Northwest Adopts Use Or Lose Nonrefundables

Northwest Airlines today joined its peers in further restricting nonrefundable fares by invalidating their value after the ticketed date of departure. Like American and Continental airlines, the new policy goes into effect for travel as of Oct. 1. US Airways last week led the industry in adjusting the nonrefundable fare policy.

Northwest, however, is excluding nonrefundable BizFlex fares and also chose to leave its same-day standby policy unchanged, meaning passengers still can try their luck waiting for a different flight at no additional cost. Both American and Continental as of Jan. 1 will charge passengers ticketed on nonrefundable fares $100 to fly on a standby-basis for an alternative flight on the same day. US Airways' policy completely disallows such passengers from flying standby. Northwest still will charge passengers $100 for confirmed same-day itinerary changes.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have not yet announced any changes to nonrefundable fare or standby policies.

In a related policy tweak, Northwest upped the change fee by $50 for nonrefundable fares on routes between the United States and Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The fee for changing such fares before departure now is $200.

Separately, Northwest followed Continental and others in raising and expanding the scope of paper ticket surcharges. The carrier now charges $25 for paper tickets on itineraries where electronic tickets are available, regardless of the point of sale. Northwest's international paper ticket surcharge, also $25, does not apply to bookings made through travel agencies. A company official said Northwest for nearly a year has been working with global distribution systems on an automated paper ticket surcharge collection solution.

Meanwhile, Northwest today launched a new promotion for companies enrolled in its BizPerks corporate program, discounting tickets by an additional 5 percent to 10 percent off published full business fares. To earn the extra discount, enrolled BizPerks companies must complete travel by June 30, 2003.