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How Does Airline Ticketing Work
Another of the things I thought everyone knew.
I make no apologies for how it works this isn't my fault, I don't work for them, I'm just trying to explain how it does work. Don't complain or whine, "But that's a stupid way to do it," I've got no power over this. The only people who have power over this are the people who buy airline tickets and politicians who can write laws the airlines have to obey. So until the airlines start taking a big hit because people refuse to use their service because of the rules or enough people complain to their congress critter it isn't going to change.
There are two parts to a ticket on an airline. First part is the reservation and the second is the ticket. It is possible to hold a reservation without purchasing a ticket, however it will almost undoubtedly cost more to purchase later rather than now so almost no one does this anymore, usually the price increases right until the day the flight leaves. A reservation does not guarantee that a person will get from point A to point B at a particular time, it just means that if conditions permit the airline will take you at that time from point A to point B. This means that if a flight is canceled due to weather the passenger is only owed a refund according to the way the ticketing agreement is written.
However if the flight is overbooked, 126 people for 125 seats for example, the airline will try to get one of them go on a later flight in exchange for something like a travel voucher. Why? Because if everyone refuses to give up their seat the person who is not given a seat is owed a penalty (as much $400) AND to be booked on the next available flight to his/her destination or a full and immediate refund no matter what the conditions of the ticket were. Reference. This is why airlines behave as they do in regards to reservations, they will not kick someone off a flight because they'll owe a great deal of money to the person kicked off. The exception is if a person arrives at the gate with less than 10 minutes until departure. At that point the seat will be given to another paying passenger, such as one who missed an earlier flight, in all cases. Most airlines require passengers to be at the gate earlier, for example Continental starts reassigning seats at 20 minutes until departure. In a few cases it is as much as an hour before departure. It ought to be more clearly explained and easier to find out exactly what time passengers must arrive, but I do not know of any simple way to check other than reading the fine print when buying the ticket.
The bottom line is that if someone is traveling at a loaded time of year, such as around Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Spring Break (to certain destinations in the last case) then the seat will not be there for you if you arrive to the gate with less than 10 minutes until the plane is going to push back from the gate or even earlier. Don't be late.
When a passenger misses his/her flight (for whatever reason) he still has a ticket. Depending upon who or what is at fault and the type of ticket there are going to be different provisions made.
Most tickets sold these days are non-refundable ones and are less expensive than fully refundable tickets, but you will have more trouble if you miss your scheduled flight. Non-Refundable doesn't mean completely non-refundable in most cases. It just means that there will be a fee for canceling or changing the reservation associated with the ticket in addition to any additional cost. Most airlines have a policy that there is a small fee or no fee to wait for a later flight to the same destination later in the day. But it the flights are full up it is going to be more expensive. This does not apply if you missed a flight due to a mistake made by the airline or due to weather. In those cases the airline will get you to your destination with no additional fee, eventually. But it could take a great deal of time at a bad time of year for travel, such as around Christmas. My advice on traveling home for the holidays: DON'T DO IT.
If you do travel on non-refundable tickets close to the holidays travel directly to your destination if at all possible. It is also a bad time of year weather wise and it is a lot better being stuck in your home town than halfway to where you were going. Plus it is going to be easier to get a refund if your flight is canceled. Always, always, always check to see if your flight is still departing as scheduled 72 hours before you leave and then again right before you physically leave for the airport. If for some reason you are traveling and stopping off before you reach your destination to switch planes or whatever and you miss your connecting flight then you are owed a hotel and meals if it is the airline's fault. If it is weather related the usual policy is: Them's the breaks. You could be stuck sleeping in an airport, if the airport will even let you do that. Or spending a night in a hotel in Jersey (I've had to do this, it sucks.)
Fully refundable tickets are pretty much fully refundable. Almost to the last minute you can decide, "Oh, no I don't want to go after all." Check the rules on the ticket, of course. And once you're trying to get to where you are going all changes are made without additional fees, just the difference in the fare. So you could at the last minute decide that you'd rather go to a whole different city. The airlines don't quite treat people with fully refundable tickets as gods, but they're a great deal more easy going with them. If one misses a flight, hey no problem, we'll put you on the next one even if it is tomorrow. With the exception that they're not going to severely overbook a flight.
The only other thing that can be done to prevent heartache and loss due to travel problems is to buy travel insurance. Insurance is a scam and a rip off, but is shows how much more airlines would have to charge if everything was fully refundable and paid for in case of bad weather or whatever.
Also note that with the "majors" (United, Continental, Northwest, etc.) most of them will not let a person complete the rest of his or her flight plan if they miss the first leg. So if you miss your flight out of podunk wherever and then bust your butt to get to the major city ahead of the next leg of your trip departing you won't be able to get on. Unless you call ahead and someone feels really nice.
Sometimes if airlines workers do have discretion to waive things. Sometimes not. It is more common at the small carriers than the big ones. But if a customer is being a prick or yelling usually the employee is going to see absolutely no reason to bend the rules or use what little power he or she has.
