Anyone out there ever went through this?

[bubbles1209]

We've booked a cruise for next June. DH has his daughter, her husband, his grandson, and we finally have a name for the grandson's friend they are bringing along. (We booked the cabin TBA for this one) Anyway, we need to go on & book the airfare before it gets higher. They live in IL, we live in GA. My question is why can't airline tickets be transferable? What if this friend of DH's grandson has something come up and can't go? As far as the cabin goes, we're set because we booked it TBA, but with the airline tickets, we'd be stuck with one we couldn't use. Anyone out there with any experience on this subject? Thanks in advance:)

[FlyerTalker]

The transferability of airline tickets wasn't in the best interests of the airline industry, which wants to control its pricing through very aggressive "yield management". Lower-priced tickets are sold that way just because they have such restrictions. You can have the "versatility", but at the cost of a full-fare ticket. You take your choice.

 

On a side note: Some believe that the pre-9/11 photo ID requirements were actually disguised methods to prevent transferability by requiring a name/ID match before departure. As one security expert has posted:

 

The photo-ID requirement on airplanes was established in 1996 by a still-secret FAA order. It was a reaction to TWA flight 800, which exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all 230 on board. The idea is that checking IDs increases security by making sure that the person flying is the person who bought the ticket.

 

The photo-ID requirement is presented as a security measure, but business is the real reason. Airlines didn't resist it, even though they resisted every other security measure of the past few decades, because it solved a business problem: the reselling of nonrefundable tickets. Such tickets used to be advertised regularly in newspaper classifieds. An ad might read: "Round trip, Boston to Chicago, 11/22-11/30, female, $50." Since the airlines didn't check IDs and could observe gender, any female could buy the ticket and fly the route. Now that won't work. Under the guise of helping prevent terrorism, the airlines solved a business problem of their own and passed the blame for the solution on to FAA security requirements.

 

You can make your own judgment on how much credence you put into such theories. Personally, it makes sense to me - and we will likely never have a conclusive answer one way or the other.

[Jade13]

We've booked a cruise for next June. DH has his daughter, her husband, his grandson, and we finally have a name for the grandson's friend they are bringing along. (We booked the cabin TBA for this one) Anyway, we need to go on & book the airfare before it gets higher. They live in IL, we live in GA. My question is why can't airline tickets be transferable? What if this friend of DH's grandson has something come up and can't go? As far as the cabin goes, we're set because we booked it TBA, but with the airline tickets, we'd be stuck with one we couldn't use. Anyone out there with any experience on this subject? Thanks in advance:)

 

Yes, and we needed to wait until the friend was chosen. We will lose our mioney if they back out just like any non-refundable/non-transferable ticket. You could buy insurance through the airline that would cover incase they canceled because of a covered medical condition.

[greatam]

We've booked a cruise for next June. DH has his daughter, her husband, his grandson, and we finally have a name for the grandson's friend they are bringing along. (We booked the cabin TBA for this one) Anyway, we need to go on & book the airfare before it gets higher. They live in IL, we live in GA. My question is why can't airline tickets be transferable? What if this friend of DH's grandson has something come up and can't go? As far as the cabin goes, we're set because we booked it TBA, but with the airline tickets, we'd be stuck with one we couldn't use. Anyone out there with any experience on this subject? Thanks in advance:)

 

 

What is TBA??? "To Be Announced"-like a guarantee cabin???

 

You have to make final payment on the cruise sometime, so you are in the same situation with the cruise as you are with the airline tickets, correct? Guarantee cabins have the same payment rules as other cabins.

 

For the one ticket, you MAY want to book a MUCH higher class ticket-fully refundable/total flexibility. Yes, it will cost you more up front (although quite frequently, not as much as you would guess).

 

If the friend cancels or another friend is going to be substituted, you can cancel and get a refund. If you have to cancel and refund and are SURE the substitute friend is going to go, you could then book the lowest price ticket you can find.

[Globaliser]

My question is why can't airline tickets be transferable? What if this friend of DH's grandson has something come up and can't go? As far as the cabin goes, we're set because we booked it TBA, but with the airline tickets, we'd be stuck with one we couldn't use.

Like it or not, non-transferable tickets are one way that airlines are able to keep their fares low for leisure travellers, as FlyerTalker says. Even if you leave aside the internecine benefit to leisure travellers of the fact that the airlines can and do charge a lot of money for business travellers who need flexibility, it benefits every customer if there is no secondary market for tickets where someone other than the airline is uncontrollably creaming off the profit to be made. If someone else takes the profit that the airline could have made on your ticket, the airline is going to have to raise its prices.

 

Some airlines do allow tickets to be transferred, though - for a fee. This allows for some flexibility in an emergency, but takes the potential profit out of it for the scalpers. You have to check with each airline to see what the rules are. I don't know about airlines in the US, but of big operators in the UK, easyJet and Ryanair are well known for allowing it.

On a side note: Some believe that the pre-9/11 photo ID requirements were actually disguised methods to prevent transferability by requiring a name/ID match before departure.

...

You can make your own judgment on how much credence you put into such theories. Personally, it makes sense to me - and we will likely never have a conclusive answer one way or the other.

It also makes sense to me that the airlines would acquiesce in this. You only need to look at the situation in a country such as the UK, where some airlines (eg easyJet and Ryanair!) require photo ID for domestic flights, and other airlines don't. As there is obviously no legal requirement or security need for photo ID, you can draw your own conclusions.

[bubbles1209]

You have to make final payment on the cruise sometime, so you are in the same situation with the cruise as you are with the airline tickets, correct? Guarantee cabins have the same payment rules as other cabins.

Yes, we have to make final payment in April, but would like to purchase the air now before it goes up. We know if the price of the cruise goes up it will not matter, and we know if we have made final payment it is only $50 for a name change there, but the difference in airfare pricing will matter, and more than likely will be a lot more than a $50 difference. Perfect example: Last August we booked our airfare for our cruise for $350pp round trip to Miami. I looked it up out of curiousity the week before we were to fly and it had jumped up to over :eek: $1000 pp round trip for the same flight. It was for the week right after the superbowl, and President's Day Week-end being the week-end we returned. Talk about glad we booked early.

[Jade13]

I looked it up out of curiousity the week before we were to fly and it had jumped up to over :eek: $1000 pp round trip for the same flight. It was for the week right after the superbowl, and President's Day Week-end being the week-end we returned. Talk about glad we booked early.

 

 

I have the same issue as the teenager going with us just applied for a passport, has never been on a plane etc. Btw, that's the cost right noe $1,000 plus Presidents day week.

 

greatam -What is a "GT" class ticket? Celebrity can't even get us air diviation tickets as nothing is available in GT class and that is the class they have purchaced from Us Air Delta, United, & AA (and whoever else they use).

[greatam]

I have the same issue as the teenager going with us just applied for a passport, has never been on a plane etc. Btw, that's the cost right noe $1,000 plus Presidents day week.

 

greatam -What is a "GT" class ticket? Celebrity can't even get us air diviation tickets as nothing is available in GT class and that is the class they have purchaced from Us Air Delta, United, & AA (and whoever else they use).

 

Group/Tour CONSOLIDATOR CLASS

[Jade13]

Group/Tour CONSOLIDATOR CLASS

 

Greatam, thanks. Does that mean one could not get FFmiles? I could when I paid for air diviation two years ago and HAL put me on Northwest (my request, I know but I got into Anchorage at 12:00pm - on time too). It was cheaper than I could get on my own to Alaska that year.

 

BTW, I went to college in St Louis.