Making a trip to Asia next week. Purchased roundtrip ticket in H class back in February. Was looking into returning on a different date and I could find H availability on line. Could not change the ticket online via the web so called elite line. They stated no H available. Called back 4 TIMES and told only y available and the cost would bet 2k! ( iwas transferred to several different people and disconnected twice). I said no thankyou and I was able to book a one-way return in H online for slightly more than 1/2 the 2K quote.

Question 1-- Can I cancel the current return trip from the roundtrip H class ticket purchased in February and get a refund of 1/2 the fare and return using the separately purchased one-way H fare ticket?

Question2-- Why the heck could I purchase a ticket in H class online when the elite desk agents repeatedly told me there was no availablity in that class. This is ridiculous!

#1 - not likely.

#2 - you should be able to get the seat, unless the fare rules of a r/t H fare prevent you from booking the return you want. For example, if the r/t H fare requires a minimum stay that you won't meet then you can't change your ticket to get it. Basically it comes down to both finding availability AND meeting the fare rules. If you can do both then you should be able to just pay the change fee. If not, no love for you.

My understanding was that most H fares are refundable. Granted, the OP may have ended up with an H fare that wasn't, but I'd have thought that in most cases he would be able to get the return portion of the H refunded. It is, of course, impossible to tell for certain without looking at the actual fare rules for the OP's itinerary

Agreed. If, however, the rules were not being broken, it could very well have been a glitch in the rebooking engine; which is also why the agents weren't able to book an H fare for him - they were also trying to change the itinerary, not cancel the return leg and book a new one way return.

Flyer57, if I were you, I would very carefully read the fare rules for your existing return itinerary. If they allow a refund of an unused portion of the itinerary, and you already have a return on your new desired date booked in H, then I'd do it.

I appreciate the comments. When purchased, the H was "refundable". It actually seems impossible to view the fare rules for an already purchased fare.

You can always call CO and ask if they could refund the return leg, especially if you already have an alternate booked. If they say, "Yes", then do it. Telephone agents, thankfully, still have visibility to the fare classes of a purchased itinerary.

i actually did just that. flew ewr- hkg in H....about a week before my return date, i called up the reservations desk (oh, and i had already been upgraded to bf) to have them switch my date to two weeks later. i already went to the website to make sure that the same flight would be ht esame price- no problems- they charged me the 250 change fee plus 25bucks for a saturday flight. that was it.

and luckily i was able to also move my bf upgrade to the new date too...

IME, when you see something online that you cannot book, call co.com support, not the elite line. If you can see the "H" fare for the date you want, they ought to be able to accomplish the change.

Thanks for the opinions. I have decided to take my oneway earlier return and try and refund the previous return AFTER I am back home. I'll let you know how it goes.