I am thinking of booking a return with 6 months in between (thinking of making 2 trips by combining it with another ticket).

Understand that this R class ticket has 6 months validity. In the event I can't fly on the selected return date due to unforeseen reasons, anyone knows if there is an option to reissue to a fare that has a 1 year validity (paying the change fee and fare difference to the more flexible fare class)?