Originally Posted by
kaitlyn2004
I am going on an extended trip to NZ but am really unsure of when I intend to return. However, booking the return trip is minimally more expensive than just buying a 1way (plus I think for visa I need to have the return flight booked/purchased).
The return is probably 4-6 months after my flight in. Any way to have flexibility built in? A quick search looks like change fees on AA are rather astronomical...
How do people normally handle this sort of a situation? Just pick a date and stick to it for better or worse?
Looking at the AA r/t fares from LAX-AKL, the change fees do not look that bad
The cheapest fare showing on Expert Flyer ( for February ) shows a change fee of $100 and a $200 cancellation penalty
That fare does have a 6 month maximum stay
The biggest price jump seems to be if you choose to stay > 6 months where the cheapest 12 month stay fare is about $800 more than the cheapest 6 month stay
With a $100 change fee, just book a date that may be ok and then pay the $100 ( and fare difference ) if you need to change the date later
Just make sure to make the change before the date of the flight that is booked, since there is a $500 no-show fee