What's so special about a flight ticket?

[Sam]

So you bought a flight ticket and decided you can't travel on that day. Why can't you sell or give that ticket to another person? Why does a flight ticket have to be associated to a specific person at the time of purchase? Is this practice common in other countries as well?

 

[kumquat]

Yes, it's just another profit center.

 

[Sam]

So why don't trains, buses and ships(?) do the same to boost their profits?

 

[kumquat]

They'll think of it soon enough.

 

[Nords]

Yes, it's just another profit center.

And look at how successfully it's working out for all the airlines, too.

Sam has a point there... even the TSA issues could be worked out if the airlines could take a commission from it.

 

[kumquat]

I'm missing something Nords. Are you suggesting the airlines profits would increase if they stopped this practice? Why isn't it better to get 100% of a guy's fare and have a chance at selling another ticket to his neighbor (possibly on a 100% full flight) than have him sell it and get no revenue?

WTFC about the TSA? They just grope whoever shows up, non-discriminatory.

 

[Moscyn]

Same practice here in Asia. Once the agent got my name printed wrongly on my air ticket - does not match with my passport. You know the fine print sometimes say that tickets won't be reissued if names are incorrect. Well, the agent liaised with the airline and got it amended. They had to admit it was a genuine error.

 

[Danmar]

Good issue. We travel a lot and get frustrated with the complexities of airline pricing. It has gotten to the point where I put another line in my travel budget called "change fees". Often it costs almost as much to change a ticket as it does to buy a new one. In some cases advanced planning comes back to bite you if circumstances change. Flexibility would not be one of the airlines stong points.

 

[RunningBum]

WTFC about the TSA? They just grope whoever shows up, non-discriminatory.

They do more than that, they check passenger lists against no-fly/watch lists. Why they don't do the same for trains and buses, I don't really have an answer for, other than to notice that TSA reacts to past issues and tries to prevent those incidents from happening again more than looking at what other types of events could happen in the future. 9/11 was carried out on planes, thus the focus on trains.

Certainly you could just make the new passenger pay a re-ticketing fee and register with the correct ID, which wouldn't be any difference timing-wise from a last minute ticket purchase.

 

[KingB]

So why don't trains, buses and ships(?) do the same to boost their profits?

Train passes on the Chicago Metra are also not transferrable.
The same thing for cruise tickets.

 

[TromboneAl]

Companies love this kind of stuff. It adds complication, it adds a hidden fee, and it's done to "protect us from the terrorists."

 

[Nords]

I'm missing something Nords. Are you suggesting the airlines profits would increase if they stopped this practice? Why isn't it better to get 100% of a guy's fare and have a chance at selling another ticket to his neighbor (possibly on a 100% full flight) than have him sell it and get no revenue?

I'm just sayin' that whatever system the airlines are using now doesn't seem to be making much money for them. Buffett has pointed out many times that more money has been invested in airline infrastructure & operations than has ever been thrown off as "profits". Air travel has been great for customers, not so much for investors.

Imagine if flying was as easy as calling a taxi or hopping on a bus, even if it was still appropriately priced for time/distance/fuel. Everyone would be more likely to do it.

Instead we have whole industries growing up around avoiding air travel, figuring out how to get cheap tickets, and what to do with the bonus points. I can give my movie ticket to my daughter if I decide not to see the flick, or I can try to sell it on Craigslist. Pretty much the same with a rock concert or a sporting event. I can buy a taxicab fare for someone else or give them my bus transfer. Why not do the same with airline tickets?

Spouse was on the periphery of a transaction that involved transferring airline miles to someone who redeemed them for a ticket. Then that person paid the "donor" in cash for the miles. When the airline figured out what must have happened they effectively removed the person from the plane and penalized everyone involved. They spent far more money creating the system and enforcing their own rules than if they'd just let people sell their own tickets on the free-market system.

Yeah, I understand the security issues. But the airlines are able to solve some of those problems already ("frequent traveler" lists, accelerated screening lines) so they could presumably do the same with ticket transactions. If only something like this already existed. We could call it "NetJets".

 

[Sam]

Certainly you could just make the new passenger pay a re-ticketing fee and register with the correct ID, which wouldn't be any difference timing-wise from a last minute ticket purchase.

That's my gripe. Do they have sufficient time to check out a passenger 5 mins before boarding time? Unlikely I think. But the rest of us have to suffer the inconvenience.

Train passes on the Chicago Metra are also not transferrable.

So how is a train pass on the Chicago Metro area purchased? How much time is needed to for that process?

 

[Sam]

Imagine if flying was as easy as calling a taxi or hopping on a bus, even if it was still appropriately priced for time/distance/fuel. Everyone would be more likely to do it.

It was, wasn't it. At least before 9/11 if I recalled correctly. But anyway, it would be nice if security and ticket purchase are completely separated.

