[Jigillan]

My wife is ticketed from Myrtle Beach to Philly and back she wanted to cancel and have me drive her. So far so good US air would be in god shape keeping her fare since she claims she will never fly again. I am ticketed for the next day Myrtle to Philly to Glasgow Scotland and back. I wanted to cancel the Myrtle to Philly and back leg and keep Philly to Glasgow and back. Saving US scare some more money. I couldn't do that without have to pay the Scareways $220.00. change fee. Something is very wrong with this picture. They would pocket the $125 my wife paid and about the same for my Myrtle to Philly and back probably the same in their pocket. That is $250.00 plus $220.00 change fee. Wow now that is how to shaft the customer.

[jimworcs]

Yes, it is a scam but under no circumstances abondon the SC to Philly let and turn up at Philly, they will shaft you even more and cancel your ticket to Scotland. Outrageous.

[Burgers]

I take a opposing view of the notion its a "scam."
This staunch enforcement is due to historical passenger abuse, if you want to blame anyone blame your fellow travelers. The practice is called "hidden city ticketing"
Further, you engage in a contract with a airline to fly specific flights on those dates, you are breaching a contract by not flying a portion, the notion its of advantage to them or not is inconsequential in contract law. In business I'll uphold all portions of a contract sometimes to my own detriment but it makes for a much cleaner operation.

[jimworcs]

This is a scam because under no reasonable criteria can it be argued that that the airline is losing any revenue by a passenger forgoing part of the service. If I go to a french restaurant and I buy the Prix Fixe, 3 courses for €50, the al la carte price could easily be €75. If I don't eat my starter, do you think the restaurant can demand that I leave and they keep my €50 without serving me the meal?

What is extraordinary is that the airlines defend the practice by suggesting that customers were abusing their pricing models by "hidden city ticketing" in which a portion of the ticket was distorted. In what way is a consumer, seeking the best price for a service deemed to be "abusive". The anomalous pricing model of airlines, in which a ticket from Myrtle Beach to Glasgow via Philadelphia is cheaper than a flight from Philadelphia to Glasgow is designed not to serve the customer, but rather to reinforce the power and control of the airlines to feed traffic into hubs in which they operate a monopoly or duopoly. This scam is against the consumer best interests.

Fortunately, some regulators are going to do something about it. It is proposed that from 2014, it will be illegal for any airline operating into or out of an EU airport to cancel a ticket, if the customer decides not to use the whole of it. It is a shame US regulators are asleep at the wheel, or rather politicians, bribing by huge lobbying funds paid by monopolist airlines, prevent regulators from taking any action.

The Terms and Conditions imposed by US airlines are abusive. Passenger have no effective choice, there is virtually no high speed rail links across vast swathes of the country, and the distances making driving impractical. The hubs are essentially monopolies or duopolies, and the practically identical terms and conditions and restrictions imposed by these huge monolith airlines mean there is no effective choice. It is simply not good enough to say that the consumers signed them. Just as regulators are taking aggressive action to protect consumers in telecommunications and banking, it is time to turn on the airlines.

No airline should have control of more than 25% of the take off and landing slots of any major airport, or more than 35% of the slots of a second tier airport. Airlines should no longer be exempt from regulation of the State Attorney General's consumer protections and the market should be opened up to competition and foreign ownership. This would require major restructuring over a 5 to 10 year period, but is no more traumatic that the break up of Ma Bell.

This ticketing practice amounts to a scam... and reveals a lot more about airline abuse. Burgers...unless you are an airline executive, I can see no merit in your case for no change.