Originally Posted by
trvlr98765
(Numbers are made up, but the relative differences are correct.) She said the r/t base fare I paid was $1000, but total cost was $1800 including $500 of "international surcharge." Meanwhile the oneway base fare was $1050. Therefore, I thought that (oneway base fare + oneway taxes and fees) would be less than (r/t base fare + r/t taxes and fees), so I thought I could get a tiny refund amount. ...
You can not seperate International surchager from base fare -- they are both part of the fare. Need the taxes and surcharge for the OW (total) fare to determine the refund, I would quess very little.
Originally Posted by
trvlr98765
You are totally right, and that's exactly what I did. The first agent (Premier Desk) was really strange. I told her I want to go home during a range of 3 dates, and asked her what the cheapest option would be. She said she can't tell me what the new flight will cost, and I need to randomly pick a flight, and she'll check with rates desk and tell me the cost. She told me that my chosen flight would be $3000 more expensive. But when I got a different agent (who answered saying 1K desk), she also had to talk to rates desk, but she correctly hypothesized that the H-class option (instead of Y) would be economical. Indeed, I got a FFC for $90 that doesn't have any rules regarding combinability with my (now completely used) ticket. ...
Changing a international RT like this, is very complex, hence the need to consult the rate desk. And subtle changes (for instance, impacts of fare combinability) can make large differences, this is beyond most phone agents.