I have a $450 ticket (H class, I think) for a trip to SNA/Irvine that got cancelled. I already have a free ticket for my wife to join me on this trip, although she is arriving a few days after me (she has family in SAN (san Diego) which is close to Irvine). I extended my trip for a few days to get Sat stay and hang in SAN with wife/her family.

I would like to now move my travel to match my wife's itinerary. I can buy a new $350 ticket for this. I note that with the $100 charge I could probably get this change for 'free'.

However, I suspect I will be buying a B-class ticket to Europe in the next month or so. Can I instead use my $450 ticket as 'full credit' towards this higher fare class? Meaning I wouldnt lose the $100? I think there is a rule about waiving the fee for higher fares, but cant determine whether its only for the same itinerary.

Suggestions appreciated.

Sorry, but I don't think that will work because your Europe trip will involve different cities. I do believe they will waive the change fee to a higher fare, but only on the same itinerary (i.e., no change in dates or city pairs). But, I think they'd hit you with the $100 to use your H class SAN ticket towards a B class Europe ticket. But, go ahead and ask. The worst they could do is say "no".

Now, this crazy thought just popped into my head that maybe you could upgrade your SAN ticket to a fully-refundable Y fare without having to pay a change fee. Then call back and have the entire Y fare refunded?? I don't know though...that seems to crazy to work, and I'm sure the airlines have a system in place to stop people doing that.

Of course, the other suggestion I could offer is to change your wife's free ticket to match yours. There is no fee to change the dates of travel on award tickets as long as city pairs are the same and there is availability on the flights you want. Either way, though, I guess you're stuck paying $100 more than you'd like to.

[This message has been edited by ThisFlightNoFuel (edited 05-07-2001).]