Trying to get change fee negotiated down
Dec 3, 2019, 6:12 am
#16
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Denver, Colorado
Programs: IHG Spire, Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Titanium, Mileage Plus Gold
Posts: 1,736
book the flight that you want to take before it gets even more expensive, and hope for a weather waiver or schedule change that will allow you to cancel your original flight for a full refund ... if no weather waiver is in the cards in the last ~12 hours before scheduled departure, cancel the reservation anyway; when you try to apply the e-credit to a future booking, the system will deduct the $200 fee
Dec 3, 2019, 6:41 am
#17
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
Whether those people have done this 3 times or 30 is not known, not is it clear that it always occurs.
Dec 3, 2019, 7:27 am
#18
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
If you get the change fee waived 10 times, each time because your grandma died, they might start to get suspicious about how many times the same person can die. An exaggeration, of course. But in general, if you have a history of asking for special exceptions due to extenuating circumstances, you might well get a note in your file.
I think the letter has people on edge but even if real, it’s for extreme cases. Everyone else can operate as normal
Dec 3, 2019, 7:30 am
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Back in Reds Country (DAY/CVG). Previously: SEA & SAT.
Programs: DL PM 1MM, AA PLAT, UA Silver, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 10,352
Maybe status comes into play but I've had DL waive the change fee when upgrading from Y to F and moving to a different flight (same day) where the buy-up was cheaper than the buy-up on my current flight. I've also had AA do it where I had no status at the time. YMMV.
Dec 3, 2019, 7:38 am
#20
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: DEN
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 583
Back to the topic, I have had Delta waive change fees twice (never a difference in fare though) by briefly explaining the situation and being blunt about asking for a waiver. I’m always incredibly friendly in good times and during bad (IRROPS, etc.) It goes a long way. Agents are people too and I find with most airlines that they’ll bend the rules when the request is succinct, clearly understandable, and reasonable. I think reasonable is the key word.
Dec 3, 2019, 8:31 pm
#21
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: SkyMiles, HHonors, Marriott
Posts: 129
Can I just add, Delta does the humanitarian thing very well? I've had two instances where they waived the change fee. One involved a funeral. The other was a Major Medical Incident while I was on the road, and was told by the doctor in no uncertain terms that I would be traveling home as soon as I was somewhat stable, and would not be continuing along my planned itinerary. Not only did Delta waive the change fee, they waived the (not insignificant) price difference to rewrite my ticket to get me straight home.
Yes, they're a business and they have fees and upcharges. But during one of the scariest episodes of my life, they went above and beyond what I could reasonably have expected.
Yes, they're a business and they have fees and upcharges. But during one of the scariest episodes of my life, they went above and beyond what I could reasonably have expected.
Dec 3, 2019, 10:23 pm
#22
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 1,880
Aside from that though, I got numerous waivers of change fees when I wanted to change due to personal reasons. Perhaps this was partly because I also paid many change fees for business reasons, so it’s not like I was asking for a waiver for the majority of my changes. There were a few times where the rep said they could reduce the change fee but not waive it entirely.