Originally Posted by
chuck1
I paid for a checked bag, one free change and refund allowed due to illness.
When I was unable to travel for business reasons, I sent an email to Air Baltic who cancelled my reservation and refunded the tax on the ticket.
Is this the correct Air Baltic policy?
Yes, this is the way it works over here. Using (canceled) ticket value towards the purchase of a new ticket is pretty much unheard of in Europe.
When you canceled your ticket and got a refund on your taxes'n'charges you effectively surrendered your right for making any changes to the ticket and whatever the remaining value of the ticket was lost (fortunately I don't think it was much money anyway as fares should be quite low on that route even with your added extras).
The SOP would've been to change the ticket to a future date *before* the flight date (problematic if you don't know when you'll be able to travel) - that is what you paid for with the "one free change" option. If that doesn't work for you then you need to buy a more expensive, more flexible ticket that allows free refunding and changes at any time, even after departure.