Changing date of roundtrip ticket ?
 

Hi guys, I want to buy a roundtrip international ticket but I'm not sure about the return date exactly. Which airlines allow you to change the date of your flight at least once free of charge ? I know Asiana airlines allows this, any other airlines ?

It depends entirely on the fare you pay. Usually the absolute cheapest allow no changes whatsoever, whereas somewhat more expensive ones will allow changes once you have started your trip. Also, you should be aware that changes are usually only available for the specific fare class you paid, if there is no availability in that fare class you will have to pay (i) a change fee and (ii) the fare difference between one and the other (not an upgrade).

It would help if you told us where you are travelling from and to.

Like the above poster said, it's entirely dependent on what type of fare you purchased (or will purchase).

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Depending on the route, class of service, and availability of award seats, it might be better to purchase the necessary frequent-flyer miles and redeem for an award. An FFP like AAdvantage permits free date changes on award travel.

Of course, you can only change to a date that has award-seat availability.

Ms. hco did this with Korean Air. For free. I don't remember the exact fare class but it was not an expensive ticket. Medium to lowish fare Y.

As is often the case, more details from the OP would help a great deal in giving better information.

sry, I'm looking for a fare class for an economy class seat, from HKG to NYC .

So all airlines offer this ? just depends on the fare class ? Which airline offers this for economy fare class ?

All airlines offer the ability to change an economy ticket...dates/times, etc. You need to understand that economy tickets come in many flavours, just like cars can be bought with many options. A car costing $10,000 in its basic form might cost $16,000 once you've added options like leather seats, metallic paint, and navigation systems. It's the same with airline tickets.

A basic HKG to NYC ticket might cost US$900 if bought in advance, but one with greater flexibility might cost $1,500 or more. Depending on what options you really need, and how much you REALLY need the flexibility, it is often better to buy the cheapest fare that allows some flexibility and pay for the surcharges if you really need them.

I can have a quick search for you if you give me some dates.

I get the sense that the OP is looking for what used to be commonly marketed as an "open-ended" ticket. I bought one to Europe on DL in 1995 or so at a very small premium above the lowest coach fare. Outbound was fixed, return was variable and required 72-hour advance notice and was I'm sure limited to some of the more restricted coach fare buckets. I want to say it was only $40-50 above fixing the return date. This was in an era when an international itinerary change fee was $100-150. I distinctly recall it being a better deal than just guessing at a date and being wrong. I really had *no clue* when I was returning, so it was a pretty safe $40-50 bet that any guess I made would be wrong.

I don't know if this exists anymore or not, although the OP's description of the Asiana fare in question suggests that they do. (Question: is that really the rock-bottom fare? Or are you paying some amount for the one-change privilege? If so, it is worth it compared to paying a change fee?)

Of course you can always buy a flexible Y fare, but I get the sense the OP already knows that. :) And the open-ended tickets back in the day were actually designed for this purpose and for a nonrefundable ticket buyer.

Short of further detailed info from the OP, I think we are all a bit in the dark.

OP - We can't really answer your question, because you haven't given us enough information.

Give Wing-On Travel (in 上环) a call. Many of their tickets don't have change fees.

OP: on any typical flight there are many possible types of economy tickets to buy (fare class or booking class). Here, for example is the list for UA:

Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, L, K, G, N

These all book into Economy but have different booking conditions. Only the highest fares allow you to change your plans without some penalty. So what we're asking for is not "do you want economy" but "how much are you willing to pay for a ticket without change restrictions."

One frequent frustration on the part of ticket purchasers is that many of the sites only give you "economy" and never tell you what the fare class actually is. Without that code, you're buying a pig in a poke if you want certain benefits. The fare class can also affect the miles earned on many airlines.

Have you looked at two one-way tickets? You didn't post your dates so I used random ones in Oct and March. Round trip was under $1100, and the sum of the two one-ways was under $1300. Not a bad premium for keeping your options open.

Romelle

Could the OP's passport/visa situation require him to show some sort of plan to return or fly onward? I can't recall personally having to show immigration officials printouts of my itineraries (even when I've gone into countries that have a fairly lengthy visa process for tourists), but I always have the printouts ready and assume I could be asked.

I think one issue with that approach is that the one-way return fare is unlikely to still be available a the current price when the OP is ready to make a decision.