Originally Posted by
pmax
I've just run into a similar incident. MUC-YYZ schedule changes in the winter, no notification (yes it's early, but still...). I noticed myself that they decided I could stay in Europe one day longer.
"Yeah, I guess the guy who paid for Executive First for 3 days in Europe can just stay an extra day..." I called reservations to correct the situation and was told that I may only change the return leg, not the outbound, for free. It was 2 C class fares. I was given the option of leaving at 7am or much later, on a routing for fewer EQM, and that's all. I wouldn't call that winning the lottery.
I'm surprised at that. I think if you had held your guns you should have been able to get a full refund and then rebook the entire trip that meets your needs. I've used schedule changes to get out of a trip that I no longer needed without having to pay cancellation fees on T+ fare.
I agree that schedule changes can be your friend, but almost understand that the original schedule is often what I really wanted. Although the last change they made actually worked better when they moved my flight from the morning to afternoon and extended my vacation, so it can go either way.