Changes allowed?
 

Hello all, newbie to forum, hoping you can help my enquiry. I have 2 tickets booked LHR ZURICH SIN for 6 day stay in October 2020. I understand SWISS will allow a change to this ticket and I was hoping to move the dates to beginning of 2021. My 2 questions:
1. When should I call SWISS to change ticket dates?
2. Will SWISS allow a longer stay e.g. 2 weeks when the original ticketing was only for 6 days?

Thank you.

My understanding of Swiss's rules, (not 100% sure that I get them right):
1. You can contact them anytime you like, but you should consider:
a) only ONE rebooking is free.
>> That means if SIN should still not be open for travel early 2021 for you, or you do not want to travel, you may be out of luck if your flights operate, but you cannot travel. (My understanding: You could lose the value of the ticket unless the fare has a condition for Visa / Entry restrictions)
b) If your flights are not cancelled, then your ticket will be re-priced to the new dates.
>> I would first check the fare on your new dates. (and even if you find the same or a lower fare online vs what you paid, the service center may pretend not to find this fare, and may try to charge you for the higher fare they see)
2. Yes, a longer stay shall be possible. A new duration may affect the price but two weeks iso six days should not matter.

So the answer is not a clear "now" or "later".
- Depends on the fare you have (if it's a super good deal / partner fare), it will be hard to avoid a surcharge & repricing if you rebook now. In this case I'd likely wait, and eventually hope that they cancel, which opens the chance to rebook at no cost, irrespective of fare and availability of the exact same booking class, or you could then also request a full refund)
- Depends on the travel situation between UK and SIN. The more stable and clearer that becomes, the easier it will be to decide when to book, but that could also affect the availability.

Thank you for your reply LoungeLizzard. It was a super deal - partner fare in business class so it would probably reprice at a significantly higher fare. I will bide my time and wait to see if they cancel.

I would wait as long as possible to see significant time change or cancel and then get free INVOL change. there were those super promo partner fares i too was tempted to book - btw i have my doubts about singapore and neighbours being opened by october!

I got a pair of those too back in Jan for quick week in HKG in November. Now Hong Kong is requiring 14 days quarantine (not easy when you're there 6 days). The fare was so crazy cheap, that anything that mentions repricing will probably cost the same amount on top.

I've been looking at that One Free Rebooking and I'd be happy enough to postpone for a year and push it back till Nov 2021. Anyone know if they're accepting bookings that far in advance?

That rebooking offer says it's only till the end of August... is that the latest I can wait?

One last question. looking on ITA Matrix and Google flights, I can no longer find the exact same flight times. Can't I cancel for a refund (though I'd hate to miss that great value) when they inevitably have to email me to say there's been a change in schedule?

cheers,

Yes, you can get a full refund once there is a schedule change. https://www.lufthansaexperts.com/sha...ile_147655.pdf

Nov 2021 is too far out. You can't rebook for Nov 2021 now.
I'm not updated on LX rebooking policy but I doubt that rebookings will have to be made by Aug 2020 if your flight is cancelled. It may be for the "one free (voluntary) rebooking".

Sure, you will be able to cancel and get a full refund but only for significant schedule changes (> 1-2 hours). Just wait for the email - or check your reservation on LX.com. In case of insignificant schedule changes, wait for your flights to get cancelled. Most likely you will not be able to travel to HK by November.

Assuming you booked before May 15, 2020:

The August 31st 2020 rebooking deadline is only if you want to have the 50EUR/CHF/USD extra value.
Otherwise, if the flight is not canceled yet, you can change once free of charge, up to January 31, 2021 for a new date by December 31, 2021.

https://www.swiss.com/us/EN/various/...ng-coronavirus

Once free of change fee charge, but a fare difference needs to be paid if there haven't been significant shedule changes or even a cancellation.

However, if you have a cancellation you can put the ticket on hold and have it rebooked (until 31st Jan 2021) to any other date until 31 Dec 2021, on any routing (as long as starting and end point remain the same), in the same travel class.

