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The Rules Of The Game ChAAnged Last Year Plus: Do You Know What To Do To Avoid Forfeiting The Entire Value Of A Plane Ticket If You Miss A Flight
August 7, 2003
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Dear Ben: We recently had a credit card number stolen (and used). The section on your website about identify theft (www.bendover.com/idtheft.asp) was great...we knew what to do and who to contact-and used the links to the credit bureaus-handling everything in under 30 minutes. You are a genius!!! Keep up the good work.
KP, via e-mail
Dear KP: Sorry to hear that you're one of the millions of victims of credit card theft, but I'm glad you got things under control quickly.
Dose of Dover For The Week: I'm frequently asked how I know so much about helping people work out of a wide-range problems...and my answer's always the same: I've been there. I've made (more than) my share of mistakes over the years and learned (many expensive) lessons as a result. I'd like to add my most recent ($400 lesson) that I hope you'll directly benefit from someday.
In June I bought a ticket to Los Angeles on American's website. I wasn't able to make the flight and had to revise my travel plans, but made the mistake of waiting a couple of days (past my original departure date) to begin the re-booking process. Bad move. Unlike the old days, when you could apply the value of an unused ticket towards a new reservation (and unbeknownst to me) I had until midnight of my original departure date to re-book a new flight...or forfeit the entire value of the ticket.
My failure to re-book the flight within the prescribed window time (and use the $400 ticket less a $100 re-booking fee) towards my new reservation gives me a chance to help you avoid similar financial "pAAin" not just on American, but on other airlines that have adopted similar fare rules. According to American Airlines spokesman Todd Burke, these policies were changed almost a year ago: "We put a (press) release out on August 30, 2002 and since then, pretty much all of the other carriers are on board with some version of this policy. It's posted on our (corporate) website: www.amrcorp.com."
He's right, and here's an excerpt of what's posted: "American has offered customers holding non-refundable tickets the flexibility to change itineraries since 1992. American plans to continue to allow changes for non-refundable domestic tickets; however, for tickets purchased on or after August 30 (2002), for travel on or after October 1 (2002), the change must be made on or before the departure date of each ticketed flight segment. The ticket change fee ($100) for these tickets remains the same. After the departure date, the ticket will have no value." Okay, so Todd's right on that point, but this is where we'll disagree and why I want you to be extremely careful when buying tickets on American or any other airline.
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When asked where these fare rules were located (since I never remembered seeing them), he stated: "There's a little box that pops up-you have no choice-this little box pops up that says "Fare Rules." You either have the choice to look at the fare rules or ignore the fare rules-which you have to acknowledge-and in that box the exact (fare) rules associated with that particular ticket are explained." Wrong. When I re-booked my (replacement) flight, I was incredibly diligent (this time anyway) to read the fare rules and-despite Mr. Burke's contention-there are no "forced read" hoops to jump through to acknowledge that you've read (and accepted the terms) of the fare rules.
The moral of the story? I want to see all of our North Texas based companies (and their employees) succeed, and I really do understand why American changed the rules a year ago. I just want to make sure YOU have a clear understanding of these rules...which brings me to Ben's Bottom Line: If you've got to change (or miss a flight) on any airline, make damned sure you re-book your ticket the same day of your original, scheduled departure...or risk losing the entire value of the ticket.
By the way: I still think American's website www.aa.com is the easiest to navigate when booking your air travel, and if you collect frequent flier miles you'll want to check out their new www.mileagemaximizer.com site, designed to show you how to get the most AAdvantage miles for your buck.
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