Mar 15, 2020, 10:29 am
Last edit by: Maestro Ramen
FARE RULES:
I pulled down the DL fare rules (these are BUD-SEA but they all appeared nearly identical). I posted them on a share. We can easily grab the AF and KL variants if others need those.
Q: This is a fully flexible fare with free changes. Does that mean I can change the flight dates as I want without paying anything extra?
A: No. The airline simply doesn't charge a change fee. But depending on the fare rules, you will still need to pay the difference to the new price.
Q: But I read that some people could change their flights for free...?
A: The rules for this fare (linked to above) specify that historical pricing shall be used if either at least one flight from the ticket has been taken or the outbound remains the same. In other words, in order to be able to change your flights for free, you must have flown at least one flight from your booking. Otherwise, you can only change the inbound. The outbound has to remain the same or you will be charged the fare difference.
Q: Can I change the rest of the itinerary after flying the first segment without any other charges or additional fare differences?
A: Yes this is possible according to the fare rules where after completing the first segment, you can change the rest of the flights for free (with the condition that the same fare class is available- I-class - in this case. According to the fare rules, after flying the FIRST segment (in the case here BUD-XXX) the historical fare is used. Possible to use the first stopover at AMS or CDG (see post #830).
Q: But some people could change their outbound flights for free!
A: They got lucky. It was probably a bug on the website/in the app. When no flight from the ticket has been flown, the fare rules do not allow changing the outbound without repricing.
Q: Ok, ok, so I can only change the inbound for free. How do I do that?
A: You search for availability for alternative flights on ITA Matrix using "F ..I2FFHU" in the extension codes. You must search for round trip flights as this is a round trip fare. Then you ignore the outbound result (as long as you haven't flown at least one flight from your ticket) and just try to rebook your inbound on the website/app.
Q: I have found availability on ITA Matrix, but the app/website doesn't show me those flights!
A: Keep trying. Sometimes you may have to serach in a different way (split up the searches, e.g. HNL-LAX and LAX-BUD), sometimes you just have to repeat the search several times. But that's no guarantee the desired results will turn up (and without repricing).
Q: It doesn't work. Can I just call the airline to make the changes?
A: Please don't unless you need to. Calling can increase the risk for all of us that they'll change their mind and disallow all further changes, or simply cancel everyone's tickets. However, as this fare has now been running for months and has seen many calls made about it, it is reasonable to expect that calling will not cause issues at this stage. As best practice, avoid attracting attention on the low price paid, and avoid making additional demands or tempting your luck. Remember you get to fly a J ticket for the cost of a Y fare.
Q: How many times can I make changes?
A: In theory, as often as you like, but you can't make more than two changes online/in the app. After that, you'd have to call, which we are trying to avoid.
Q: I've changed my mind. Can I get a refund?
A: Yes, the fare was fully refundable. Just contact the airline or fill out a refund form online.
Q: Due to Coronavirus, I need to extend my travel plan beyond the original expiry date. What can I do?
A: For Delta tickets (starting with 006) you can travel at any point until December 2022. Changes to flights within a 10 month window can be done at any point on the app, following the rules above. If you want to fly later than 10 months from now, you can call Delta and ask them to "park" your ticket. You will receive a ticket number that ties to an eCredit which can be used later to buy tickets. As long as you keep the original itinerary, or if you have flown at least a segment, you will not be charged a fare difference. Bear in mind that the eCredit may only be refundable if your original flight was cancelled (which is very likely in those day and times). Note that only Delta in the US are able to do this so do not call the EU numbers (use Skype to save money on international calls). According to user feedback: iMessage agents seem to also be able to do this, but twitter agents not.
I pulled down the DL fare rules (these are BUD-SEA but they all appeared nearly identical). I posted them on a share. We can easily grab the AF and KL variants if others need those.
Q: This is a fully flexible fare with free changes. Does that mean I can change the flight dates as I want without paying anything extra?
A: No. The airline simply doesn't charge a change fee. But depending on the fare rules, you will still need to pay the difference to the new price.
Q: But I read that some people could change their flights for free...?
A: The rules for this fare (linked to above) specify that historical pricing shall be used if either at least one flight from the ticket has been taken or the outbound remains the same. In other words, in order to be able to change your flights for free, you must have flown at least one flight from your booking. Otherwise, you can only change the inbound. The outbound has to remain the same or you will be charged the fare difference.
Q: Can I change the rest of the itinerary after flying the first segment without any other charges or additional fare differences?
A: Yes this is possible according to the fare rules where after completing the first segment, you can change the rest of the flights for free (with the condition that the same fare class is available- I-class - in this case. According to the fare rules, after flying the FIRST segment (in the case here BUD-XXX) the historical fare is used. Possible to use the first stopover at AMS or CDG (see post #830).
