It's my right as a consumer to walk into a restaurant, order bread and water and leave no tip.

GO stag.
Take a bilingual wingman.

I prepaid for a week of parking at one of the many same-owner lots lining the highway near Newark airport. I pull into the wrong one and the lady in the booth tells me "yea this is the right lot" when I show her my receipt. Week later when I go to leave they have no record of my purchase because it wasn't the right lot.

Regardless I got no money back even tho it wasn't like they were holding the parking space for me or anything. 24 hours at most maybe.

/That was through Priceline.

Those guys from Finland had a groovy aircraft.

Flying to Paris for their honeymoon? What is this, an early 90's romcom?

Can you even GET a refundable ticket these days?

Farking airlines.

xlbrooklyn: Couldn't he sell his tickets to another couple?

Nope. They're non-transferrable, too.

If the airlines can find ANY way humanly possible to take your money and not let you on the airplane, they will.

/giving the stinkeye to USeless Air

Going through the third party is the pain.

I've done my price hunting on Expedia or Orbitz, but book directly through the airline when I can in case I need to cancel or change my flight. Working through a third party guarantees butthurt if all doesn't go well.

\First Green!

So you don't have a honeymoon. Bummer. What you have now is a vacation and a lot more disposable cash than you'd expected to have at the time of the trip, since you won't be blowing all that money on the wedding stuff. Suck it up and bring a friend.

Wow...being a Consumerist article, I would have expected people to be holding pitchforks outside the airline's HQ, demanding that they give him a refund. I'm pleasantly surprised.

clyph: Can you even GET a refundable ticket these days?

Sure, but they cost a hell of a lot more. (About what a first class ticket costs, IIRC)

Jawaka: "So the tickets were clearly marked as non refundable and now he's writing to Consumerist because he couldn't get a refund on his tickets? I agree it sucks but if those were the terms that he agreed to when he purchased them then that's that."

You Are All Wrong: "I think he was hoping someone might BE A farkING HUMAN, YOU STUPID F*UCKING ASSHOLE and GRANT A farkING EXCEPTION FOR COMMON farkING SENSE SAKE.

"Jesus farkING Christ how farkING HARD is that to farkING UNDERSTAND YOU EVIL farkS?"

The attitude of the entitlement generation in a nutshell. "You expect me to take responsibility for my own mistakes? YOU ARE WORSE THAN HITLER!"

Cairene: Going through the third party is the pain.

I've done my price hunting on Expedia or Orbitz, but book directly through the airline when I can in case I need to cancel or change my flight. Working through a third party guarantees butthurt if all doesn't go well.

\First Green!

The joy of changing flight plans from third parties is exponentially increased when you try to do it with international flights, as I recently discovered.

They said the only exceptions they ever make are due to a death in the family and usually not even then.

I'll see what I can do... sorry Grandma, you know I love ya, but you're just gonna have to bite the bullet on this one. Exceptions are exceptions, you know.

I usually read these consumerist articles and finding myself left thinking that the consumer who is complaining is a whiny pussy who just needs to STFU.

In this case though, not so much. I actually totally sympathise with the guy. It's 7 months from the flight FFS! If you book a hotel, in a lot of cases you can cancel and get a full refund anything up to 24 hours before the booking. I know apples and oranges and all that but there must be some middle ground. Damn money grabbing airlines could at least bring about a more reasonable policy that says something like no refunds 2 months or less from the date of the flight. Cause as the guy says, if he cancels they'll still resell this seat and make twice the money.

I simply do not understand why airlines will not allow customers to transfer/resell their tickets nowadays. I can resell concert tickets, sporting tickets, etc using a third party like stubhub, but god forbid i resell my plane tix for any reason. It's not like the new ticket holder won't get treated like a terrorist at check-in anyway. No sense whatsoever.

PeriRies: BitwiseShift: Those guys from Finland had a groovy aircraft.

[i177.photobucket.com image 430x359]

What in the hell is going on in this picture?

Earth Girls are Easy. This still, not so much.

This is an opportunity of a lifetime! Put an ad on craigslist to take a date to Paris. Take applications.

He should accuse them of attempting to force feed him pork products.