And that's what I know about tickets. Some other time I'll talk about the issues with baggage.
I make no apologies for how it works this isn't my fault, I don't work for them, I'm just trying to explain how it does work. Don't complain or whine, "But that's a stupid way to do it," I've got no power over this. The only people who have power over this are the people who buy airline tickets and politicians who can write laws the airlines have to obey. So until the airlines start taking a big hit because people refuse to use their service because of the rules or enough people complain to their congress critter it isn't going to change.
There are two parts to a ticket on an airline. First part is the reservation and the second is the ticket. It is possible to hold a reservation without purchasing a ticket, however it will almost undoubtedly cost more to purchase later rather than now so almost no one does this anymore, usually the price increases right until the day the flight leaves. A reservation does not guarantee that a person will get from point A to point B at a particular time, it just means that if conditions permit the airline will take you at that time from point A to point B. This means that if a flight is canceled due to weather the passenger is only owed a refund according to the way the ticketing agreement is written.
However if the flight is overbooked, 126 people for 125 seats for example, the airline will try to get one of them go on a later flight in exchange for something like a travel voucher. Why? Because if everyone refuses to give up their seat the person who is not given a seat is owed a penalty (as much $400) AND to be booked on the next available flight to his/her destination or a full and immediate refund no matter what the conditions of the ticket were. Reference. This is why airlines behave as they do in regards to reservations, they will not kick someone off a flight because they'll owe a great deal of money to the person kicked off. The exception is if a person arrives at the gate with less than 10 minutes until departure. At that point the seat will be given to another paying passenger, such as one who missed an earlier flight, in all cases. Most airlines require passengers to be at the gate earlier, for example Continental starts reassigning seats at 20 minutes until departure. In a few cases it is as much as an hour before departure. It ought to be more clearly explained and easier to find out exactly what time passengers must arrive, but I do not know of any simple way to check other than reading the fine print when buying the ticket.
The bottom line is that if someone is traveling at a loaded time of year, such as around Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Spring Break (to certain destinations in the last case) then the seat will not be there for you if you arrive to the gate with less than 10 minutes until the plane is going to push back from the gate or even earlier. Don't be late.
When a passenger misses his/her flight (for whatever reason) he still has a ticket. Depending upon who or what is at fault and the type of ticket there are going to be different provisions made.
Most tickets sold these days are non-refundable ones and are less expensive than fully refundable tickets, but you will have more trouble if you miss your scheduled flight. Non-Refundable doesn't mean completely non-refundable in most cases. It just means that there will be a fee for canceling or changing the reservation associated with the ticket in addition to any additional cost. Most airlines have a policy that there is a small fee or no fee to wait for a later flight to the same destination later in the day. But it the flights are full up it is going to be more expensive. This does not apply if you missed a flight due to a mistake made by the airline or due to weather. In those cases the airline will get you to your destination with no additional fee, eventually. But it could take a great deal of time at a bad time of year for travel, such as around Christmas. My advice on traveling home for the holidays: DON'T DO IT.
If you do travel on non-refundable tickets close to the holidays travel directly to your destination if at all possible. It is also a bad time of year weather wise and it is a lot better being stuck in your home town than halfway to where you were going. Plus it is going to be easier to get a refund if your flight is canceled. Always, always, always check to see if your flight is still departing as scheduled 72 hours before you leave and then again right before you physically leave for the airport. If for some reason you are traveling and stopping off before you reach your destination to switch planes or whatever and you miss your connecting flight then you are owed a hotel and meals if it is the airline's fault. If it is weather related the usual policy is: Them's the breaks. You could be stuck sleeping in an airport, if the airport will even let you do that. Or spending a night in a hotel in Jersey (I've had to do this, it sucks.)
Fully refundable tickets are pretty much fully refundable. Almost to the last minute you can decide, "Oh, no I don't want to go after all." Check the rules on the ticket, of course. And once you're trying to get to where you are going all changes are made without additional fees, just the difference in the fare. So you could at the last minute decide that you'd rather go to a whole different city. The airlines don't quite treat people with fully refundable tickets as gods, but they're a great deal more easy going with them. If one misses a flight, hey no problem, we'll put you on the next one even if it is tomorrow. With the exception that they're not going to severely overbook a flight.
The only other thing that can be done to prevent heartache and loss due to travel problems is to buy travel insurance. Insurance is a scam and a rip off, but is shows how much more airlines would have to charge if everything was fully refundable and paid for in case of bad weather or whatever.
Also note that with the "majors" (United, Continental, Northwest, etc.) most of them will not let a person complete the rest of his or her flight plan if they miss the first leg. So if you miss your flight out of podunk wherever and then bust your butt to get to the major city ahead of the next leg of your trip departing you won't be able to get on. Unless you call ahead and someone feels really nice.
Sometimes if airlines workers do have discretion to waive things. Sometimes not. It is more common at the small carriers than the big ones. But if a customer is being a prick or yelling usually the employee is going to see absolutely no reason to bend the rules or use what little power he or she has.
And that's what I know about tickets. Some other time I'll talk about the issues with baggage.
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