 Poster: A snowHead
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Are there any folks on here who work for a budget airline?, I have had to change the name of one of our party and on top of the 25.00 each leg fee I am genuinely curious as to why I am required to pay the difference in the cost of the flight between when I booked and the date I change the name. Normally their ripoffs are based on a flimsy reason but I am failing to see one for this....anyone know?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm not in the industry but I'll bet it's partially to stop ticket touting. If you could buy 10 seats at a penny each and then sell them on later for just £25 then everyone would be doing it.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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FenlandSkier, Correct ... 10/10  TOs / 'Market-Makers'/TAs would become indirect middlemen .. not part of the LC- model !
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm in the industry so can try and shed some light!
To be honest its very good that they even let you change the name as for a budget ticket on a regular scheduled (BA or BMI for example) ticket you would loose all the ticket and have to purchase a totally new one from scratch at the best rate available on that day.
The part about paying the difference between the cost you paid and the current cheapest price is also fairly logical. They are effectively re-booking the entire ticket for a £25 admin fee and then charging you the current best fare less then cost you orginally paid. The new person is getting the best price that is available on that day and not the price that the person originally paid. The person who cancels should loose all the money they paid orginally as the cancellation charge is 100%.
The system works on a sliding scale. The earlier you book the better price you get. There may be 12 fair levels and so many tickets at each price. Once the cheapest are sold (eg 10 seats) you move up to the next level. And so on.
One tip in future is always book groups of people 1 by 1. That way you may get 2 at one price (£80), 2 at another (£110) and 5 at the higher rate (£150). If you book all 9 together the system / airline will sell you all the seats at the price they have seats available all at the same price. In this example £150 each !
Hope that helps.......Alex
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Ok Alex appreciate the reply but I have booked four seats one of my party has changed names. I am still using the same four seats and haven't checked in yet so there is no additional required work in a name change. Why should one of my prepaid seats suddenly cost twice as much?.
Also on this sliding scale thing....I was caught by this last year, when the flights came out 4 seats to geneva cost 760 quid and I booked but by christmas they were 415. This year I sat tight while everyone booked thier flights as they came up at 685 quid but I lost my bottle and booked up yesterday at 299 
I klnow the business model for lc is similar to high street banks in that customers have little option so scam them for whatever you can and I can even understand some charges to an extent but as you say the airline sell you a seat so why care about the name?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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ollski, I must say the seats going down in cost nearer the date is unlucky. I suppose that depends on the dates and how popular a time they are as if lots of seats are left then they will reduce the cost like you have unfortunately experienced.
Not sure I understand you with regards the 4 seats. One person has changed their name, or a new person is coming as one has dropped out?
Yes its a money making scheme by the airline for sure. By I think it is quite fair in comparison to how bad it could be. I know that it isn't more than a couple of strokes of a button for the airline to change the name and that must be frustrating. That was why i tried to show you a different way of looking at it and how the airline view the situation. Mr John Smith is no longer coming so Mr Late Booker pays the best fare available today and they minus off the cost John Smith paid as a compromise. Plus for the time / admin charge £25.
Its the same if you change the date on a ticket on BA on a European route. Pay £30 plus the difference in the fare. If the fare on that day is at the same level you pay no more than £30.
The other option is that the airline charge 100% to cancel the John Smith ticket and then Mr Late Booker has to pay the whole amount for a new ticket. If you didn't have another person to take their place then a new punter would pay the higher price in its entirety.
So has the ticket gone from £75 to £150 overnight? That's pretty bad luck I must say.
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Sorry didn't read your message properly...you got a good deal this time by waiting At least that was good news hey?
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I changed the outbound leg of my flights with Ryanair recently... When I first checked and started to modify/book the new flight, it was cheaper than the original one... But once I had entered all my details, card number etc and hit the "pay" button(to pay for admin fee), I suddenly got a message that the seats at that price were not available anymore.. I had to re-do the whole thing and found that the new price for the flight matched my original.....
Amazing coincidence isn't it?
The sliding scale only works one way it seems...
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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The cost of changing a name on a Ryanair flight (Prestwick to Norway) was £70. We just bought a new ticket at £50. What a waste!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Lol it will fade eventually, just that I'm forking out for a family ski trip and a lads trip at the same time with iou's . Flight out is jet2 and back with thomsonfly, must confess I don't know the difference between one type of airline and business and another...just taxis in the sky.
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