Originally Posted by Ashok
"I" fares have very restricted inventory, charge $50 per change and usually have a three day minimum stay requirement at your destination. That said, they are a real bargain if you can live with the terms.
D is much more freely available and I've never had a problem changing a D ticket.
At least from ARN I is totally non-flexible. No minimum stay but no refund, upgrade or change what so ever.
D is fully flexible
as long as there are D inventory available. From ExpertFlyer:
FARE BASIS CODE
D2EUCBA
BK CODE
D‡ -
PENALTY
CANCELLATIONS ANY TIME CANCELLATIONS PERMITTED. CHANGES ANY TIME CHANGES PERMITTED.
And that is the problem, D inventory is usually zero at least a week before departure, so if you come to the airport and want to get on an earlier flight they force you to upgrade to J. When you then get aboard you see 20 empty business seats and wonder why you had to pay an additional £50.
However, BA has waived the fee for me at least twice when the flight I was originally on happened to be oversold. But, they still wanted it to sound that they did me a big favour... Anyway, I was happy since I got home.