Before locking in your summer fare to Europe, see if you can’t find a better deal by searching an airline’s codeshare partners. Airlines use codeshares to sell seats on each other’s planes so they can reach destinations they wouldn’t otherwise serve. Since ticket prices constantly fluctuate, codeshare partners often quote different fares for the exact same flight. Inside, reader Christiana shares how she used codeshares to save almost $300 on a flight to England…
tickets
Orbitz Can't Deliver On Tickets It Sold, But Can't Deliver The Refund Either
By 5.7.09
Austin bought two tickets to Aruba last December. By the end of February, Orbitz had changed his itinerary so many times that now they were only flying him as far as Atlanta, and 11 days later were flying him back from Aruba—it was apparently up to him to get from Atlanta to Aruba in the first place. At this point, the only option was to request a refund, which Orbitz said would take 60 days. Two months later, Orbitz told Austin that they’ll give him his money back in 60 days. We’re pretty sure that’s 120 days total, and there’s still no guarantee Austin will see his money.
Impoverished High School Seniors No Longer Able To Finance Gaudy Proms
By 4.26.09
The recession continues to rot America’s cultural core, this time by attacking one of our most cherished traditions: prom. Gone are the ice sculptures and $1,000 dresses. America’s children are now buying dresses off racks and trading limos for the family car. Imagine!
At Six Flags, You Have To Pay A Fee To Print Your Own Tickets
By 4.22.09
We know Six Flags is desperately trying to avoid bankruptcy, but that’s no reason to go all Ticketmaster on the people who want to have a good time at Magic Mountain in Los Angeles.
Pepsi Yankees Promotion Leads To Fans Chanting "Pepsi Sucks!"
By 4.20.09
It’s probably never a good idea to offer Yankees fans free tickets for showing up and forming a crowd, because then you’ve got a crowd of Yankees fans with nothing to do, and that’s not going to end well. In this case, after the fans found out that Pepsi over-promised the number of free tickets it was giving out, they turned hostile.
Whoops, You Paid $1,200 For Crappy Obstructed View Yankee Tickets
By 4.17.09
Thinking of buying some “secondary market” tickets? Well, you might want to do a little research before you open your wallet, according to the New York Times. Apparently, the new Yankee Stadium has some seats that are so godawful that they only cost $5 — unless you buy them from a scalper who charges you hundreds.
United: If You Can't Fit In One Seat You Need To Buy Two
By 4.15.09
Starting today, United Airlines has a new policy. If you can’t fit into a single seat, you need to buy another one or stay behind.
Help, StubHub Never Delivered My Tickets!
By 4.12.09
Vinay’s StubHub tickets to see Lady Gaga never arrived in his inbox, but StubHub insists that they delivered the goods and refuses to issue a refund. StubHub’s only communication with Vinay was a short confirmation email promising that the real tickets would arrive via SubHub’s e-LMS system. The tickets still hadn’t arrived the day of the concert, and armed with only a confirmation email in hand, Vinay was turned away from the venue.
No, You Should Not Pay Your $206 Speeding Ticket With Urine-Soaked Coins
By 3.29.09
47-year-old Washington resident Michael Lynch tried and failed to pay a $206 speeding ticket with a plastic bag filled with coins and urine. Surprisingly, his special payment for doing 54 mph in a 35 mph construction zone didn’t violate any laws…
Woman Who Missed Obama's Inauguration Starts $10,000 AmEx Chargeback
By 3.26.09
American Express has given her an “interim” refund in full, pending a review that will involve the credit card company presenting to PIC officials all of Blessman’s documentation on the services she feels she was denied.
Have Airlines Run Out Of Annoying Fees?
By 3.21.09
So, it’s not exactly good news, but between the toilet tax and priority boarding fees, Reuters thinks that airlines may have run out of “perks” worth excluding from a ticket’s base price. The bad news? All those new airline fees aren’t going anywhere. American Airlines, which last year pocketed an extra billion in “ancillary revenue,” calls them “a pretty big success story.”
Ticketmaster Sells Phish Tickets Early, Then Cancels
By 3.20.09
Thousands of disappointed Phish fans are crying right now because Ticketmaster accidentally sold “a significant number” of 4-day passes to the upcoming show at Red Rocks — then canceled them. Phish fan and Consumerist reader Trevor has the scoop:
Who's Scalping Those Concert Tickets? Artists And Agents, Frequently
By 3.11.09
The Wall Street Journal reported today that for many big name concert events, the people behind a good deal of the really expensive secondary market tickets are the artists themselves, along with their agents and promoters. Recent concerts where the artists and promoters resold tickets on the secondary market and split the profits with Ticketmaster include Neil Diamond, Bon Jovi, Celine Dion, Van Halen, Billy Joel, Elton John, and possibly Britney Spears.
Fandango & Regal Play Blame Game For Missing Tickets
By 2.16.09
After waiting in line ~10 minutes I swipe my credit card only to get the following message “Tickets cannot be found, please try another machine.” After trying several other machines, I quickly realize that nobody can find their tickets.
Ticketmaster And Live Nation Agree To Merge
By 2.10.09
That booming evil laughter you heard echoing across the sky earlier today came from the board room where Live Nation and Ticketmaster agreed to an all-stock merger between their two blighted companies. Ticketmaster Chairman Barry Diller says the merger will benefit customers, who are frequently “frustrated by their ticket buying experiences.” Oh! So by merging the two companies most responsible for those frustrations, we’ll cancel them out! This is doubleplus good, right?
Ticketmaster, Live Nation Consider Merging, Destroying Concertgoing Forever
By 2.4.09
The two companies most responsible for making your next live entertainment experience a financial disaster may announce a merger as early as this week, reports Reuters and the WSJ. If it goes ahead, the new company will apparently call itself Live Nation Ticketmaster, not “Satan’s Boxoffice” as one might expect. The merger will raise antitrust issues, but if Sirius/XM has taught us anything, it’s that those issues can be ignored at the expense of consumer choice and pricing.
US Airways Doesn't Know Why They're Charging You $25, Doesn't Care
By 1.12.09
Reader Alex says that U.S. Airways charged him a $25 fee that they can’t explain — and are unwilling to remove. If he doesn’t like the mystery fee, he says, he was told to do a chargeback.
By 1.2.09
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New York City doesn’t publicize it in any way, but they offer a guaranteed reduction on parking ticket fines if you challenge the ticket in person, online, or via mail.[New York Times]
