Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
You're right that there shouldn't have been a change fee charged within 24 hours of purchase.
My *guess* is that the agent was confused about changing the ticket where you were checked in but hadn't yet flown the first segment. Within 24 hours, normally the agent would completely cancel the ticket for a full refund and issue a totally new ticket at current prices, but if your fare class for the outbound segment was no longer available for sale, agents can do an implicit favor by altering rather than canceling the original ticket.
You haven't been very precise about the new charges, but my guess is that you were charged for the entire new ticket but only credited for the return portion of the original ticket because of confusion about your having checked in but not yet flown the first segment.
Here's how the add collect was itemized:
Fare Difference - $461.39 USD
Taxes, Fees & Charges - $34.61 USD
Service Charge - $0.00 USD
Total Charged - $496.00 USD
Appreciate your help, by the way... guess I will know soon enough when I hear from DL directly. I asked them to go back to the time of the add-collect, determine the lowest applicable upfare, and refund the difference in the form of an e-credit. I have no idea whether they even have than capability; even if they do, I suspect they will not be sympathetic.