Air France Frequence Plus - Ticket transfer or change on AF N fare TATL

Being a star alliance guy, I don't know much on the details of AF and their ticket policies.

A cousin of mine booked an N fair from JFK to CDG continuing to Budapest in L.

He recently changed jobs (after booking tickets) and now gets no vacation time to be able to travel on this ticket. Calling AF, it would cost 280.00 to reschedule the ticket to other dates as long as he flie by January 16.

My question is can he transfer or change name on the ticket to his wife who needs a ticket for a trip she's taking on the same route in a few months.


Thanks!

The vast majority of cheap tickets (of which N is likely to be one) with both AF an all other airlines I know of are non-transferable or only transferable with huge penalties. To know whether your cousin has been exceptionally lucky and got a ticket which is transferable one would need to look at the actual ticket conditions, which he must have received (from AF or from his TA) or which could be retrieved from the full booking code (there are hundreds of different fares booking into bucket N so one would need something like NKXP16US or NKXB67US etc

The vast majority of cheap tickets (of which N is likely to be one) with both AF an all other airlines I know of are non-transferable or only transferable with huge penalties. To know whether your cousin has been exceptionally lucky and got a ticket which is transferable one would need to look at the actual ticket conditions, which he must have received (from AF or from his TA) or which could be retrieved from the full booking code (there are hundreds of different fares booking into bucket N so one would need something like NKXP16US or NKXB67US etc

The N code is the almost the worst level of fare, but what do you expect for $800 to go from JFK to BUD. I called AF for him and the confirmed its not transferrable, only reschedule-able for $280.


thanks.

The N code is the almost the worst level of fare, but what do you expect for $800 to go from JFK to BUD.

Exactly. N is indeed the third cheapest bucket but what I meant was that there are a few special N fares which have more flexible conditions than others. Your cousin is lucky in a way: a few years ago, most N fares were non-changeable at all but since last year, most fares including most N fares have become changeable with a penalty.

The vast majority of cheap tickets (of which N is likely to be one) with both AF an all other airlines I know of are non-transferable or only transferable with huge penalties. To know whether your cousin has been exceptionally lucky and got a ticket which is transferable one would need to look at the actual ticket conditions, which he must have received (from AF or from his TA) or which could be retrieved from the full booking code (there are hundreds of different fares booking into bucket N so one would need something like NKXP16US or NKXB67US etc

Most airlines don't allow name change at all. This is the case with KL/AF, so even on a expensive ticket you would not be able to change the name. Only canceling the ticket and buy a new one would work then.

Losing/changing jobs is for most travel insurances enough reason to refund ticket fees. Perhaps you are insured through a separate policy or perhaps through a credit card of some sort?

Before giving up (indeed you are correct that whether a ticket is changeable/refundable, it's not transferable), take inventory of all insurance which you might have just because things do happen.

1. Did you buy trip-specific insurance for this trip? Read the terms. Some cover only medical emergencies. Some cover anything and some cover job change policies.

2. Does the credit card you used have any coverage?

3. Does your current or future employer have any coverage (some have coverage which applies to all travel, not just business)

4. Does your homeowners, renters, auto have anything in it.

As a general aside, insurance is generally quite cheap and given that none of us can predict what will happen, it's always worth it. Between appendectomies, broken legs, new jobs and the like, there are a lot of variables.