Trying to find ticket restrictions
 

My mother is about to purchase a ticket on Cathay BOM-HKG-SFO with a 1 year validity from a travel agent in India. We want the ability to change the retun date without incurring any additional fees/penalties/etc. The travel agent is confirming that but I thought I would double check. I called Cathay and they told me to get that information from the travel agent. I can't find the fare restrictions on the info that the travel agent has sent me. I do see "Reservation confirmed - L Economy" there though and the fare quoted is Rs 61969 - about $1297 . Was hoping that some of you knowledgeable folks might be able to give some guidance.

I can't speak for Cathay specifically, but on most airlines, even if you have a fare with no change fee, you would still need to pay any fare difference between your original fare and whatever the amount is when you make the change on the return.

As an example, a few years ago I (my company's customer, actually) paid $1800 for a round trip from Orlando to Oakland, CA on United, in coach. The fare was fully refundable. I ended up finishing my work a couple of days early, and called UA to see about moving my return up two days. The only fare available was $145 more, and would require me to buy up that amount (still in coach).

Thanks djk7. So, I guess the probability of paying the "fare difference" would depend on how available "L" class tickets would be on Cathay around the time we have to make the change. Can anybody comment on this?