BigFlyer

As I understand it, all non-BE fares now are "changeable but you have to pay the fare difference". What does that mean?

Let's say on May 1st I buy a RT fare ticket from LAX to ATL, outbound on May 15, return on May 30. Booked in V. I decide I want to come back on June 1st instead - but there are no V seats available, only T seats. So I then have to pay a fare difference? Based on the difference between a V fare and a T fare on May 1st, the day I bought the ticket, and we ignore advance purchase requirements?

Do I have that right? Is there some place online where Delta explains this?

xliioper

There's a "Fare Rules" link at the checkout page. The "Voluntary Changes" section has the recalculation rules for changes. The "Penalties" section will denote whether you have a non-refundable or refundable fare (and change fees when they used to have them). There's some refundable fares that have a fee if you wish to refund them (some of the D1 fares on JFK-LHR, for example).

MSPeconomist

It's usually better to change the return portion of a RT after the outbound has been flown as DL can then use "historical" fares rather than repricing the entire ticket, based on the fare as if you had purchased a new ticket on that date and probably not qualifying for most of the advanced purchase discount fares.

For DL domestic fares, changeable means that the ticket can be changed with no change fee, although other carriers and certain international routes can have fares that are changeable with a penalty in contrast to the fare losing all value if not flown exactly as ticketed.

BigFlyer

So if you buy a domestic RT ticket but it is two one-way fares - am I correct that if you change the return you don't get the historical fare - so if on the day of your return flight you change it to the next day you have to pay whatever people are paying to buy a ticket one day in advance?

MSPeconomist

No, I think you would pay nothing if a seat is available in your original fare class. That's the beauty of changing a RT after flying the outbound. AFAIK fares that are done on a one way basis work the same way if everything is on a single ticket and PNR, but I'm not sure. In a sense, having two OW fares gives you something similar to a multi-city ticket in that you're (typically) buying each part (direction, not segment) on a standalone price basis.

If you have two completely separate OW tickets, you would change them by getting a credit from cancelling the one you originally purchased and then paying the difference in price for a new ticket. It shouldn't be possible to buy a cheap OW ticket far in advance (deep discount fare) as a placeholder and then change it to what date you really want close to departure. IIRC there are some threads essentially about this in the context of mistake fares in the mileage run discussion subforum.

I'm sure some experts will be along soon who can give definitive answers and explanations.

BigFlyer

The fact that someone like you, who has been on here for years, is very knowledgeable, and has 92K+ posts doesn't know for sure tells you how complex this is. The average traveler doesn't have a chance.

xliioper

If you change either flight before departure on a single ticket, they will reprice entire trip using current fares, bucket availability, and measure advance purchase requirements for fares from re-issue date. If you wait until after departure, they can use the historical fares and original issue date to measure advance purchase requirements for your return flight and potentially qualify for cheaper fares. That is why people recommend waiting until after departure if you only want to change the return flight and the new fares are higher due to no longer meeting advance purchase requirements of cheaper fares. It is covered in the Voluntary Changes section of the fare rules for changes after departure --

ADV RES IS MEASURED FROM NEW TKT ISSUE DATE IF
CURRENT FARES/FROM PREVIOUS TKT ISSUE DATE IF
HISTORICAL FARES TO DEPARTURE OF FARE COMPONENT

Roundtrip fares vs. one-way fares is a red herring. It only becomes relevant if the change you want to make will no longer meet the min-stay requirements of the roundtrip fares. Roundtrip fares still have two fares involved (outbound and return). They just have a requirement they be booked together on a single ticket (and usually with a min-stay requirement).

BigFlyer

Are the reservation agents smart enough to figure out historical fares? Or do they just type in an itinerary and let it auto-price?

xliioper

It's automated. There's an industry association called ATPCO that develops automation standards around airline ticketing. The one covering voluntary changes is called CAT 31.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATPCO
https://travelindustrybasics.blogspo...ption-and.html

flyerCO

System should auto-price.