PeriRies: BitwiseShift: Those guys from Finland had a groovy aircraft.

[i177.photobucket.com image 430x359]

What in the hell is going on in this picture?


Link (new window)

Nuclear Monk:

The joy of changing flight plans from third parties is exponentially increased when you try to do it with international flights, as I recently discovered.

So in general, is it more difficult to book international flights with the airlines or am I misunderstanding you? I've really found Orbitz or whatever work best for wacky multi-city itineraries. But I still get WAY nervous because it's much harder to get resolution from these companies if anything goes wrong.

Dr. C. Beavers: to transfer/resell their tickets nowadays. I can resell concert tickets, sporting tickets, etc using a third party like stubhub, but god forbid i resell my plane tix for any reason. It's not like the new ticket holder won't get treated like a terrorist at check-in anyway. No sense whatsoever.

If you read the comments, there's federal rules on names on the tickets needing to be matching the person flying. They have the tickets "non refundable", so that folks don't engage in "churning" (canceling and rebooking a reservation repeatedly) to get cheaper flights.

Man, I want to go to Europe next year but I don't know if I can. And this guy wants to get a refund for a trip to Paris? Man, just go there and hang out around the Pigalle clubs trumpeting your new found bachelorhood!

I'm more interested in why there's a picture of this cat in the article.



Is he not going to Paris either now? Is he waiting for his plane? Why is he looking out the window?

It looks like he just finished washing his balls. Is that some sort of suggestion to the guy in the article that he can be happy on his own without a woman? Or is it a subtle hint to the guy to stop licking balls and man up about losing the money?

I feel like I can't move on with my life until I unlock the mystery behind this cat!

This is the second article in a month where someone bought non-refundable tickets, life bit them in the tush, and surprise surprise they weren't able to get their money back. I feel bad for them, but they were non-refundable. It's not the airline's fault that someone got cancer or someone isn't getting married.

I know that this seems complicated, but: If there's a chance you may not be able to use the tickets, BUY REFUNDABLE TICKETS! (OK, I know the airline won't refund your money, but all sorts of people are just waiting anxiously to sell you trip insurance. We never, ever buy a trip package (we have gone on two large tours in the $7-9K range and have bought complete coverage, and, yeah, it's going to run you around 8-10% for complete, no-questions-asked insurance. Your choice.)

At the risk of becoming a rant, things like this just occur because of these mindless, ever-hopeful people who have a "Well, it's almost surely not going to happen to me." mentality. Yeah, except for when it does. We've rented a van to do some family hauling twice in the last month. Since the trip was all-day, and went to Chicago both times, I bought complete, no-deductible coverage on the van. How much? $12.50 per diem. The second time we made it to Chicago & back, no trouble, then I Farked up and ripped the driver's side door of the van off on the side of our garage. Insurance came in real handy. Did I think I'd ever need it? Hell, no.

The discount on third-party tickets is that the purchase is secured, it's a done-deal, and they never have to mess with it again. The money is in the bank.

If you want options, book directly with the airline.

Those guys from Finland had a groovy aircraft.

bet these guys have a better one...



/arockalypse air

fillahbuster: Dr. C. Beavers: to transfer/resell their tickets nowadays. I can resell concert tickets, sporting tickets, etc using a third party like stubhub, but god forbid i resell my plane tix for any reason. It's not like the new ticket holder won't get treated like a terrorist at check-in anyway. No sense whatsoever.

If you read the comments, there's federal rules on names on the tickets needing to be matching the person flying. They have the tickets "non refundable", so that folks don't engage in "churning" (canceling and rebooking a reservation repeatedly) to get cheaper flights.

I understand the federal rules but why keep it that way? Like I said, the screening process remains the same no matter whose name is on the ticket As for people engaging in "churning," the airlines can maintain their price increases as flight dates approach like they do now but go ahead and allow those who buy their tickets in advance to find the best price.

oh wow Consumerist. There's a site worth it's weight in crap. Sadly, one cannot post there unless you get up and do a little dance for the "comments editor" and prove your foolish soul is worthy of posting on such a magnificent site. What a joke.

BurnShrike

I feel like I can't move on with my life until I unlock the mystery behind this cat!


Sometimes a cat is just a cat.