Update to original post:

I received an email from Swiss stating that LHR ZRH leg of LHR ZRH SIN ZRH LHR had been cancelled. I phoned Swiss to ask if I was allowed a refund for the whole trip.
Positive - got through in less than a minute.
Negative - was told that taxes and fees were not refundable. I queried this as it was Swiss not me who was cancelling first leg of trip. Was put on hold whilst enquiry was made to supervisor.
Positive - confirmed that Swiss would refund 100% of fare.
Negative - extremely vague about time a refund would take - up to a few months when pushed.
Negative - cancellation email received - extremely vague and misleading : "Your booking has been cancelled as requested" and "have been passed on for a possible* refund." "* If the fare and conditions of carriage entitle you to a refund, then the invoiced amount will be refunded to the original payment method."

I didn't request a cancellation - it was Swiss that cancelled the first leg. A "possible" refund?

Such vague messaging compared to my BA cancellation which was very easy and straightforward where the phone conversation was clear and concise and a full refund within 2 days. Makes me think twice about booking Swiss in the future.

I got the same email on May 28th. I think it's just a generic email. Got my full refund on July 20th.

It is - got the same mail for all flights cancelled by Swiss for which I asked for refund - which eventually came on my credit card some weeks later.

I ak in a similar position.

My flights are to Singapore on the 10th December, ret 30 December.

We do not wish to travel. If we do it will be the same time next year. They were proposed fares ( Our Business, Back First £3300 for the pair of us).

I posted a while ago on here as a change of flight date SEEMS to not incur a reprice as the rules fly mention destination / class change as leading to a reprice. I called Swiss ( months ago) and the person seemed willing to move them without reprice - but we would want to travel the following December as that of course is not for sale.

The option then is to take a voucher we dont want - and then a reprice would definatly apply.

Questions .....

1. I assume we must act before travel as if not we will be a no show - the flights are of course not released for the same dates until some days later.

2. Has anyone had any luck being moved without reprice? We could look at next November for example ( but then have this issue that if we still dont want to go we have used our free change as the poster above commented.

Sorry to ramble but it is like boxing your way out of a paper bag!

Your flight is not cancelled

1. You can rebook your flight once free of charge, regardless of the terms and conditions of the originally purchased ticket. Start of travel must be latest by 31 December 2021 and the rebooking has to be done before the original start of travel.
2. Your ticket will remain valid and you can use it towards a future flight. Latest start of travel is 31 December 2021. If you would like to choose this option, please get in touch with us, latest by 31 January 2021. You can also change your destination and your travel class. Please note, that in these cases, an additional payment might be necessary, e.g. if you change to a higher travel class or if you rebook from a short-haul to a long-haul flight.

Wait until you get much closer to your travel date in December. It is way too soon to do anything about tickets for December even if you have decided already that you will not fly. It is likely that one of your flights will be get cancelled or re-scheduled; then you call and ask LX to remove the remaining active flights in your reservation but keep the ticket/flight coupons (the ticket will remain valid option). Subsequently, in January when seats for your December 2021 travel dates have been released, you call again to rebook. That should not trigger a repricing (but there is no guarantee).

If you rebook your ticket now/without flights being cancelled or rescheduled, you will will most likely be asked to pay fare difference and you can't rebook for december 2021 yet.

If your flight is not cancelled or rescheduled, I fail to see how you will accomplish a rebooking to December 2021. Then I guess the only option is to ask for voucher.

So I see that LX along with the other LH Group are now offering multiple changes to tickets. I am not sure if this is just for new bookings or existing bookings though it does read as though it is for new which will upset a few I am sure.

https://www.lufthansagroup.com/en/ne...s-flights.html

Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines are generally changing their ticket fare structure until the end of December. With immediate effect, all fares can be rebooked several times free of charge – including, for example, the lowest light fare without checked baggage. In response to the pandemic, Lufthansa Group Airlines had already made a one-off free of charge rebooking possible in spring. The new regulation applies worldwide to all new bookings on short, medium and long-haul routes. The Lufthansa Group airlines are thus meeting their customers' needs for flexible travel arrangements to an even greater extent. However, customers may incur additional costs if, for example, the original booking class is no longer available when rebooking to a different date or destination. Any difference will be compensated for by means of additional payment.