Tariff trouble: Fliers beware

Christopher Elliott Travel columnist • Profile • E-mail

When it comes to airline ticket rules, the devil isn’t in the details. The devil is the details.

You’ll find Old Nick in something called the ticket tariff, which is a massive, rambling and often incomprehensible document that passengers rarely see in its entirety.

Why? Partly because they tell you what you already know — for example, that you have to pay a fee if you want to change your ticket — and partly because it just doesn’t concern you. For instance, some tariff rules talk about special fares for police officers or firefighters, which a vast majority of passengers wouldn’t care about.

But there’s another reason why you won’t see these rules: Airlines would rather you not know about them. That’s because they like to bury all kinds of restrictions in the fine print, hoping their passenger won’t read them until it’s too late.

“These rules are put there for one reason, and one reason alone,” says Rick Seaney, the chief executive of the Web site Farecompare.com. “To maximize revenue.”

Of the 25 rule categories in the tariff, Seaney says there’s one every passenger should pay attention to before buying a ticket: category 16, which covers cancellations and changes.

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To be fair, airlines and online travel agents do reveal some of the rules at the time of booking. But not always the way they ought to. Sometimes there’s a summary that glosses over key details, or you have to click on a link for more information, or the rules are written in UPPERCASE which is a big turnoff because people think YOU’RE YELLING!

Here are six of the worst ticket rules that could affect your next trip:

Cancel anytime – not!
Ticket tariffs are often contradictory. For example, here’s one called the “CANCELLATIONS ANY TIME TICKET.” You would think such a ticket would be cancelable any time at no additional cost, right? But you’d be wrong. The fine print says you’ll be charged a change fee. And if you happen to miss the flight because of unforeseen circumstances, you’re out of luck. The ticket’s no good, and you have to buy a new one: “NO CHANGES OR REFUNDS PERMITTED FOR A PASSENGER WHO NO-SHOWS,” the rule says. The fare also doesn’t allow for any upgrades on the day of departure. “I guess anytime doesn’t include the day of departure,” complained one airline insider who recently got snagged by this rule. “It’s terribly misleading.”

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Even the dead have to pay fees.
When a passenger dies, airlines usually cut them a break. Sort of. Their next of kin can apply for a refund. But even in death, airlines have figured out how to make a little extra money. Check out this clause in one airline tariff: “NOTE — IN THE EVENT OF DEATH OF PASSENGER AN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE CHARGE OF USD 50.00 WILL BE ASSESSED IN ORDER TO PROCESS A REFUND.” The airline doesn’t want passengers to abuse this “perk” so it adds, “PROOF OF DEATH MAY BE REQUIRED.”

Once your trip starts, you’re locked in.
Airlines love to slip this little clause into the fine print: “NONREF/CHGFEEPLUSFAREDIF/CXL BY FLT TIME OR NOVALUE.” Translation: If you try to make a change to your ticket after the first leg of your flight, you lose the ticket. And you have to buy a brand-new one. “The entire ticket is garbage,” says Bonnie Sherman, a travel agent based in San Diego, Calif. Most air travelers aren’t aware of this restriction until they try to make a change. By then, it’s too late.

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