Q: But some people could change their outbound flights for free!
A: They got lucky. It was probably a bug on the website/in the app. When no flight from the ticket has been flown, the fare rules do not allow changing the outbound without repricing.
Q: Ok, ok, so I can only change the inbound for free. How do I do that?
A: You search for availability for alternative flights on ITA Matrix using "F ..I2FFHU" in the extension codes. You must search for round trip flights as this is a round trip fare. Then you ignore the outbound result (as long as you haven't flown at least one flight from your ticket) and just try to rebook your inbound on the website/app.
Q: I have found availability on ITA Matrix, but the app/website doesn't show me those flights!
A: Keep trying. Sometimes you may have to serach in a different way (split up the searches, e.g. HNL-LAX and LAX-BUD), sometimes you just have to repeat the search several times. But that's no guarantee the desired results will turn up (and without repricing).
Q: It doesn't work. Can I just call the airline to make the changes?
A: Please don't unless you need to. Calling can increase the risk for all of us that they'll change their mind and disallow all further changes, or simply cancel everyone's tickets. However, as this fare has now been running for months and has seen many calls made about it, it is reasonable to expect that calling will not cause issues at this stage. As best practice, avoid attracting attention on the low price paid, and avoid making additional demands or tempting your luck. Remember you get to fly a J ticket for the cost of a Y fare.
Q: How many times can I make changes?
A: In theory, as often as you like, but you can't make more than two changes online/in the app. After that, you'd have to call, which we are trying to avoid.
Q: I've changed my mind. Can I get a refund?
A: Yes, the fare was fully refundable. Just contact the airline or fill out a refund form online.
Q: Due to Coronavirus, I need to extend my travel plan beyond the original expiry date. What can I do?
A: For Delta tickets (starting with 006) you can travel at any point until December 2022. Changes to flights within a 10 month window can be done at any point on the app, following the rules above. If you want to fly later than 10 months from now, you can call Delta and ask them to "park" your ticket. You will receive a ticket number that ties to an eCredit which can be used later to buy tickets. As long as you keep the original itinerary, or if you have flown at least a segment, you will not be charged a fare difference. Bear in mind that the eCredit may only be refundable if your original flight was cancelled (which is very likely in those day and times). Note that only Delta in the US are able to do this so do not call the EU numbers (use Skype to save money on international calls). According to user feedback: iMessage agents seem to also be able to do this, but twitter agents not.
{prem fare gone}: AF/KL/DL/VS: BUD-US from $750 R/T
Oct 31, 2020, 4:46 am
#2101
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: ZRH
Programs: QRPC
Posts: 228
One of my booking is scheduled for next week. Expedia booking, 074 ticket stock. There has been a cancellation of the BUD-AMS flight and they have automatically rebooked it to another flight within 3hours. But obviously I can't travel next week due to border restrictions.
So I tried to move it to May 2021 but the agent said there will be a high fare difference to be paid. Only other options would be eCredit (no thanks) or full refund.
So I tried to move it to May 2021 but the agent said there will be a high fare difference to be paid. Only other options would be eCredit (no thanks) or full refund.
Side note: The destination is SEA. A few months ago I would have been able to change the return leg online to HNL plus would have gotten an eCredit refund of just over 300€ probably because it would have used historical pricing and HNL was even cheaper at the beginning of this fare even-though it was not available anymore when I booked my SEA ticket. I didn't do the change online because I didn't want to risk losing the SEA ticket. Well, I have to cancel now anyhow as it seems.
Oct 31, 2020, 6:18 am
#2102
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: VIE/PRG
Programs: FB Platinum, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,592
Seeing both reservations in MMB isn't uncommon and being able to select seats and seeing flights as confirmed does not mean it really is that way. I wouldn't give up until the last chance to be rebooked for later without repricing. Sadly for you the booking was done via OTA.
Oct 31, 2020, 6:21 am
#2103
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL, A3 Gold, M&M SEN, FlyingBlue Gold, AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire Amb
Posts: 902
Update: I've been in contact with KLM via Whatsapp. Even-though its an Expedia issued ticket, after a while they were willing to work on the ticket with me. After agreeing on the new dates in May they said they will have to check with ticketing and come back to me. Afterwards I already saw the new flights in my PNR. Actually I have two roundtrips in my PNR now, both come up as confirmed and I can select seats. Today however, KLM came back to me requesting over 3000€ for moving to the new dates. So I assume the change I see in my ticket are only temporary or whatnot. I contacted the Delta Messaging team to confirm which of the roundtrips are actually active at this point and they said that none of them are and KLM has to review it before I could fly anyhow.
