The real reason people buy non refundable tickets is that they are simply less expensive that refundable tickets. Usually, not always, they are much less. Even with the change fee assessed the purchaser still us usually money ahead.

I guess I do not understand why people buy non refundable tickets and then grumble when the airline charges a change fee. If you want the flexability to make a change for free then book a changeable / refundable ticket and pay the premium. I understand things change, especially when you book months ahead, but that is a chance you take. It is your responsibility to understand the terms of the ticket and any fees or penalites that apply to it.

In some cases you can actually get upgraded to FC if you buy a full fare coach ticket that is upgradable, but will also be much more expensive that the cheapest non refundable one.

You are correct. I apologize. I was looking at a receipt that already had a $150 change with it.

Sorry to all about that.

Not a problem...I appreciate the insight everyone posted.

The CO elite line informed me that Intl Change fees are $200 per change.

I have 2 BF tickets to LGW for July in R class. I had to change the return one day because of a change in ground schedule. The change for those tickets was $300 per ticket. It appears that the change fee depends on the class of service as well. However, the difference between R and Z or above is at least several thousand dollars per ticket, so I am still doing better with the discounted BC tickets.

We recently flew EWR-PEK-EWR, on an R fare ($2400 per ticket). We had to change both our outbound (before we left) and then our return (while we were in China) and I was charged $200 per ticket X 3 each time.

Ouch, $1200!!! I will take my $200 fee times 1 and be a happy camper...:)

Hopefully you recouped some of that by visiting the Beijing markets and brought back some nice clothing, pearls, etc..

Whoa, there, fella. Just because the usurious terms are clearly spelled out doesn't make them right. I mean, these change fees are truly a "contract of adhesion." If you want to cross the Pond, and don't want such onerous change fees, your choices essentially are: 1) swim; or 2) buy a ticket at double (or more!) the price.

There is nothing wrong with arguing that a $200 fee to change a European ticket (plus, of course, the likely fare increase!) is wrong. It is a bad way to do business. You may disagree, but I think most folks would agree that this is a very consumer-unfriendly policy. Continental should do better for its customers, and I don't mind saying it.

Yes, this is true for me. By buying the cheaper tickets I come out far ahead even considering the relatively few times I have to change them - or even having to toss the return portion in the trash...

Having bought several AF tickets that were completely unchangeable, at any fee, I must say that is much worse. So I "appreciate" the ability to change the cheap fares even with a fee.

All that said though, complaining about the existence of change fees or complaining about the fees increasing are two completely different issues.

If the fees have actually increased, then I for one sympathize with the whiners...

AF nonrefundable tickets are completely unchangeable? That's not good for me to hear given that I have one that I want to change ...

My issue wasn't the change fee itself -- $200 seems hefty, but it's the terms -- my issue was that my friend got charged less to change his than I would have, $75 v. $200 on the same itinerary. I purchased them together and then split the res, and each ticket cost the same, so I'm assuming same fair class. More an issue of consistency for me.

No, no, not all of them - but the really cheap ones I bought were.
I saw this in the terms and bought them anyway knowing the risk...

Better check the terms of your specific fares to see what you can and can't do, and how much the fee.

I have no idea what you are trying to say. I think it's consumer-unfriendly for CO to charge $1000 to go to Europe in the summer. A bad way to do business. :rolleyes:

Add to that, one has to fly a single-aisle 757 with no PTV. No menu, no towel. Tight legroom. EWR. Lousy FF program that has no reward availability. Do I have to say more?

CO should be giving their passengers $1,000 to fly them across the pond in the summer, and give them $200 who ask to change their itinerary!

;)

I agree that $200 is a bit much. I know, I know. CO is in this to make money, yadda, yadda. But I just don't care whether they make money or not - I'm not stupid enough to invest in the airline industry. $200 for the privilege of switching to either a higher fare or a less full flight is definitely not customer friendly. And besides, when did this site turn into the CO cheering section? I sure care more about the systemic, anti-consumer issues with CO (50% EQMs, poor reward availability, high change fees, awful legroom, $10 wines in BF) than I do about whether a Gold happened to get upgraded before a Plat in some unverified, probably isolated incident.

And besides, given the financial mess that the major airlines are in, how can one be so flippant when someone suggests that their business model isn't necessarily the best one? I am not saying that there is a 1:1 causal connection, but the only consistently profitable airline has the most liberal refund and re-booking fees, as well as the most transparent pricing model. Oh, I know that the CO business is "different" and that the Southwest model won't work for a full-service, international, hub and spoke model...

But, given the minscule profits CO eeks out, despite having what might be the single most valuable hub (EWR) of any US airline, I just don't understand why one would assume that every move they make is the right one. There are a lot of reasons why CO might find it worthwhile to lower their change fees - customer loyalty, increased loads, possible premium pricing. I conceed that there are plenty of reasons why they may not find it worthwhile, but I just don't think it is so clear cut that lower change fees would hurt CO.

I'm sorry -- I still don't get what people are bit*hing about. They sell fares with no change fees, and sometimes they have fares with lower (or higher) change fees. It's more or less all disclosed up front, and the consumer can decide what s/he wants to purchase.

Would you rather just have them charge $200 more for the ticket and let you make one change for free? I don't see you complaining about the fares they charge (ok, to be fair, there's another thread on that... :) ). They charge what the market can bear -- in terms of both fares and change fees. It's pretty much a basic tenets of economics, and it doesn't matter whether or not you invest in the business. It's about being realistic. Nobody's cheering for change fees. It's just that the enlightened ones recognize the reality of the situation. All airlines do it, and usually the change fees are competitive. When JetBlue came to the NY-FL marketplace, change fees on many of CO's fares dropped from $100 to $30. And I think it's been mentioned, but you should definitely note that there exist fares on foreign carriers that are absolutely non-changeable. Not even for a fee. I don't think I've ever seen one of those from a U.S. airline. So to argue that a $200 change fee is consumer-unfriendly is just silly.
Do you care to share with us why you don't think it's so clear cut? Why don't they just lower ALL their fares by $50 or whatever?