http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/outrageous-change-fee/ Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott's site. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/outrageous-change-fee/comment-page-1/#comment-51859 HS Sun, 31 Oct 2010 17:43:05 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/outrageous-change-fee/#comment-51859 The comments here prove one thing. That many people who complain about something don't understand what it is that they are complaining about. You should consider that before condemning a business practice. As in the above example, one person complained about paying $273 to switch flights, when the policy was to simply pay the full fare because they don't allow standby. Just like the person who was surprised at paying $7 for the change. The amount of "cost" for a change on Southwest is based on the originally purchased ticket and the newly purchased ticket. Period. There are no fees. I'm not defending Continental, but at least the fee is straightforward. Could they be more flexible? Probably. But to condemn them for sticking to their rules is wrong. Otherwise, you'd better be happy when an airline treats people differently "just because they feel like it" as opposed to treating everyone the same. The comments here prove one thing. That many people who complain about something don’t understand what it is that they are complaining about. You should consider that before condemning a business practice. As in the above example, one person complained about paying $273 to switch flights, when the policy was to simply pay the full fare because they don’t allow standby. Just like the person who was surprised at paying $7 for the change. The amount of “cost” for a change on Southwest is based on the originally purchased ticket and the newly purchased ticket. Period. There are no fees. I’m not defending Continental, but at least the fee is straightforward. Could they be more flexible? Probably. But to condemn them for sticking to their rules is wrong. Otherwise, you’d better be happy when an airline treats people differently “just because they feel like it” as opposed to treating everyone the same.

]]> http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/outrageous-change-fee/comment-page-1/#comment-21902 chris Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:10:57 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/outrageous-change-fee/#comment-21902 I find that hard to believe from southwest,...i changed my ticket the night before i was supposed to be leaving for a few days later and guess what? it cost me only $7. YES 7,...seven,...7 bucks thats it! i've alwasy flown southwest except this month i flew continental to see how they are and i wanted to change a flight to a week later and the ticket cost 120,...they wanted to charge me 150 for a change fee, and another 159 for the NEW ticket price. ARE YOU SERIOUS????????? said the hell with it and will never fly continental again! you can count on that!!!! I find that hard to believe from southwest,…i changed my ticket the night before i was supposed to be leaving for a few days later and guess what? it cost me only $7. YES 7,…seven,…7 bucks thats it! i’ve alwasy flown southwest except this month i flew continental to see how they are and i wanted to change a flight to a week later and the ticket cost 120,…they wanted to charge me 150 for a change fee, and another 159 for the NEW ticket price. ARE YOU SERIOUS????????? said the hell with it and will never fly continental again! you can count on that!!!!

]]> http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/outrageous-change-fee/comment-page-1/#comment-16661 Yu Shan Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:09:54 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/outrageous-change-fee/#comment-16661 Regards to Tonya above a year late. Southwest to their credit doesn't charge a change fee. What you paid was their price difference between a walk up fare and what you paid. In all fairness Southwest never charged you a the $274 to change the ticket. They charged you $274 the "difference" in fare because they don't do standbys for earlier flights unless there is a delay. Regards to Tonya above a year late. Southwest to their credit doesn’t charge a change fee. What you paid was their price difference between a walk up fare and what you paid. In all fairness Southwest never charged you a the $274 to change the ticket. They charged you $274 the “difference” in fare because they don’t do standbys for earlier flights unless there is a delay.

]]> http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/outrageous-change-fee/comment-page-1/#comment-9605 Tonya Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:40:56 +0000 http://beta.elliott.org/photos/outrageous-change-fee/#comment-9605 If you want to hear about an outrageous change fee, you should check out Southwest Airlines. I purchased a round trip ticket for $202 to travel on 2/14 from Chicago to Houston, TX leaving out at 8:00 pm. I got off work early and got to the airport in time to make the 2:15pm flight. Though there were at least a dozen empty seats on the flight, SouthWest told me that I had to pay an additional $273 to fly out six hours early. I have the receipt to prove it. $25, $50 or even $100 would have been preferable to $273! If you want to hear about an outrageous change fee, you should check out Southwest Airlines. I purchased a round trip ticket for $202 to travel on 2/14 from Chicago to Houston, TX leaving out at 8:00 pm. I got off work early and got to the airport in time to make the 2:15pm flight. Though there were at least a dozen empty seats on the flight, SouthWest told me that I had to pay an additional $273 to fly out six hours early. I have the receipt to prove it. $25, $50 or even $100 would have been preferable to $273!

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