Side note: The destination is SEA. A few months ago I would have been able to change the return leg online to HNL plus would have gotten an eCredit refund of just over 300€ probably because it would have used historical pricing and HNL was even cheaper at the beginning of this fare even-though it was not available anymore when I booked my SEA ticket. I didn't do the change online because I didn't want to risk losing the SEA ticket. Well, I have to cancel now anyhow as it seems.
Side note: The destination is SEA. A few months ago I would have been able to change the return leg online to HNL plus would have gotten an eCredit refund of just over 300€ probably because it would have used historical pricing and HNL was even cheaper at the beginning of this fare even-though it was not available anymore when I booked my SEA ticket. I didn't do the change online because I didn't want to risk losing the SEA ticket. Well, I have to cancel now anyhow as it seems.
Oct 31, 2020, 7:11 am
#2104
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: ZRH
Programs: QRPC
Posts: 228
Thanks, I did that and it worked. KLM Hotline was able to change the ticket to May 2021 now. She at first said I have to go through the OTA but then could still work on the ticket because KLM has worked on it already in the past. She was able to find availability on some dates in May. She also advised that if there are no more cancellations, I could not change it again without fare difference next time. Which makes me think that I should have scheduled to an even later date now that I'm writing it. :P
Oct 31, 2020, 5:10 pm
#2105
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 337
Oct 31, 2020, 5:46 pm
#2106
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: ZRH
Programs: QRPC
Posts: 228
Splendiz happen to know which number you called? A European Number or US Number? We are looking to change our 12 Dec bookings in the coming days once the window is open to book it out in the Sep 2021 time frame (fingers crossed) We did have a cnx flight(s) Actually they cnx our 12 Dec flight out of BUD and moved it to 11 Dec
Oct 31, 2020, 6:28 pm
#2108
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 9
Hello,
I have tickets issued by AF and I would like to change my departure airport to Prague / Vienna / Krakow
I spoke with Delta , however, they are not willing to change the airport, explaining that the ticket is in the AF stock and it is a problem to do that
How can I contribute to change the ticket stock ?
I have tickets issued by AF and I would like to change my departure airport to Prague / Vienna / Krakow
I spoke with Delta , however, they are not willing to change the airport, explaining that the ticket is in the AF stock and it is a problem to do that
How can I contribute to change the ticket stock ?
Oct 31, 2020, 6:57 pm
#2109
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: ZRH
Programs: QRPC
Posts: 228
Oct 31, 2020, 10:54 pm
#2110
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 337
My Data Points to share.
As some may have seen my earlier posts. Originally purchased 5 tickets r/t (BUD-SFO then SFO-BUD) back in March, on KLM site & ticket stock. Depart 12 Dec BUD-AMS-SFO. Return was SFO-CDG-AMS was several days later, on AF metal, but still KLM ticket stock of course.
About a month or so ago KLM cancel our 12 Dec flights (sent a certification/confirmation letter) Then a few days later, was rebooked to leave BUD 24 hours earlier on all the same flight numbers, but leaving 24 hours earlier and on AF ticket stock. Been wanting to now rebook this for early Oct 2021 (not attempting to change start or end locations, only date of departure)
(thanks for the number @Splendiz
Called today the US KLM toll free number (800-618-0104) waited about 25 mins to speak to someone. When I did talk to someone, she sounded like she might be in a Manila based call center perhaps? Gave my PRN and she was able to pull it up. Asked for the dates we were looking for early Oct depart BUD, return a week or so later. Took a bit but she came back and said, yes that should be possible for the 5 of us. She then sent a confirmation of the flights via email, asked me to confirm all the dates, they were just what I was looking for. Then she completed and sent me new tickets (on KLM again and essentially the same as before, but connecting in AMS both ways) There was ZERO pushback, was rather easy and very pleasant.
I was concerned because on the dates I wanted, I knew (according to looking for just specific fare buckets in Matrix ITAsoftware, I knew there was ZERO "I" fare bucket. Because I knew my prior flights were "J" for BUD-AMS and AMS-SFO they were "I" Once we were completed I looked closely at the ticket and saw that these are now "D" for the overwater legs (AMS-SFO-AMS) but stayed J for BUD-AMS-BUD legs) So it seems you do not need "I" fare bucket. At least they didn't put us in that. Although I guess things could be different it someone else calls in and gets a different operator.
I am happy with this, I will still get the same MQD (for DL SM's) And hopefully, next year, by the fall, we will begin to have a semi-normal world!!!!
As some may have seen my earlier posts. Originally purchased 5 tickets r/t (BUD-SFO then SFO-BUD) back in March, on KLM site & ticket stock. Depart 12 Dec BUD-AMS-SFO. Return was SFO-CDG-AMS was several days later, on AF metal, but still KLM ticket stock of course.
