Almost every day I come across something in the travel industry that makes me wonder "why?" Some are good, some are bad, and some are just downright strange, so I figured I'd share a few of my favorites (again, some of these are good policies, which are actually more surprising than the bad policies, given…
Continue reading: 10 things in the travel industry I’ll never understand
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
The us airways rate desk is really ridiculous. One time I tried to book a first class ticket to Hong Kong through CDG and they quoted me ~$790 in taxes and fees. I was like since when have you started charging fuel surcharges.
UA give free SDC (actually a moving 24-hour window) for Premier Gold, as well as Platinum, 1K, and GS (for tickets issued after May 16, 2011)
Hilton also allows to do online checkin (within 24 hours of your arrival) and you can even select a room.
Alaska refunds - in general Alaska has a somewhat peculiar fare mechanism due to their route network. They don't really have (significantly) below-cost fares to just fill in some marginal seats like is often common for legacies. Adding up segments often leads to a fare comparable to their respective parts (e.g. I'd expect GEG-SEA + SEA-DCA ~= GEG-SEA-DCA, whereas SEA-EWR + EWR-BWI != SEA-EWR-BWI). Their full Y fare is often much lower than a legacy, and there's no 200 transcon in L/O. Given the lower spread of fares, there isn't as much that a traveler can game - fares are fairly constant and tend to go up over time fairly steadily.
Hilton does the e-check in also. Until they figure out how to make your cell phone your room key, I don't get the point.
Is it possible to book a room without a CC guarantee nowadays? If that is the case I can see why e-check in may be viable. So you room does not get given away.
@ Murphy -- I don't think so, though I'm curious, is it really beneficial to select a room? You never know for sure when the person will check out or when you'll arrive so I always appreciate when the hotel automatically allocates the best available room for me based on status (as I find good hotels to do), and then modifies that at check-in as needed based on availability.
At e-check in can you see if you have gotten an upgrade?
Without doing an e-check in I have looked at my existing reservations and seen an upgrade applied to room type keeping my original fare.
I believe this was for Priority Club.
I've had success calling to "confirm" my reservation and asking for upgrade prior to arrival.
Same flight number one-stop flights only get point-to-point mileage...even when you have to change planes. I don't get that at all.
Good tip on Alaska - I didn't know that applied to non-Alaska travel booked through them. Great to know!
Delta does #1 and #6 so that they can brag. "We are the only airline that does not charge close-in award fee and whose miles do not expire!! We are best in class!! We really value your loyalty!!"
I would swear I've booked a few hotels recently where you weren't required to enter a credit card, but they wouldn't guarantee the room past 6pm (or thereabout).
excellent articles ... but I think we're just reminding airlines to change their policies for the worse =_=
as UA Gold, the free SDC benefit is immense for me (esp since I don't have top tier status). If time permits, I could switch from nonstop to 1-stop to squeeze more PQM, or if my original flight is delayed, I could switch to one that's on-time.
Well the Hyatt web check-in is useful if you're arriving late for a really busy (sold-out) property - since you're already checked-in, chances of being walked are greatly reduced.
I don't know AA's program very well but the last time I did a change (to an earlier flight ORD-CVG since I arrived from HKG on CX "early") they charged me a $50 "change fee" but indicated that I wasn't an "elite" on AA (so my impression was that if I was - I wouldn't be charged).
Whoa...are you saying that as an MVPG, you could book a DL operated flight with a DL flight number (ie, not a codeshare) on alaskaair.com and be eligible for free changes? Does that include full cancellation and refund?
Delta tried both of those things, close-in fees and miles expiration. They still didn't make any money because the only people who can figure out how to cash out Delta miles are Plats who don't pay fees anyway, so they weren't leaving $75 on the table. They were just making people mad to no profit. That's how I remember it anyway...I guess it's been awhile.
@ Gene -- Yes, though it's not a refund but rather credit towards a future ticket.
@ Peter -- Sounds like you paid for standby and not for a confirmed change, no?
Hilton offers web check-in as well - i guess it's pretty cool that you can choose the room you want to check-in to.
@Gene/lucky - There needs to be at least one AS-operated segment on the PNR. Similarly, this has to be an AS fare (or the AS website won't show it).
Too bad AS sells DL-only tickets for a very few routes. It would be awesome if they sold my beloved SFO-ATL-SFO since I buy tons of these every year. If they sold that, I would work to keep my status-matched MVPG status!
Are there any tricks to force as.com to offer more DL or AA only tickets?
OK, so it seems tough or close to it for redeeming an award on Emirates through korean transferring UR?
@oleg -- I can find some AA-only (eg, SFO-JFK, SFO-LAX) and DL-only (eg, SFO-LAX) itineraries at alaskaair.com. Are you saying that these itineraries would not be eligible for the MVPG change/cancel fee waivers?
@ Manikandan -- Keep in mind you can only redeem Korean Air miles for travel on select Emirates routes. The booking process is the same as any other with Korean Air, and you have to call to book.
Reasons why AS doesn't charge MVPG's change fees:
1) To compete with WN, which doesn't charge change fees, and is a primary competitor on the west coast
2) It encourages elites to book on AS even if their plans aren't firm, so AS captures the business and/or gets an interest free loan until they travel
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but why does Hyatt not allow you to put your choice of airline program in your profile and select if you want points or miles? I'll take points usually, but this summer they had a Delta promo for earning up to 24,500 miles and I decided to go with that - the headaches associated with getting a front desk person to A) Know how to put my miles request in the computer and B) Getting credited the miles instead of points were both a hassle nearly every time. Also, why can I not book more than 2 rooms on line at a time? I'm pretty experienced at the travel game but am new this year to Hyatt (thank you diamond status match and credit card!) - so is it just me or are these two issues lame?
@lucky - I guess so - but was given the boarding pass with seat assignments right then - actually this was the 3rd change that I've done with AA - the other 2x were at YYZ (also in conjunction with a CX award) - once I was charged $50 , once I wasn't - not a big deal - and the times that I was charged, the flights turned into mileage earning flights.
Delta SkyMiles never expire because they know the odds are you'll never be able to use them!
@ Carl -- Great points.
@ Matt -- As far as your first question goes, agree it's ridiculous. Have to either give the info at check-in or call. Very frustrating!
@Gene - Good question, in practice finding tickets without AS segments there is so difficult, I have no first hand experience (I did recall hearing about the segment requirement). Official wording on the benefits page is "Waivers on Mileage Plan service charges and ticket change fees on your Alaska Airlines tickets (member only)." - presumably can call and ask, or send MP an email.
Lucky - Regarding Delta Skymiles not expiring: "loyalty" programs aren't so much about generating loyalty to an airline anymore - they're about generating significant revenue for the parent company, who sell miles to other companies who subsequently reward their own customers with those miles.
Having award miles in a bunch of dormant accounts potentially keeps a "Skymiles" customer (as opposed to a Delta customer) over the long term, and costs Delta next to nothing. The hope is that the more members they have, the more miles will get sold to companies who award them.
I actually think we'll see more of these non-expiring miles across other programs in the future - as well as more spun off programs, like Aeroplan.
Here's something that makes me figuratively scratch my head:
If something's going right and some airline is NOT screwing their passengers in some obscure way, why on earth would you publicly alert them through your blog? For example, "They're leaving $75 on the table!" That made me cringe.
How about just alerting your readers, and the various airlines that are doubtless monitoring what you have to say, about what is wrong and bad, which, from a rare flier's point of view, is almost everything?