No-shows = Mo-Money

Red Tape - Airlines secretly cash in on unused tickets: "Nader recently sent letters to all major U.S. airlines asking how much they earn from unused tickets. He got a polite refusal delivered by the industry group Airlines for America, which called the information "confidentially and commercially sensitive."
"Consumers understand that if nonrefundable tickets cannot be used, their value will be lost," the letter said.
The letter, signed by association general counsel David Berg, goes on to say expiring airline tickets are no different from time limits on refund policies of "other retail shopping outlets, from clothes to computers, and are neither deceptive nor unfair.""

Nader recently sent letters to all major U.S. airlines asking how much they earn from unused tickets. He got a polite refusal delivered by the industry group Airlines for America, which called the information "confidentially and commercially sensitive."

"Consumers understand that if nonrefundable tickets cannot be used, their value will be lost," the letter said.

The letter, signed by association general counsel David Berg, goes on to say expiring airline tickets are no different from time limits on refund policies of "other retail shopping outlets, from clothes to computers, and are neither deceptive nor unfair."

Nader wasn't impressed by the airlines' response.

“The writer was thrashing around for every analogy he could find, filling the page and a half with non-sequiturs," Nader said. For starters, any analogy between clothes and airline ticket return policies breaks down pretty quickly. After all, if the time to return a sweater has passed, you still get to keep the sweater.

Undeterred, Nader has filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act with the Transportation Department seeking the same data.

But is it really unfair for airlines to keep the money spent on unused tickets and to load up restrictions on refunds?

One convincing argument offered by the industry is that plane tickets are a "perishable" item, akin to concert tickets. Once the plane leaves the ground with an empty seat, an airline can't make money off it, so why should it be expected to offer easy refunds? No one who buys a ticket to a rock concert or a sporting event expects a refund if they miss the event.