23318: Leiderman: scalping tickets to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Stuart M Leiderman <leidermn@cisunix.unh.edu>


dear Mirlande and readers:

I just checked Travelocity's price for American Airlines' flights to Haiti
from Boston.  tickets purchased now for early October are US$622 'round
trip.  for early November, US$436.  for early December, US$406.

three suggestions:

--for anyone in the U.S. who is going to Haiti now, especially for relief
work, and if you see that the price of tickets has risen dramatically, I
suggest you call the airlines exective offices for an explanation and
then go to your network television stations and the national and
international cable stations and request air time to tell about your
urgent need for affordable flights to Haiti.  in New Hampshire, WMUR
Channel 9 has been attentive to news about Haiti and has done interviews
for its news programs.  if your stations are interested in the story
of relief efforts and ticket costs, they will likely put the question to
airline executives and put them on camera, too.

--for organizations sending relief workers, I would directly request
to airline companies that they offer your travel group lower-priced
tickets, at least on some kind of available-seating basis.  tell the
airlines executives that the more Haitian lives you save, the more
Haitians (and eventually their children and children's children) there
will be to buy tickets on their airplanes in the future.

--in the sad case of friends and relatives who are injured or have died
because of the recent disasters, flyers should be able to request
grievers' fares or whatever the current terminology is.  that may require
submitting some kind of certificate after the flight for reimbursment.

knowing the alleged bad economic condition and acknowledged poor service
reputation of airline companies right now, you'd think they would try to
be win back friends and customers by offering special humanitarian fares
for anyone traveling abroad to offer assistance.  I would.

thanks,

Stuart Leiderman
Environmental Response