If an airline sells lifetime first class tickets, good for any flight at any time, they should have either set up rules on who can buy them, or honor the tickets they sold, no matter how much it's costing them.
Why? Because this ain't right. These people bought these tickets for several hundred thousand dollars, in good faith that they'd be honored. It wasn't smart of the airline to offer these tickets in the first place, and to offer them without restrictions confining who could purchase and use the tickets (i.e., "We thought originally it would be something that firms would buy for top employees."). Since they didn't, and individuals actually shelled out the cash for them and actually use them, the airline has started realizing that they're losing money on them, and begun looking for a way to revoke the tickets (at best) or restrict how and how often they can be used (at least).
Somehow, that strikes me as an attempt to break a contract that they willingly entered into with the individuals who bought those tickets. And that strikes me as no different that a little kid on a playground, getting his butt kicked at games, wailing "You cheated! I'm gonna take my ball and go home!"
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One last point of interest--in the comments on the linked story, there were several individuals giggling about how it "serves the rich bastards right--can't cry about the problems of the one percent." Except...it has nothing to do with the rich bastards in the so-called one percent. It's exactly the same as paying cash for a house or car, and having the bank or car lot coming in, screaming "YOU'RE NOT MAKING YOUR PAYMENTS!!!" and trying to foreclose/repossess because they're not making money off the interest.
And those idiots giggling about that happening to the rich? Yeah, somebody needs to point out that they are the one percent--the poorest individual in the United States is still in the richest one percent for the rest of the world.
The hypocrisy is staggering.
4 minutes ago
Oh, cry me a river, American Airlines. You made a deal with people, they figured out the way to get the better end of the deal, and now you're having to put up with it.
ReplyDeleteI suppose they'll do something like what Spirit is doing - starting to charge $100 per carry-on (on top of the checked-bag fees), claiming they need to 'recoup' from the bad investment they made in these tickets.
Because that's what it is. A bad investment. They gambled on selling pricey "no restrictions" tickets that no one would use, and surprise, a couple of people who bought them DID use them.
Exactly.
DeleteBe interesting to see what a court would say on the matter - I'm no lawyer but it sound to me like a contract they're trying to back out of.
ReplyDeleteAnother one of the countless reasons why I don't fly (chuckle!)......
DeleteCafe45--that was kinda my take: they're looking for a legal way to withdraw the contract.
DeleteOCM--my reasons all center on the jackbooted thugs deliberately harassing law-abiding citizens to avoid looking like they're racist for targeting the demographic that's most likely to engage in terrorist activities.