With regard to the different classes I think it’s a well entrenched system, and one most frequent travellers are familiar with. As to whether it is fair or not that the class allocations change – an airline seat is a commodity and the seller can modify the price to improve cash flow, profitability or both by pricing flexibility differently.
Where it has changed a lot over the years is that companies thanks to the internet and real-time information can reprice the product on a continuous basis. One can even hike pricing when there are increased fare searches over a short period to entice the customer into buying as he sees the price go up with every search refresh.
Back when things were done by telex (it sounds like a long time ago but it really isn’t) and prices disseminated once a month (if that) it was obviously a lot more difficult to do – hence the appearance of “classes” to try to keep it in check somewhat.
Shorrick, What is not obvious to the bookie is that within the very basic category there are subsections which do not appear on your computer. So the airline can put you into whatever subsection category they want and you wont know all your options because it is internally controlled by the airline with each search. Now that isnt so bad if you are making an initial search for determining what airline to use. However with the rebooking fiasco one is at their mercy. You wont know what the final charge is until you go to pay. That is with each flight you search. So they advertise 130 Euro rebooking charge not mentioning that within the basic category there are 4 subcategories. Most people would think well Im not clicking on Premium coach or Flex coach so Im staying within my original category. Wrong! The airline manipulates the basic coach with subcategories which is not shown to you. What a racket. The mob could not have done better.
I really did not expect this from Lufthansa. It is not some cheap low cost carrier. Its a National airline. I guess today nobody cares about their reputation any longer.
Archie I could not care less about their operating margins. If they cant make a profit at a certain level they should raise their fees. To blame the passenger for their low or non existent profit margins is ridiculous. I wont fly on low cost carriers like Wizz air and Ryan Air because I dont need the hassle for a 100 Euro lower fee. When I go somewhere I stay at a Hotel not a youth hostel. For the hotels to blame customers because they are not profitable because some people go to youth hostels would be equally ridiculous.
By the way how long do you think Hostels would be in business if when checking out they gave their customers a higher bill because they used the toilet, the water, had heat in the rooms, etc., etc..
I beg to differ. Whenever you book your ticket the conditions are pretty clear whether changes are at all approved or not, and during which period. If you go through a proper booking engine or an agent, you can freely choose your tariff (and therefore flexibility supposing it’s available at the point in time you make the booking) as opposed to going through the cheap price aggregators. Going through the details ofthe latest trip I have had booked it says in extenso:
Air fare 607.25CHF per person
Rules and Restrictions
Advance reservation 7 day(s) before departure
Refund Before departure (entire ticket) permitted against 500.00CHF
Changes before departure permitted against 250CHF
Changes after departure permitted against 250CHF
These conditions may change and are subject to availability and valid on the same airline, routing and fare as booked. Penalty fees are in addition to any difference in fare or
tax.
Minimum stay 3 day(s)
Maximum stay 28 day(s
Also when you rebook, there’s no reason why it should cost the same. Just because it’s Premium Coach it doesn’t mean the price should be exactly the same on any given day of the year – even if it were all one booking class. Hotel rooms don’t cost the same when you rebook them on different days either… It used to be like that by necessity because companies had scarce communication with the sales agents – but not anymore. I do agree that some of the airline booking sites are not very clear in that respect though.
C210,
I think that you have a very reasonable case.
If I book with RyanAir, I’m well aware that it costs a small fortune to change the ticket, plus I have to pay the difference in fare. Usually it’s cheaper to buy a brand new ticket.
If booking with Lufthansa, and it said that I could have a cheap fare which was non-changable or a more expensive fare that was changable, but would incur a change fee of €130, then unless it was made very obvious to me, I’d expect to only have to pay €130 to change the fight. (I wouldn’t expect to be able to use this to get an upgrade from economy to business or anything, because there were no economy seats left, but that’s not in question here.)
So I think your position is reasonable, and you have a valid case.
However, I think that your letter will do you no favours. It’s far too complicated, gets too bogged down in details about classes etc, and by the end of it, I’m left wondering what you’re actually complaining about! It’s not until I stand back and consider it in the light of the rest of the thread, that I once again understand your complaint. Obviously the person in Lufthansa reading it, won’t have the luxuary of reading the rest of this thread.
If you haven’t already sent it, I’d suggest a re-writing to make it simpler, so that the basic point isn’t lost in the rest of the detail. (That you bought a more expensive ticket that advertised the facility to rebook for €130, but the rebooking costs a lot more.)
The person reading it won’t be a person with a PHD, and loads of time on their hands. It will be someone who’s probably poorly paid, and very busy. Unless the point is clear and simple, it will be lost on them.
This is meant to be constructive rather than critical, and I hope it’s taken that way! When you are close to something it’s easy to know a lot of details and want to get them all in; but often it’s better to leave some out to keep the clarity!
Colm
Archie I could not care less about their operating margins. If they cant make a profit at a certain level they should raise their fees. To blame the passenger for their low or non existent profit margins is ridiculous.
C210 I wasn’t so much responding to your complaint, but to someone elses generalising comment that “all airlines rip everybody off”. That is an unfair comment in my point as airlines are For-Profit businesses and they need to get their revenue somewhere. That they charge lower fares for 99% of customers, but higher fees for the 1% that needs to change something, is just a choice. Most people benefit from it.
You may or may not have a point depending on whether the EUR 100 fee was advertised somewhere e.g. in the small print of your ticket. I’m assuming you’ve checked that, did it mention something like an administrative fee?
So if what Eugene demands was reasonable, then I would always book the cheapest flight and change the date for e.g. 130 €.
It’s absolutely standard nowadays that when you rebook, you pay a rebooking fee and the difference in the airfare. What is new that the established airlines do that and not only the “cheap” carriers.
If you want more flexibility, you have to buy one of those flexible tickets which cost a lot more.
Well why on earth would you book the cheapest flight that has a rebooking fee so that you can change the date and add 130Euro onto it when you could get the same dates for the same low price? How do I know? Because I had researched the return date for the following week and it was the same price for the basic ticket. I wanted to get back the 25th of March but if I had to stay a 130E rebooking fee for the following week was acceptable.
Here is what the rep told me why the subcategories were not listed on the computer the same way the two other Coach categories Premium and Fex are. She said making those other 4 categories transparent as in listing them side by side to the Premium and Flex would just confuse the potential traveler by giving them too many choices.
Oh I see Im smart enough to allow the airlines to not have to pay travel agents by making reservations self service but not smart enough to figure out what the best deal would be for me once I have ALL the facts.
Dublinp. I understand your point. But giving them all the info I thought would be best since they have to respond to all my points. Im sure it will take a few back and forths.
If you want more flexibility, you have to buy one of those flexible tickets which cost a lot more.
But he did buy one of the more expensive flexible tickets.
