anngi

I'm looking at booking an Optima fare on Iberia on the Iberia website. One of the benefits shows ChangeAllowed without a fee, with some exceptions. Has anyone changed their ticket either or both first flight or return? Wondering if I can do it online or need to call Iberia. How difficult it is? Also read someone posted best to book Iberia on British Airways as BA is either to contact.

craigthemif

I recommend ignoring "change allowed without a fee". I think you'll find it rather harder than you think to actually change flights. And you'd generally have to pay the fare difference, which can be substantial. You also wouldn't be able to change airports / routes - "change" for Iberia is usually same city pair(s), different flight.

anngi

Thanks for your advice. I'm fine with not changing airports/routes just wondering what is the easiest way to change online or on phone. If I change just the date and stay with Optima will there always be an increase in fare?

Yllanes

That's not quite correct, in my experience. You cannot change airports if you make the change online, but you can do it over the phone. I have done this a number of times (admittedly, as an IB+ status holder and Spanish speaker my experience making changes by phone is much less painful than most people's).

You will pay the difference between the fare at the time you are making the change and the fare when you booked. This is unlikely to be zero. Depending on the actual fare you are booking, there can be a penalty on top of that (this can be true for both Óptima and Básica). If you are just changing times or dates, but not airports, you should be able to do it online.

For instance, last Christmas I had an expensive LCG-MAD-SCQ ticket with a Basic fare. I had to change the date of the return and this allowed me to fly to LCG, a more convenient airport. This was easily done by phone. The fare difference was negative, so I just had to pay the € 65 penalty (which was significantly less than a new ticket).