I agreeto Idea Airfare - Require Purchase of Nonrefundable Tickets
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Airfare - Require Purchase of Nonrefundable Tickets

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Yes

Federal employees should be required to purchase "nonrefundable" tickets whenever they know a destination far enough ahead of time, and the purpose/event is unlikely to change (ie. conferences, internal agency meetings). The amount that most federal travelers pay for airline tickets is disgraceful, when they could have paid half or sometimes a third using a nonrefundable ticket. Even if you have to change your itinerary, the fee is far less than you would have paid for the standard government fare. Worst part of all -- most federal employees don't even know about nonrefundable tickets (I didn't know for nine years!) and our travel contractors actively discourage you from purchasing them, which has to change. This is easy, low-hanging fruit that will immediately save tens of millions, but agencies/travelers must be informed and then required to do it.

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Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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Comments (1)

  1. Community Member

    I agree. Although I have had to unexpectedly cancel a trip at the last minute and know of others who have had to do so, as well, it is still unlikely that the cost of those unexpected cancellations would offset the huge cost differential on every single trip taken under the current system.

    If the original poster is correct that a typical flight might have been available for half the cost, we would have to be cancelling fully one out of every two flights booked to make the purchase of fully refundable tickets a cost effective practice.

    2 years ago
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