noob2022

Background - Flying from LAX to LHR then LHR to either GLA or EDI. (Business)

I was due to fly the above on May 2023. Had an emergency and had to change the outgoing flight. It cost me $2300 dollars to change. No choice, had to do it.
Whilst in the UK, I had to change the return flight too. Luckily, it was 0 dollars.

Have a flight that leaves on Tues for the above again. However I am trying to change the return flight (EDI to LHR to LAX) however it's showing $6700. Does that sound right? (no way I'm going to do it as it's just a couple of days difference)

Does anyone know if there is a way on the BA app to find out which days would cost less to change?

Hope this makes sense. Thanks!

corporate-wage-slave

I suspect buying inflexible tickets may be unwise, when your travel arrangements seems rather flexible.

The whole issue will revolve around your fare basis and booking class. Usually changing the return flight after the first flight isn't too expensive, since it's usually Historic Faring, but you need to find the flight when EDI + LHR is in say booking class I. You can do this to some extent by playing around with BA.com to find date + flight combinations which are cheaper than the one you are considering. It's easier if you have a subscription to ExpertFlyer or use ITA Matrix, but you need to bring with you quite some knowledge of fare structures, and that's not a 2 minute exercise. Realistically you are best off talking to a skilled agent at a Contact Centre to see if they can come up with cheaper options, usually they are very happy to do some searching for you. Broadly speaking Tuesday and Wednesdays are the cheapest days of the week but I fear that you are looking at services which are quite busy and so won't be cheap to change.

sammyg901

It's a little hard to follow but if you haven't flown yet at all then it's likely better to wait until you've flown the outbound before trying to change the inbound. Then you might find $0 again, all depends on what you paid originally and the availability now

plas

I made a change via Twitter DM for a return flight (after flying the outbound) this week. The agent suggested one of the flights I had suggested was cheaper to change to, so I don't see why they wouldn't be able to tell you which days would be cheaper. Twitter agents were super helpful/friendly and ended up calling me to process payment.

noob2022

Twitter! (Xwitter). Of course - thank you!

And yeh, good idea I'll wait until I've flown out @sammyg901

sammyg901

To add, availability is often very fluid, so if you don't see a figure you like then you can check back later.

Expert flyer is very useful for this, if you know what fare class you're booked in (by requesting your eticket from Finnair and looking for the first letter of the "fare basis" of your return leg) you can then have a look in expertflyer and keep an eye on your desired long haul flight

You can usually set alerts up but your availability from EDI will be different than just leaving out of London. The beta version of expertflyer let's you set up alerts for this scenario but I don't know how reliable they are . The other thing someone will clarify I'm sure is if you should be looking at UK or US "point of sale"

Chiller3333

I'd recommend the same. Once the outbound has been flown, repricing will be at historical, rather than current, fares.
The quote you got makes it sound like they are refaring into an expensive fare due to advance purchasing requirements being what they are.

BLHD

Changes before any travel takes place are repriced as if you were booking the whole thing today. always better to leave any return chanes to after the outbound has taken place.

sammyg901

Double post

noob2022

I was quite surprised (but very happy) that the return flight was $0 last time. So I'll try in a few weeks then.
Thanks all!

orbitmic

I don't have much to add to what others have said except that since your plans seem to change often, it's probably best to wait till you are certain that your new plans are final before attempting to change anything. If your fare has a change fee, that will be levied every time and also, normally, you'll only be allowed to move to ever more expensive fares rather than get anything back if something cheaper than whatever your existing ticket exists.

Beyond that, the bottom line is that the cheaper the fares that exist in a given flight, the cheaper your change will be - but as long as you respect the original ticket conditions. So for instance, if your initial fare has a 5 day minimum stay and what you are trying to do is to move to a date that would take your stay below that minimum, then the repricing will quickly become expensive.

ijgordon

Depends on the specific rules of the fare purchased. There are definitely fares (not sure on BA) that use historical fares even before the first segment is flown as long as the first segment does not change (and maybe some additional conditions). However it may not automatically reprice this way and you�d have to convince an agent to use the historical fare. But once you�ve flown the outbound, the system usually defaults to historical fares so it�s �easier� to wait.

And so if you�re using historical fares, the same inventory is available and there are no restrictions on seasonality/day of week or min stay that you�re violating, the fare differential should be zero. Changing day of week may cause a modest price change. Having to change booking class due to availability/flights being more full can cause a significant price change.

noob2022

Just wanted to update on this since I did have to change my flight due to an illness.
I did get in touch with someone thru Twitter and got a return flight for $0. I waited until a week before I was originally due to fly back.
However there was only one. Which was fine.