What if a ticket can bought without a name and whoever is using it HAS to physically show up at the gate 30 mins before boarding time? That should give TSA plenty of time to do their [-]groping[/-] checking.

 

[Danmar]

Nords. I'm with you. They don't make any money and their customers hate them. Great business model.

 

[Nords]

They don't make any money and their customers hate them. Great business model.

"... but we really make it up on volume!!"

 

[Brat]

Oh yes, and if you have a non-European or non-Asian sir name your ticket had better match your driver's licence EXACTLY.

 

[figner]

Oh yes, and if you have a non-European or non-Asian sir name your ticket had better match your driver's licence EXACTLY.

My name is somewhat unusual (mix of different cultures), and I've had airlines mangle the name on my ticket to point of merging my middle and last name, switching last/middle with first, etc. So far I'm glad people just seem to take this in stride at the airport, and wave me through.

Or, that could explain the extended TSA grope sessions...

 

[KingB]

So how is a train pass on the Chicago Metro area purchased? How much time is needed to for that process?

"Monthly Unlimited Ride Pass
Regular Metra commuters save 40 percent or more over one-way fares. Monthly passes are for the exclusive use of the purchaser and are not transferable. If you buy a monthly ticket online from the first of the month on, you will be mailed one for the next month. If you need to ride before then, please purchase a ticket from a station agent or order ten ride tickets which will take 5 to 7 days to receive."

To be honest, I have not bought a monthly pass for ages, but when I used to buy them, I just go to the ticket counter with my check. But as stated above, it can also be purchased online.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Instead we have whole industries growing up around avoiding air travel, figuring out how to get cheap tickets, and what to do with the bonus points. I can give my movie ticket to my daughter if I decide not to see the flick, or I can try to sell it on Craigslist. Pretty much the same with a rock concert or a sporting event. I can buy a taxicab fare for someone else or give them my bus transfer. Why not do the same with airline tickets?

Some think that the low-cost internetsites and internet scouts are the cause of all of the restrictions and fees. With the internet it's a race to the bottom ticket-price wise. Anybody whos ticket costs a nickel more loses out.

Hence the fees and restrictions.

We have the airline industry that we all want evidently. We vote for it every time we buy a ticket. Evidently better service and less restrictions aren't what we (collectively) want.

We have the system that we voted in.

 

[Texas Proud]

I think the distinction is that airline travel is 'different' than train or bus travel... it is kind of hard to crash a train into a big building and all a bus will do is crush and kill the people inside...


There are very few tickets that you buy that are name specific... IOW, the ticket is for 'you', not a general admission ticket like a bus, train, theater etc. etc.

However, it can be changed to someone else... our company does it all the time... there is a change fee, but so what... it just can not be given to someone else to show up at the airport and try and get on the plane... the 'no fly' list covers that...


As far as the commuter tickets.... it is in the rules, but who is there to check... when I was in NY, I gave my ticket to my sister for a few days so she could go to a few places... that meant that I could not since we only had one ticket... you can get around that restriction...

 

[Sam]

"Monthly Unlimited Ride Pass
Regular Metra commuters save 40 percent or more over one-way fares. Monthly passes are for the exclusive use of the purchaser and are not transferable....

Oh... That has nothing to do with security. That's just to prevent 2 or more persona using the same bus pass. It's true everywhere afaik.

 

[Pajaro]

There are very few tickets that you buy that are name specific... IOW, the ticket is for 'you', not a general admission ticket like a bus, train, theater etc. etc.

To buy a soccer ticket in Italy (Spain as well IIRC) you have to show your passport at the ticket booth. The ticket and passport have to match when you enter the stadium. They do this to keep the hooligans out and to know who started the fight in the 3rd row. Regardless, it's a big pain if you can't make it to the game.

 

[Koolau]

I suspect the airlines are figuring out how to make money again - and unfortunately, it's with fees and restrictions rather than better (discernibly better) service. So, it always makes me angry when I see an airline advertise. As far as I am concerned, they are all alike (Southwest and I forget one other are the exceptions). Advertising that "my airline is better" is ridiculous. They should pool their money and just try to get everyone to fly SOME airline. We won't know the difference and each airline stands as good a chance as the next to snag our fare via Cheap Tickets or Price Line, etc. Does anyone actually TRY to fly one airline over another other than because of routs or arrival times or perhaps fewer stops in between? These are not functions of "service" as such. No one airline is going to fly to all places at all times. This may differentiate the route you take which then specifies the carrier. But, with the exception of SW (if it goes where I want) I start with route/time (intermediate stops) and then price in that order. I rarely fly the same carrier twice in a row even though I often go to the same place several times in a row. I have absolutely NO allegiance to one carrier over another. And, YES, because they are all the same (bad) I'd run over their grandmother to save a dollar on a fare.

End of rant.