U.S. fines airlines more than $7M for not providing refunds

United took care of everything I wanted through many disruptions, delays and cancellations; I got more than value back. Their agent worked through a complicated ticket reuse scenario with setting up a different number of travelers on a different itinerary, I was thrilled with that experience. Alaska gave me free Premium Economy so that I'd have a better chance to make a connecting flight after a delay, and their agents worked really hard to rebook me for a long international itinerary (including on non-partner airlines) to try to make up my time after another delay (and I didn't need one but they also made sure everyone got hotel vouchers and handheld people through using it for accommodations for those who needed it). Both standout positive experiences. I'm continually impressed by flight attendants as a class, and I've never seen one lose their cool even with bizarre, ignorant, or frustrating passengers. Onboard device stuff works pretty well these days, free messaging and streaming a bunch of media from the onboard server for free is nice! Wi-fi is pretty cheap (half of what hotels which charge for Wi-fi cost).

Flying now is cheaper and more accessible than ever. If you're nostalgic about the golden days of aviation you can still get white-glove service, free cocktails and real silverware if you pay those golden-era prices. If you want to save as much money as possible, you can sit a middle seat without baggage and fly across Europe for $35. I will say that once upon a time you could find "dream fares" on unsold inventory, and those kind of rare deep discounts don't seem to exist, I assume because there are better pricing algorithms for filling flights.

Some of it's knowledge and expectations: I've learned more over the years about things like fare classes. There is a cancellation policy and you agree to it when you buy your fare. It's not like it's a secret. These days you'll almost always see that there's a flexible fare class which gives you more options for cancellation; and some, where you can save money with a nonrefundable fare. I have learned more about the ins and outs are here, over time, so I can certainly understand that if you didn't know these things in advance you'll feel shafted. I've never felt that way but I certainly get it. I guess I just see it more as something to learn rather than something bad someone did to me. I know more about how to spend money on the things I care about and save money on the things I don't.

Regulations are primarily there for safety concerns, not you complaining about what is honestly a non-issue. If you don't want to pay for premium seats just don't pay for them??

But on that note, airline deregulation in the US has been the best thing that has ever happened to air travel. It is now far, far more accessible to travel by air. The revealed customer preference is that very few, if any, people want to go back to being forced to pay the old fares, even if the seats were bigger and the service was better.

> The service I'm paying for includes an assigned seat, just like my ticket to the movies does

Frontier is pretty upfront about this. You certainly have absolutely no guarantee of sitting next to somebody without paying for it one way or another. You get a seat. You don't get to choose your seat. Some theatres also do charge extra for choosing seats, and the ones that don't market themselves as premium theatres.

> some varying strawmen

I certainly don't think any of these techniques should be regulated. I can certainly see a surcharge if you require adjoining rooms in a hotel.

Probably yes. But for their fun, not yours.