Flight code change
 

Hi all,

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else.

I have a LONE3 ticket, which I've already flown the first flight. For better accrual rate I've called the AA RTW desk (who issued the ticket in the first place) to change one of the flights from a prime flight on S7 to a codeshare on CX (same flight time and date). To my surprise the agent told me that I will have to pay additional fare surcharge collected by CX, and said she'd confirmed with 3 sources from the Rates Desk. Have any of your tried changing flight codes/ what is the policy on fuel surcharges/taxes for a change in date/time/carrier?

Thank you so much!
HMA

Yes, I've had the same experience before. I had LHR-HEL as part of a DONE4 and was trying to change the flight from BA code to AY code (it was AY metal), the surcharges for AY code would have been significantly (>£100) higher than those on BA code so I didn't do it. It's also likely that the ticket would need to be re-issued which would trigger the change fee of $125.

Noted with many thanks! I'll bear that in mind when booking xonex tickets in the future.

AA is very fond of recalculating taxes and airline-imposed fees whenever making a voluntary change. Since this is an xONEx ticket, you might try asking a different OneWorld airline if they would take over the ticket and make the change. You could ask CX, for example. If they quote you an additional add/collect that's the same or more than what AA quoted you, just thank them and hang up.

The ticket would need to be reissued, but the $125 fee would not apply. That fee is for route changes. Certainly AA would not charge the $125 fee for making date/time/carrier changes only.

Hi Anabolism,

Thank you very much. Will bear that in mind.
Have a lovely day.

Best,
HMA

Hi anabolism

When did AA start re-calculating for code / carrier changes ? Is it just to change the code or to a different carrier / flight ? Several years ago I would switch between CX, BA, and QF on the LHR-HKG or HKG-LHR flights at wiil with no cost.

Thanks
anc305

I don't recall exactly when it started, but these days they are relentless about recalculating taxes and carrier-imposed charges for any voluntary change. I can see the logic when changing code/carrier, since YQ/YR can vary a lot from carrier to carrier.

Of course, with the RTW desk being merged into Meeting Services, you might luck out and get an agent who just does the change without recalculating anything.