Changing the day of a flight
Jul 27, 2016 | 2:46 pm
#1
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Changing the day of a flight
It appears the standard fee of the major American airlines for changing the day of a flight is $200, although exceptions exist such as Alaska sixty days before departure. How do you generally deal with this situation?
Jul 27, 2016 | 3:41 pm
#2
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(1) on AS, maintain MVPG status because they waive the change fee even within 60 days
(2) hope for a schedule change of >60-90 min or a change of operating carrier; this generally allows for either a full refund or a one-time change (individual airline policy may limit the change to travel on the same route/date, but may give some flexibility such as alternate airport or +/- one day)
(3) hope for weather disruption or other IROPS conditions which also frequently give a lot of leeway in terms of refund or re-routing
(4) otherwise book refundable tix
(2) hope for a schedule change of >60-90 min or a change of operating carrier; this generally allows for either a full refund or a one-time change (individual airline policy may limit the change to travel on the same route/date, but may give some flexibility such as alternate airport or +/- one day)
(3) hope for weather disruption or other IROPS conditions which also frequently give a lot of leeway in terms of refund or re-routing
(4) otherwise book refundable tix
Jul 27, 2016 | 3:48 pm
#3
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Or fly Southwest, which only charges the fare difference*, but no change fee.
Otherwise, suck it up and pay.
Note that refundable tickets tend to be much more expensive than non-refundable, maybe more than the change fee. If your plans are shaky and you think you may change multiple times, refundable/fully flexible is the way to go. If they're pretty set, it may still be cheaper to buy the non-refundable fare and change once, or even twice.
*Pretty much every airline in the US charges a fare difference, although not all charge a change fee.
Otherwise, suck it up and pay.
Note that refundable tickets tend to be much more expensive than non-refundable, maybe more than the change fee. If your plans are shaky and you think you may change multiple times, refundable/fully flexible is the way to go. If they're pretty set, it may still be cheaper to buy the non-refundable fare and change once, or even twice.
*Pretty much every airline in the US charges a fare difference, although not all charge a change fee.
Jul 27, 2016 | 5:32 pm
#4
Join Date: Sep 2015
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Free SDC on United (if you are Gold or above) - I've been able to delay flights by several days using this. Can't move flights forward more than a day though, and doesn't work too well for infrequent (daily) routes.
Jul 29, 2016 | 10:05 am
#5
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If you think you're going to be changing the dates of your flights, your best bet is Southwest (since you're asking about U.S. carriers...).
If you need a legacy carrier, I know AA sells a no-change-fee add on to most fares. They bundle it with a lot of the basic elite benefits, so if you're already elite it's not a particularly good value. (If you *aren't* elite, then it depends on how much you value the elite benefits.) But it's definitely better than buying a fully-refundable ticket, as long as you're fairly certain you *will* eventually fly.
If you need a legacy carrier, I know AA sells a no-change-fee add on to most fares. They bundle it with a lot of the basic elite benefits, so if you're already elite it's not a particularly good value. (If you *aren't* elite, then it depends on how much you value the elite benefits.) But it's definitely better than buying a fully-refundable ticket, as long as you're fairly certain you *will* eventually fly.
Aug 1, 2016 | 6:58 pm
#7
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(2) hope for a schedule change of >60-90 min or a change of operating carrier; this generally allows for either a full refund or a one-time change (individual airline policy may limit the change to travel on the same route/date, but may give some flexibility such as alternate airport or +/- one day)
Aug 1, 2016 | 7:31 pm
#8
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