A few days ago the New York Times published an article about travel retailers making it easier for travellers to switch to a fare after purchasing a flight ticket or a hotel room. Choosing the right moment to book your trip can be a tricky undertaking. Especially airline pricing systems are notoriously complicated. Sometimes you will get the best deal possible when booking a while in advance, but sometimes last minute purchases will net you a bigger saving.

In an already stagnating leisure market, allowing consumers the flexibility to change to a cheaper fare after booking and paying might be exactly what will push some people over the treshold of parting with disposable income. It might very well increase the number of seats or beds filled at any given moment in time, but it does give the operator (airline or hotel) a lower profit margin per guest. That begs the question what is more important, quality or quantity?

In my view, the answer is quantity. To get us out of the current economic mess, money will need to start changing hands again. In other words, the more consumers consume the quicker we will begin the recovery process. Very crudely that means we need is as many people as possible to spend as much as they can spare. Hence my answer to the earlier question being quantity.

Allowing travellers the flexibility of changing their booking to a cheaper rate after the booking process has been completed will, again, likely give more people that little push they need to spend on travel. Therefore reading that United Airlines has decided to fine people $150 for changing to a cheaper fare was a little bit disappointing. Clearly United Airlines is concerned with the short-term benefit to their bottom line, not in pulling its weight in getting out of the recession.

Over the past few weeks the dangers of protectionism to an economic recovery have been pointed out in several well-read publications. What we need to turn the downturn around is to work together on getting money flowing again, not protection of individual (or corporate, or national) interests. That too goes for United Airlines.