New standby rules put thrifty fliers to the test By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY Shrewd travelers may find some wiggle room while searching for ways to=20 bypass new restrictions imposed by major airlines for changing flights with= =20 non-refundable tickets. Flexibility can be found hidden in the fine print=20 of the rules, which put new risk and responsibility on consumers. Airlines= =20 are hoping the rules will raise revenue and steer business travelers away=20 from their cheapest tickets. The industry blames low fares for what could=20 be a loss of more than $6 billion this year. Non-refundable tickets offer=20 deep discounts from refundable, anytime fares. Originally aimed at=20 vacationers who buy a week or more in advance of departure, they have=20 become the ticket of choice of leisure travelers. And as the price gap=20 widened between the cheap fares and refundable fares, more business=20 travelers have turned to non-refundable tickets for savings. About 40% of tickets bought by business travelers now are non-refundable,=20 says Thom Nulty, president of travel agency Navigant International. That's= =20 why the biggest carriers are fighting back with new restrictions on=20 non-refundable fares. "We have tickets that allow customers a greater=20 degree of flexibility," says Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch, "but they=20 cost more." Starting Jan. 1, switching from the ticketed flight to flying standby on=20 another flight the same day will no longer be free on most carriers, if=20 allowed at all. Most major carriers will require passengers to pay a $100=20 standby fee. Northwest is the only one that hasn't adopted the fee, though= =20 it will charge customers $100 if they reserve a seat on another flight the= =20 same day, says Ebenhoch. And as of Oct. 1, the carriers will require=20 passengers to call if they aren't going to make their flight at all that=20 day. If they don't, the ticket will be worthless. If they don't know when=20 they want to travel next, they can pick any date within a year and rebook=20 the ticket for $100. But if they change the second date, they'll have to=20 rebook again for another $100. "We're talking about the potential of losing= =20 the entire amount of your ticket," says online travel columnist Terry= Trippler. Read the fine print But since the non-refundable rules were announced, travel experts have=20 pored over the fine print to look for exceptions and have found a few: =B7 Old rules still apply. Not all non-refundable tickets will be=20 subject to the new rules. United and Northwest, for instance, will exempt=20 some of their higher-priced non-refundable tickets. =B7 Rebooking deadlines make a difference. American, United, Delta and= =20 Continental will give passengers until midnight on the day of the flight to= =20 rebook. That way, a passenger who misses a flight and fails to notify the=20 airline by the time the plane pushes away from the gate can still reuse=20 most of the ticket's value. Northwest and US Airways require passengers to= =20 rebook by departure time. =B7 The standby option isn't always available. American and= Continental=20 will have some non-refundable domestic fares that do not give fliers the=20 option to fly standby, even for a $100 fee. Continental will allow the $100= =20 standby option on the "vast majority" of its domestic tickets, says=20 spokesman Rahsaan Johnson, but not on some of its cheapest online fares. =B7 International standby policies vary. As of Jan. 1, Continental= will=20 charge $200 to fly standby on international flights. US Airways will not=20 allow the option on its Caribbean and European flights, and Northwest and=20 United will not allow standby on its international flights. Delta will let= =20 passengers standby for free on international flights. American says standby= =20 is an option for $100 only with Caribbean, Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands=20 travel. =B7 Standby is sometimes free. Most of the airlines say they will=20 continue the practice =97 the so-called flat-tire rule =97 of generally= letting=20 passengers who show up at the gate within two hours of their missed flight= =20 to fly standby for free. American, however, says it will evaluate the=20 situation on a case-by-case basis. Says spokeswoman Sonja Whitemon: "Any=20 passenger who is late can't count on having standby available to them at no= =20 cost. We evaluate the issues as they come up." Travelers say adhering to=20 the new rules, even with wiggle room, won't be easy. Technology consultant= =20 James Stovall, who often buys non-refundable tickets to save clients money,= =20 says life on the road is too hectic. If, after a four-hour trip, a session= =20 with a client goes late, "I think of getting dinner rather than calling the= =20 airline to say 'I'm going to miss my flight,' " he says. Companies studying rules Like many corporate travel managers, Sheila Kittle of Raymond James=20 Financial has been studying the rules to see how her company can save money= =20 by adjusting the types of tickets it buys. Because many travelers require=20 last-minute schedule changes, the new fees will make buying=20 advance-purchase tickets too risky in some instances, she says. Why pay=20 $200 in fees on a $200 fare, she wonders. Big travel agencies that cater to= =20 corporate business are developing new software that will help companies=20 minimize extra charges. Navigant, for instance, is selling a product to=20 help companies decide whether to buy more expensive flexible fares and make= =20 sure non-refundable tickets get used before they expire. "Many business=20 travelers have a very difficult time knowing when their next trip is going= =20 to be," Nulty says. "That's got a lot of them scared." TQ3 Maritz Travel=20 Solutions has developed a program called Ticket Minder that includes a=20 notification feature to alert travelers five days prior to the travel date= =20 on non-refundable tickets. This alert will be a prompt to contact a=20 corporate travel agent if the ticket needs to be changed or canceled. It=20 will also serve as a reminder that the ticket may have no value after the=20 scheduled departure time of the flight. For individuals, tracking the=20 changes isn't as easy. Trippler recommends they arm themselves with a=20 printout of the specific fare rules that apply to their ticket before going= =20 to the gate. 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