Originally Posted by
Gate45
2/ Move the Y return to a later date. That's safe, but also expensive since my ticket was dirt cheap - actually it might be so cheap that no change is possible at all and we would back to option 1 where I have to share my story with the CS agent...
KLM's fare structure can be viewed
here.
The cheapest fare classes in intercontinental travel - T/N/R/V, plus some Q tickets, are technically not changeable at all. [All European travel is now changeable - the very cheapest fare class was up until recently also not changeable - again, we don't know what type of ticket you have, or when you bought it, though I guess you are talking intercontinental travel in one of the very cheapest fare bucketes]. To change these "non changeable" tickets, you would presumably have to "buy up" to the next available changeable fare, and also pay some penalty/change fee. So as you say, it could be quite expensive.
Is your award ticket refundable? As long as it's not a promoaward, you should be able to get something back (Flex Awards are fully refundable, classic awards have a fee of, if I remember correctly, €45 to refund).
The cheapest thing to do would be to cancel your award - if that can be done.