Endorsing tickets when changing flights
Since arriving in Europe last Summer, I have noticed that: (i) all routes must be ticketed with the specific flight; and (ii) it is usually necessary to get one's ticket endorsed before a second airline will accept the ticket (even when having purchased a full fare business class) whereas in Asia, we always had our return flights left as "open" on the coupon and with this it was almost never necessary to worry about an endorsement. For example, today I had to change from a British Midland flight using a full fair/no restrictions Iberia issued ticket to a BA flight. I had to go to Iberia and have them endorse the coupon to BA. When in Asia, a CX ticket could be left as an "open" return and I could switch to SQ, PAL, TG, you name it. Why is this so? What are the reasons? The whole practice is tiring as many trips see you having to change reservations as meetings go overtime and then at the airport having to run from one terminal to another just to get the silly endorsement, nano-seconds before the gate closes. Help!!!
[This message has been edited by man in black (edited 25 May 2001).]