I have a $527 ticket that I am not flying. I want to cancel it and exchange the ticket for a new $290 ticket. There is an absurd $150 change fee (but I will not rant about that here). They want to give me a $237 Travel Certificate, but say I must pay the $150 change fee in NEW cash, and that it can't come out of the Travel Certificate.
Can this be true? Is there a workaround?
Yes there is. You cancel the itinerary, and you get a $527 credit with CO. You'll have 1 year to use it, and when you do, the $150 change fee will be automatically subtracted. You shouldn't have to pay out of pocket. The catch here is not to change your flight, but rather cancel it, and reuse the resulting credit. If the new flight is less than $377, you'll have the balance stored with CO to be used for yet another flight in the future.