Missing a flight can end up costing you lots

• Traveling Islanders may pay more fees than most

By Chris Oliver
Advertiser Staff Writer

No, it's not included in Piven and Borgenicht's "Worst-Case Scenarios," but there's no denying missing your plane could spoil your vacation.

What happens if the flight takes off without you, and you're holding a nonrefundable ticket?

Don't assume you'll get on the next flight; there may not be one that day. And if you don't make it to the airport at all, you may find your ticket has become worthless altogether.

Here's what happens if you don't make the gate:

American Airlines: "If you hold a nonrefundable ticket and miss your flight, passengers must be reticketed by midnight on the day of intended travel," said Sonja Whitemon, spokesperson for Fort Worth, Texas-based American. "This will cost $100."

This fee is applied for any changes to a nonrefundable ticket once it has been issued, Whitemon said. Should the passenger for any reason not depart on that ticket, the entire ticket, including the return portion, becomes void. If you want to fly standby on a later flight, you may do so free until Dec. 31. After that date, standby passengers will be charged the $100 change fee.

What if your journey includes connecting with another airline? Whitemon said American has a limited ability to ticket on other airlines. "There are going to be extenuating circumstances that we will have to address and we will look at these individually on a case-by-case basis," she said.

What to do: If you miss the flight, contact American Airlines at (800) 433-7300 by midnight on day of departure.

United Airlines: If you miss your outgoing flight, you can be reticketed until midnight on the original day of departure for $100, plus any difference in ticket fare. After midnight on the departure date, nonrefundable tickets will have no value for travel or exchange.

United will continue to allow passengers on domestic nonrefundable tickets to stand by for flights on their ticketed day of departure through Dec. 31. However, for tickets purchased after Sept. 6 for travel on or after Jan. 1, United will charge a $100 standby fee for those wishing to stand by for an alternate flight on their ticketed day of departure. This fee applies for travel within the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada.

Customers with domestic refundable tickets can continue to stand by on their ticketed day of departure without a standby fee.

What to do: Make sure you are reticketed by midnight on the day of departure by calling (800) 241-6522 for domestic travel or (800) 538-2929 for international reservations.

Continental Airlines: Julie King, spokeswoman for Continental, said passengers who arrive at an airport within two hours of flight departure time may stand by for the next available flight at no extra charge.

"They may have had a flat tire or something similar that has delayed them," King said.

After two hours, passengers have until midnight on their intended day of travel to make changes to their itinerary with a $100 service charge.

"This is really to protect the airline against no-shows because what happens so often is that we are left with the itinerary and no time to sell the seat," King said. "If passengers have not contacted us by 11:59 (p.m.) on the day they should have departed, their ticket becomes void, and its value cannot be applied to a future ticket."

That's especially important at Honolulu International, with its large number of red-eye flights.

What to do: If you miss your flight but arrive at the airport soon enough, you can stand by for the next available flight free. Call Continental by midnight at (800) 523-3273 for domestic ticket changes and (800) 231-0856 for international tickets, to reticket for a $100 fee, or forfeit you ticket.

Delta and Northwest airlines: Delta and Northwest offer passengers the chance to be reticketed by midnight of the departure date for a $100 fee plus any change in ticket fare. Once the midnight deadline has passed, however, tickets become worthless. Both airlines will add a $100 change fee for standbys, starting Jan. 1. Delta Airlines: (800) 221-1212; Northwest Airlines: (800) 225-2525.

Hawaiian Airlines: "If you miss your flight and hold a nonrefundable ticket you, can be reticketed for a fee of $100 plus the difference (if any) in cost of the flight," said Keoni Wagner, director of corporate communications at Hawaiian. "Any changes to your itinerary will cost you that $100 service fee." And it is advisable to do it by midnight of the departure date.

Wagner said that if a reservation is canceled altogether once a ticket has been issued, the cost of the ticket can be reapplied toward a future ticket for travel within 12 months, with the $100 change fee. For interisland coupons, there is a $10 change fee each way.

For interisland flights, passengers can stand by for a later flight on the same day for the same class of ticket at no charge.

What to do: Missing your Mainland flight will cost you at least $100 for reticketing. Call 838-1555 to make changes to ticket.

Aloha Airlines: "On Mainland flights, passengers who miss their flights must pay the $100 fee (plus any difference in class if required) and be reticketed, not necessarily that same day," said Stu Glauberman, spokesman for Aloha. Penalties for missing interisland flights vary depending on the type of ticket. For interisland coupons there is a $10 change fee each way.

Aloha allows 48 hours between making a reservation and being ticketed, except for "special" or promotional fares, where passengers must book and pay at the same time, Glauberman said. "We are not as draconian as the big airlines."

What to do: Call 484-1111 to make changes to an existing ticket. Expect to pay a $100 change fee on Mainland flights.

Traveling Islanders may pay more fees than most

As well as new restrictions on nonrefundable fares, most major air carriers have added a surcharge of $20 or more for paper tickets, as compared to electronic tickets, and are charging $40 to $80 for checking a third bag, cost cutting measures that have dismayed the travel-industry watchers.

"What the airlines have done in bringing in these new restrictions could cost Hawai'i consumers significantly more than the $100 change fee," said Danny Casey, president of the Hawai'i chapter of the American Society of Travel Agents.

Let's say you buy a ticket to New York for $1,000 but have to cancel the trip. Your ticket may be reissued for a future date, but say the fare goes up $200. That $1,000 ticket now costs $1,300 — an extra $200 plus the $100 change fee, he said.

Take this another step: The ticket must be reissued by midnight, but if you don't know when you can fly next, you may end up paying another change fee and maybe another change in air fare. Consumers could end up paying twice as much, Casey said. It may be cheaper to forfeit the original ticket.

The restrictions are significant for Hawai'i consumers because getting to anywhere from Hawai'i is so costly, Casey said.

"We have either $120 round-trip tickets to the Neighbor Islands or tickets costing several hundred dollars to the Mainland or the Pacific with nothing in between," he said, adding that the new restrictions "feed into what the airlines want most, which is to have consumers go directly to them whether by Internet bookings or by phone, and which ultimately makes them more money."

Casey urged consumers to exercise care when buying tickets and read the fine print.