I spoke to a girl in the Pier Lounge today. Seems she bought a ticket from Houston to Cancun on which the return trip was left open dated. They told her it would cost $100 to have a fixed date put on it, a cost she accepted. She's now contacted Continental to get a date of a few days time inserted, but they told her they've changed their tariffs and now they want $500 to specify a date, something which has to happen before she can use the ticket. She seemed pretty sensible, and her father (a professional engineer) has contacted Continental in Houston and has been given the same story.

This seems to me amazing, but unfortunately it does correspond with the arrogance with which most airlines are treating their customers these days. But surely it's also breach of contract?

Reminds me of the last time I flew from London to Belize via the USA, last December, the whole way on American. My ticket was a through ticket, with a (necessary) stopover in the USA (I chose Dallas). I brought two checked bags from London with no problem, but when I checked in for the Houston-Belize leg I was told that only one bag was permitted, and furthermore the maximum permitted weight per bag was a lot less than had been permitted across the Atlantic. I pointed out that I had a through ticket, but they said they regarded any flight from the USA to anywhere in or around the Caribbean as being an "internal" flight, and under their rules for internal flights only one bag was allowed. I argued long and hard with this absurd ruling, only to be told that unless I paid $200 for the second bag it would not be carried.

Is this not "demanding money with menaces", which in Britain at any rate would be a serious criminal offence?

I'm trying to remember something similar that happened to me a while back, but the memory just won't fully surface. The long and the short of it is, though the rules had changed, I was still allowed to (whatever it was) because of the rules that were in place on the date of my purchase.

Part of the problem is "the Contract of Carriage". Have you ever read your ticket jacket? Near as I can tell, there isn't too terribly much that an airline has to honor. Frankly, it seems like we're lucky to get what we get.

Open ended tickets are always much more expensive. The first person who told her the $100 fee was wrong. That's for a regular ticket to change the return date. Should have verified. Can also be due to the amount of time she stayed, more expensive for over 30 days, over 60 days, etc. She should call CO a few times till she gets someone who is willing to help her, but she may have to pay the big bucks in the end. Hardly anyone travels on open ended tickets any more for this very reason.

Barbara, ditto. It's incredibly expensive to purchase an open ended ticket. Thank goodness Tropic doesn't charge extra! :P

SS, you have a great attitude!

I had flown to the US from Belize on American Air and while there they changed the weight allowance from 70 lbs to 50. When they tried to charge me extra I simply asked them how they expected me to fly home with 40 lbs less luggage than I came with. They scratched their heads, called a supervisor and waived the fees.
Sometimes we do win!

LOL, TQ. Will soon be travelling on Air Canada internationally. I'll have to do my very very best to try and remember to have a good attitude.

I wanted to fly Continental but it was a bit more expensive and hours longer on each leg. I had to suck it up and book Air Canada. Sigh.

In case anyone can't grasp my context . . I don't have a lot of regard for my national airline.