Its not just a security issue in terms of it being something post 9/11. Not being able to change the name on a ticket is a rule put in place to protect you as a customer. How, you say? Well let's say you booked a trip to vegas, told all your buddies, and one of them decides to go to the airport in your place and says to the agent "Jim is sick, I'm gonna take his place. Can you put my name in his place?" It may sound like something that cannot possibly happen, but it has and I have seen it with mine own eyes. I saw a passengers go up to the ticket counter (At Continental) and state to the agent "my mom is sick and I need to get to Florida right away" Does the agent know who this person is? no. They only know they have a ticket in this woman's name and another woman is trying to claim it. Does the agentgo by her word and change the ticket? She can try contacting the original passenger to confirm this, but who's to say this same person can't turn around and say she didn't authorize it? See the can of worms that opens up? Now in the case of this group, I don't think there is any deception going on here, but the airlines have to protect themselves because as we all know, people can and will sue for the littlest things.
As for the airlines and their biasness against the passengers. Well it's as Chris says, it's never gonna change until people stop flying. But that's never gonna happen? How can a business passenger stop flying? Or how can you tell a person who's parents are ill/dying in another/state or country, who need to get to that location to not fly? As much as flying is a luxuary for most, it's a neccessasity for others. What's the alternative? Drive? Train? Boat? Bus? People can barely stand being on a plane 5 hours at best, can you imagine how uptight most will be if they have to spend 14 plus hours to get from NY to california by bus?
|