30.net (Yaofeng) wrote:
>
>>mrtravel <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
>>news:<GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>...
>>> Ray Lozano wrote:
>>>
>>> > US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!

[ cut ]

> As for the OP - he must have either had his head buried somewhere to
> be so completely clueless or he is just a very nasty person. What he
> has done is completely stupid (more so because he HAS traveled
> recently) and his attempt to portray US Airways in a bad light for his
> own hysterical reaction is inexcusable, and if *I* were US Airways, I
> would think seriously about a lawsuit for libel.
>
> grandma Rosalie

Rosalie,

You seem like a very knowledgeable traveler. Prior to August of this
year, the last international trip I took was in June of 2001.

I have admitted to making mistakes in several other posts, but that does
not excuse US Airways personnel for offering NO assistance to a paying
customer who expressed his willingnes to pay for changes to his
itinerary when options were available from the airline.

I have been called worse than stupid before, but I can assure you I am
not a nasty person. I am a fighter, though.

--
Flyer beware!
Ray Lozano
http://www.usairways.tv

[Rosalie B.]

x-no-archive:yes
Ray Lozano <raylozano@eudoramail.com> wrote:

>Rosalie B. <gmbeasley@mindspring.com> wrote in
>news:j647mvo1nm6pp5h9qsb53kl4v9vi80coih@4ax.com:
>
>> ychen@bmwe30.net (Yaofeng) wrote:
>>
>>>mrtravel <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
>>>news:<GCJ8b.194$hR2.28203223@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com>...
>>>> Ray Lozano wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > US Airways has seen the light! Hallelujah!
>
>[ cut ]
>
>> As for the OP - he must have either had his head buried somewhere to
>> be so completely clueless or he is just a very nasty person. What he
>> has done is completely stupid (more so because he HAS traveled
>> recently) and his attempt to portray US Airways in a bad light for his
>> own hysterical reaction is inexcusable, and if *I* were US Airways, I
>> would think seriously about a lawsuit for libel.
>>
>
>Rosalie,
>
>You seem like a very knowledgeable traveler. Prior to August of this
>year, the last international trip I took was in June of 2001.
>
>I have admitted to making mistakes in several other posts, but that does
>not excuse US Airways personnel for offering NO assistance to a paying
>customer who expressed his willingnes to pay for changes to his
>itinerary when options were available from the airline.
>
Yes it does. You made so many egregious mistakes that there was
nothing that they should have done. Maybe they COULD have offered
more help, but the fact that they didn't is really more your fault
than theirs.

>I have been called worse than stupid before, but I can assure you I am
>not a nasty person. I am a fighter, though.

Assuring ME that you are not a nasty person does not mean that I will
accept that. There's a difference between fighting for something that
right a wrong and fighting to avoid having to pay for your own
mistakes by bad mouthing someone else.

grandma Rosalie

[Dave Proctor]

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Whilst undoubtedly under the effects of alcohol, "Mark Hewitt"
<Mark@worldmotorsport.com> wrote:

>
>"mrtravel" <mrtravel@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
>news:znL8b.7234$d_2.5407@newssvr25.news.prodigy.com...
>>
>> They are still non refundable, but for a brief time some airlines had
>> made them unchangeable
>
>I see. I thought non-fundable tickets meant the flight details were fixed
>and no changes would be allowed and no refunds given. That was the case with
>some domestic British Airways tickets I bought this year.

No, that is "non-refundable, non-changeable", something totally
different to "non-refundable".

=========

Dave

Don't Drink Drive....
It's A Laundry Detergent

[Ray Lozano]

Rosalie B. <gmbeasley@mindspring.com> wrote in
news:buf7mv0nciv98ksq043ik58a28kejfgscc@4ax.com:

>>Rosalie,
>>
>>You seem like a very knowledgeable traveler. Prior to August of this
>>year, the last international trip I took was in June of 2001.
>>
>>I have admitted to making mistakes in several other posts, but that
>>does not excuse US Airways personnel for offering NO assistance to a
>>paying customer who expressed his willingnes to pay for changes to his
>>itinerary when options were available from the airline.
>>
> Yes it does. You made so many egregious mistakes that there was
> nothing that they should have done. Maybe they COULD have offered
> more help, but the fact that they didn't is really more your fault
> than theirs.
>
>>I have been called worse than stupid before, but I can assure you I am
>>not a nasty person. I am a fighter, though.
>
> Assuring ME that you are not a nasty person does not mean that I will
> accept that. There's a difference between fighting for something that
> right a wrong and fighting to avoid having to pay for your own
> mistakes by bad mouthing someone else.
>
> grandma Rosalie

So be it. Cheers.

--
Flyer beware!
Ray Lozano
http://www.usairways.tv