As Airlines Change Rules, Passengers Hold the Bag

Major U.S. airlines, facing unprecedented deficits, are scouting out cost savings and new revenue at a frantic pace. In the last month their quest has driven changes that affect nearly every passenger.

Many have cut flight schedules. Some have slapped a “use-it-or-lose-it” restriction on certain low-fare tickets, made frequent-flier upgrades more difficult to get, raised prices for paper tickets and enforced stricter baggage rules.

Keeping up with fluctuations in the airlines’ already complex policies can be daunting--and infuriating. Several of these changes have been imposed with little or no notice. The American Society of Travel Agents and the Business Travel Coalition have denounced the tightening of ticket rules and other revisions, and even some industry advisors are dismayed.

“When you start to beat up the passenger with ... rules, you’ve forgotten what business you’re in,” says Mike Boyd, president of the Boyd Group/Aviation Systems Research Corp., an aviation consulting company in Evergreen, Colo.

The majors contend that belt-tightening, which has also forced thousands of layoffs, is essential to survive in a marketplace of declining air fares and fewer passengers, especially the big-ticket business travelers who sustained them for years.

With airlines making revisions almost daily, it is important to call the carrier, check its Internet site or call your travel agent to make sure your flight hasn’t been canceled or a new fee or rule imposed.

Here is a snapshot of some recent changes affecting U.S. airline passengers. It was accurate as of the Travel section’s deadline Tuesday, but the situation may have changed since then.

* Nonrefundable tickets: Many of the low-cost, advance-purchase fares that leisure travelers buy are nonrefundable. In the past, that has generally meant you would pay up to $100, plus any difference between the original and the new fare, to change your itinerary. Unused fares wouldn’t be refunded but could be applied to a new flight for up to one year.

By contrast, refundable fares, generally more expensive, allow changes without penalty.

On Aug. 27, US Airways said that, effective immediately, its nonrefundable fares would have no value once the flight departed. It also said passengers on those fares wouldn’t be allowed to fly standby on an alternate flight. Ten days later it announced that, starting Jan. 1, such passengers would be able to stand by on the original date of travel but would be charged $100 to do so. Such passengers could still make changes in the itinerary up to departure, for a fee.

On Aug. 30, American announced a similar policy, effective starting that day for tickets bought for travel Oct. 1 or later. Standby passengers on nonrefundable fares are charged a $100 change fee.

Continental followed suit Aug. 31, effective immediately. It issued no announcement, but reservations agents told callers about the change when they booked, says spokesman Rahsaan Johnson. Those who booked on the airline’s Internet site had to click on “penalty rules” in fine print under “Rules and Restrictions,” then wade into the seventh page of a 34-page document to find the new restrictions. The home page contained no announcement when I checked last week.

As with some other airlines, Continental’s new rules could take up a column in themselves. Some highlights: Effective for travel Oct. 1 and later, holders of nonrefundable fares can rebook without a change fee if they arrive within two hours after the original flight, Johnson said; no-shows lose their tickets. Those traveling Jan. 1 or later will generally pay a $100 fee for standby.

On Sept. 5, Northwest and Delta made similar changes to nonrefundable tickets, effective for travel Oct. 1 and later; United followed Sept. 6. Delta and United will add a $100 change fee for standbys starting Jan. 1

Want a simpler and cheaper alternative? Try Southwest, which doesn’t have change fees (although you may need to pay the difference between the old and new fare) and which credits unused tickets up to a year from purchase. Or JetBlue, which charges a $25 change fee (although no-shows generally lose their ticket).

* Frequent-flier programs: With US Airways’ recent filing for Chapter 11 reorganization and rumors that another airline or two may be headed that way, frequent fliers are fretting about losing their miles.

But they probably won’t, if the past is any guide.

Like many Chapter 11 filers, US Airways is still operating. Continental and America West went in and out of bankruptcy in the 1990s without fliers losing miles, says Tim Winship, publisher of FrequentFlier.com. When American bought bankrupt TWA, it bought its frequent-flier program as well; in the past other airlines honored miles from bankrupt Eastern and Pan Am. But frequent fliers lost miles when Midway went under in 1991, Winship notes.

For the truly worried, Winship suggests signing up with AwardGuard, a program founded by Randy Petersen, editor and publisher of Inside Flyer magazine. It will insure the value of your miles up to $7,500 worth of award tickets for $119 per year; details are on the Web site, www.privilegeflyer.com.

Several airlines have recently begun applying $100 change fees to frequent-flier award travel, Petersen says. As of Oct. 1, United’s frequent fliers will need 50,000 instead of 30,000 miles to obtain one-class upgrades good for eight 500-mile segments; buying upgrades with cash will cost about 60% more than it does now.

* Stricter baggage, other rules: With one day’s notice last month, Delta began charging $40 for checking a third bag, and on Sept. 4, effective that day, US Airways began charging $80. Northwest, Continental, United and Alaska earlier began charging $50 to $80, depending on the airline. Some are also more strictly enforcing charges for overweight bags that were already on the books.

Continental last month announced that it plans a “disciplined adherence” to collecting excess baggage charges and, in general, “rigid enforcement of all fare rules and a new, strict policy against ‘waivers and favors.’ ” On Sept. 3 it began charging $10 for a garment-bag box (formerly free) and raised the price of a bike box from $15 to $20 and of a pet kennel from $30 to $45.

Finally, a small but cruel lost perk is this one from US Airways: “On transatlantic flights, alcoholic beverages will no longer be offered for free to economy-class passengers.”

Too bad. After the last month’s turbulence, many of them could probably use a drink.

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Jane Engle welcomes comments and suggestions but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail jane.engle@latimes.com.