Changing return dates
 

I guess that this is a very easy question, but since it is something I have never done before, I prefer to double check with the experts!

My wife and I will be visiting the UK for a few weeks in March and we will book a CX ticket HKG - LHR - EDI - LHR - HKG (the Heathrow - Edinburgh flights will of course be with BA). I will book the tickets in the usual way, with same day connections in both directions. However, if we decide to stop over for a few days in London on the way back, can we change the ticket so that there are a couple of days between the EDI - LHR and the LHR - HKG flights? It will be a modifiable ticket, but I am suddenly wondering if I can still split the return like this. Or if we do, will it completely mess up the pricing so that we would be hit with a massive extra amount to pay, over and above the usual price conditions?

Thanks for your advice !

When booking you can definitely do as you describe. There's some extra taxes to pay. You can use the "multi-sector booking" online to check the prices.

To change it after ticketed will depend on your ticketing rules and there's probably change fees if it's a lower Y class. So you can only find this out by calling reservations and asking for the costs to change.

Thanks for this. We will be in PE and it will be the ticket class that lets you change dates etc. free, subject to any fare adjustment. We will book a conventional itinerary, with quick connections both ways, so my concern was if there was a "maximum connection time" that might stop us trying to break the return trip for a few days in London....

Changing return dates
 

For "a few days" I think you need to look at whether the fare allows a stopover, and if so whether there are any restrictions on doing it on the outbound vs the return, etc. What you're proposing wouldn't be a connection.

Right, that is what was in my mind....thanks. Do you happen to know what qualifies as a connection....within 24 hours?

When I have booked this layover in the past the fare has been the same or only slightly different when stopping over in LHR.

Thanks for your comment, how long was your stopover in London, out of interest?

Transit < 24 hrs
Stopover > 24 hrs

A few days.

Thanks for the helpful replies. So if I book with a connection both ways and then subsequently we want to switch to a stopover on the return, I guess this has to be done by phone and not on-line.

Changing return dates
 

Might this be a case where it's better to go through a TA instead of self-service online? A good TA would be able to apprise you of the precise fare rules before booking and can make sure you have a fare that allows this stopover if necessary.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, I should have thought of this, but I do all travel stuff myself on-line and have lost the habit of using TAs! But it is a good idea to check with TA in advance, like you say.

I can sympathize with the DIY instinct! But I found TAs invaluable for anything complex on CX since the website is often useless and you have no idea how good any phone agent you get will be. Also I came to suspect that for more complex itineraries TAs are able to see better fares than appear on the website, although I have nothing other than a hunch to back that up and may be proven wrong.

@crazyJ82: thanks again, this is definitely the way to go on this occasion. I agree 100% about the pathetic CX website and app... I use the AF app from time to time and comparing it to CX's is like putting a Ferrari beside a Model T Ford.

I almost always use a TA. Good TAs can be very helpful in may ways. If OP may consider stopover for a transit, let them know when you book.

Tickets without change fees are getting rare those days, even in F class.
Rare or very expensive. CX often has reasonable change fees. But the real expense can be fare adjustment when your fare bucket is not available anymore on all or part of the itin.
So check what kind of change fee you can get, rather than looking only for zero.

Since I stopped getting other people to pay for my tickets (:D), I have always travelled PE to Europe, E tarif I think, and I know that have changed a couple of times without any fees, or even any fare adjustment. Whenever I was looking at changing, it actually seemed that the PE fares don't vary that much, but maybe I was just lucky.

Your advice is good, especially since I hadn't focused on the difference between a connection and a stopover - despite years of travelling, I have never needed to know the difference, so at least I am now alerted to what to look our for !

BTW, I do not share your enthusiasm for AF website. Indeed their mobile app is now good. But AF usually only provides you with the cheapest and possibly fully flexible fares. Not possible to see what are other fares with different restrictions as some airlines do. CX website is no better.

I only use AF now for simple CDG - EDI - CDG flights and I actually find that the app always gives me what I need in terms of options price-wise, but that means I can't really judge well, I suppose.

My comments about the websites and apps were related to user friendliness and general layout, where I really like what AF does, compared to the heap of garbage that CX has put out there !