Unexpected result when changing Q fare
Hi all -- I have a bit of an oddball question. I have an AF long-haul economy booking in booking class Q (a JFK-CDG round-trip), for which I might need to change the return date. I knew when I booked that this was a ticket type that would incur a US$300 fee.
However, when I went in and did a test rebooking to see what my new chosen combination of flights would cost, to my pleasant surprise the fee would only be $273 -- the $300 change fee was offset by a fare difference of -$26 (and some small tax adjustment) with a new booking code in N.
I'm not going to complain of course, but I had always been under the impression that you'd only ever pay a fare difference not in your favor, i.e. the cost would only ever be $300 or more. Is this to be expected?