PWNED?
Really?
Why does this generation think a few words against you means pwned?
Are we THAT think skinned now?

Setting the bar pretty low, aren't we?

Englebert Slaptyback: BurnShrike

I feel like I can't move on with my life until I unlock the mystery behind this cat!


Sometimes a cat is just a cat.

Sometimes. But not when he's conspicuously placed in the middle of an article about some whiner breaking up with his fiancee and losing money on his honeymoon flight. That cat's up to something, and I demand to know what!

Donnchadha: If you enjoy this story of consumerist lulz and wish to read more, you'll find there are a lot of marginally related cat pictures on that site.

In other words -- there are cats on the internet, don't read into it too much.

Is that because there are a lot of pussies on the site? I know there are lots of cat pictures on the internet, but they all have badly spelled quotes photoshopped in. This one is just a cat looking out the window at his missed opportunities.

I'm a frequent flyer, flying to Minneapolis tomorrow morning as a matter of fact. As much as people bash TSA, I have no problem with them. Sure they're annoying and time consuming but I just get to the airport a little early. No biggie.

Airlines on the other hand I have enormous contempt for. If they lose your luggage, they act like it's your fault for having luggage. These people are dicks. Recently I flew the family to Florida for vacation. About 6 weeks before the flight I called and asked if I could move my departure date back one day so my family could enjoy their vacation a little longer. Sure, they said. That will be 100 bucks per ticket. In my case 400 dollars. shiat like this enrages consumers and the airlines seem baffled as to why we see this as a problem.

If I buy a suit and later return it, I'm not going to be charged 1/4 the price of the suit because I returned it. That would be absurd. Yet, airlines pull shiat like that all the time. Consumers are not used to being treated the way airlines treat people. Now granted, the airlines have to do some things differently because of the nature of their business but sometimes they're just being greedy dicks.

Cairene: Going through the third party is the pain.

I've done my price hunting on Expedia or Orbitz, but book directly through the airline when I can in case I need to cancel or change my flight. Working through a third party guarantees butthurt if all doesn't go well.

\First Green!

Back in '05 we won an all-expense-paid trip for our family to Disney World. 4 round-trip tickets, 7 nights at a Disney resort, park passes, and a meal package. I had my tickets from Toronto to Orlando when JetsGo went belly up 2 weeks before our trip. I was told that if I'd booked online I was screwed but because it was booked through a travel agent and paid by credit card I could get a full refund applied to an alternate flight. The up-charge to find another flight was $1200. I told the travel agent to cut me a cheque for the refund and I'll drive. The REFUND was $1200. Dodge Caravan + cruise control + $2.25/gal = $100 for gas each way. And we spent the extra on a lay-over in North Carolina touring NASCAR race shops.

/CSB

As sometimes happened with these kinds of things my fiancee and I decided to not to get married. Though the tickets were marked non-refundable I was hoping against hope that the fact that the flight was still 7 months away and could easily be resold might earn some leniency.

Which part of "non-refundable" are you not getting?

The sound of one hand clapping: If you book a hotel, in a lot of cases you can cancel and get a full refund anything up to 24 hours before the booking.

actually I know quite a few hotel where you can cancel up until 4pm or 6pm on the day of arrival

/works in a hotel reservation call center

The reason it issued as non-refundable is price . Having said that $1200 for round trip to Paris 7 month out is not that good of a deal . If he had book with the airline he could have at least got them to give him credit to fly some where else no refund but say more trips. Besides in 7 months if can't find anyone to go to Paris with you give the tickets to your mommy and stay in the basement.

Fissile: He should accuse them of attempting to force feed him pork products.

While his in-laws pounded shooters in the airport lounge.

BurnShrike

Sometimes. But not when he's conspicuously placed in the middle of an article about some whiner breaking up with his fiancee and losing money on his honeymoon flight. That cat's up to something, and I demand to know what!


The cat might not be the actor here. It's possible the author is using the cat as a wordless allegory to encapsulate and describe the human failing imbued in the ticket purchaser, along with a subtle indicator that - like the cat itself - the situation here is black and white.

Or he was calling the purchaser a big, lazy pussy who is all alone.

Or both.