About a month or so ago KLM cancel our 12 Dec flights (sent a certification/confirmation letter) Then a few days later, was rebooked to leave BUD 24 hours earlier on all the same flight numbers, but leaving 24 hours earlier and on AF ticket stock. Been wanting to now rebook this for early Oct 2021 (not attempting to change start or end locations, only date of departure)
(thanks for the number @Splendiz
Called today the US KLM toll free number (800-618-0104) waited about 25 mins to speak to someone. When I did talk to someone, she sounded like she might be in a Manila based call center perhaps? Gave my PRN and she was able to pull it up. Asked for the dates we were looking for early Oct depart BUD, return a week or so later. Took a bit but she came back and said, yes that should be possible for the 5 of us. She then sent a confirmation of the flights via email, asked me to confirm all the dates, they were just what I was looking for. Then she completed and sent me new tickets (on KLM again and essentially the same as before, but connecting in AMS both ways) There was ZERO pushback, was rather easy and very pleasant.
I was concerned because on the dates I wanted, I knew (according to looking for just specific fare buckets in Matrix ITAsoftware, I knew there was ZERO "I" fare bucket. Because I knew my prior flights were "J" for BUD-AMS and AMS-SFO they were "I" Once we were completed I looked closely at the ticket and saw that these are now "D" for the overwater legs (AMS-SFO-AMS) but stayed J for BUD-AMS-BUD legs) So it seems you do not need "I" fare bucket. At least they didn't put us in that. Although I guess things could be different it someone else calls in and gets a different operator.
I am happy with this, I will still get the same MQD (for DL SM's) And hopefully, next year, by the fall, we will begin to have a semi-normal world!!!!
Nov 1, 2020, 5:48 am
#2111
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 102
Hello,
I have tickets issued by AF and I would like to change my departure airport to Prague / Vienna / Krakow
I spoke with Delta , however, they are not willing to change the airport, explaining that the ticket is in the AF stock and it is a problem to do that
How can I contribute to change the ticket stock ?
I have tickets issued by AF and I would like to change my departure airport to Prague / Vienna / Krakow
I spoke with Delta , however, they are not willing to change the airport, explaining that the ticket is in the AF stock and it is a problem to do that
How can I contribute to change the ticket stock ?
Nov 1, 2020, 5:54 am
#2112
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: VIE/PRG
Programs: FB Platinum, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,592
What is not possible? We changed it to Prague explaining them about 300-miles-radius, border closer in Hungary and my girlfriend who's on the reservation unable getting visa at the moment to enter Hungary but would be fine for her to get to Prague as I am Czech...to summarise it, total ........ but hey we fly out of Prague now. No need of Flixbus from Czech to Hungary now.
Nov 1, 2020, 6:06 am
#2113
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4,281
Hi,
Just to update my situation - received a response from the Platinum line today - it is a No-Go for the change to > 30 days from original departure without change in fare. I guess I will call and ask them to remove all the changes and try once in a while the US number hoping to get lucky like Rizriz and agent which will do it without charging a fare difference or I might call again the DL line since to revalidate my ticket since over the weekend there was a small schedule change in one of their flights.
Really very disappointed with how the AFKL team is handling cancellations in current times.
Cheers!
Just to update my situation - received a response from the Platinum line today - it is a No-Go for the change to > 30 days from original departure without change in fare. I guess I will call and ask them to remove all the changes and try once in a while the US number hoping to get lucky like Rizriz and agent which will do it without charging a fare difference or I might call again the DL line since to revalidate my ticket since over the weekend there was a small schedule change in one of their flights.
Really very disappointed with how the AFKL team is handling cancellations in current times.
Cheers!
Nov 1, 2020, 6:41 am
#2114
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 102
What is not possible? We changed it to Prague explaining them about 300-miles-radius, border closer in Hungary and my girlfriend who's on the reservation unable getting visa at the moment to enter Hungary but would be fine for her to get to Prague as I am Czech...to summarise it, total ........ but hey we fly out of Prague now. No need of Flixbus from Czech to Hungary now.
However, since the_new_one has a ticket on AF stock, Delta is of course not willing to make any changes to the ticket. And I don't see a reason why Delta would ever take over a ticket on AF stock.
Nov 1, 2020, 6:48 am
#2115
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: AMS
Programs: BAEC Silver, Flying Blue Gold, TK M&S Nobody
Posts: 2,471
I was referring to the question about changing ticket stock, not changing the origin. I saw multiple people mention that they succeeded in changing the origin, so that seems to be some kind of policy from Delta.
However, since the_new_one has a ticket on AF stock, Delta is of course not willing to make any changes to the ticket. And I don't see a reason why Delta would ever take over a ticket on AF stock.
However, since the_new_one has a ticket on AF stock, Delta is of course not willing to make any changes to the ticket. And I don't see a reason why Delta would ever take over a ticket on AF stock.