Looks like that line is about to be crossed.
From American Airlines website:
As a result of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mandate, beginning November 1, all passengers will be required to have Secure Flight Passenger Data (SFPD) in their reservation at least 72 hours prior to departure. This is the next phase in a program that was initiated by the TSA in 2009.
It’s oddly worded, but seems to say that you have to buy your ticket three days in advance.
It’s not just AA with the odd wording, it’s in news reporting too:
By November 1st, if you don’t provide this information with your reservation within 72 horus of your flight, you won’t be allowed on the plane.
It hasn’t happened often, but I HAVE in the past bought a ticket for “tomorrow” or even “today”. This new travel feature seems to make that impossible.
Is this just awkward language, or do we really have a three day minimum to fly now?
If this is true then we’re crossing a line. It certainly fails Joe’s Jews in the attic test.
When my dad was dying in a denver hospital, I rushed onto a plane not once, but twice with a less than 24 hour warning.
This plan is horrible.
bluesun – exactly what I was thinking. But maybe that’s where the death panels will come to our aid! “Do you want to wait and pull the next weekend? That will give you the required 3 day waiting period to buy your plane ticket, and you’ll get a discount if you stay over a Saturday night.”
I’m sorry, but if someone cheerfully offered those options to me while a loved one was dying, I would be more apt to set fire to the hospital offices when I got there.
Bet this makes charter pilots happy as it doesn’t seem to apply to them, YET. With this rule business will slow back to a crawl when they can’t get somewhere in a day, and weather delays are going ruin airlines. We have got to start deregulating industries if we want them to survive.