raehl311

Far, far less than buying refundable tickets.

And far, far less than waiting and paying higher airfares.

So winning the gamble so far.

chx1975

Plans change. I planned a layover this Sunday in London and a UK conference the next week grabbed the opportunity of me giving a keynote. They paid my change fee, obviously. And so on. This happens and I don't find it a big deal. It's way cheaper for them than getting me over from Canada.

hookthem

Prob ~$1-2,000. It seems every time I try to save money on a non-refundable ticket, my plans end up changing a couple times.

palmetto86

For those of you that say zero: How many tickets have you thrown away because the change fee was higher than the ticket value?

I wish my schedule were as stable as those of you that have paid zero in change fees. Even with free 24 hr changes for 1K, I find myself throwing away tickets, moving flights, and paying change fees all the time. WN wins the change-game hands down.

weirdlyndon

Thankfully I've only had to throw away maybe 5 or so tickets in all my years of flying UA. All because it just wasn't worth it - either I had paid for the flights using e-certs or after the change fee I would've been left with maybe $50 or less.

I think the idea of having to pay $200 in change fees in real money at the time of rebooking a cancelled itinerary just turns me off. If it was like PMUA where the change fee was deducted and you had the residual amount as a credit would bode better in my mind.

MBS MillionMiler

I posted above that -$0- change fees in the last three years (at least). Never have I thrown away a ticket.

I do make changes to award tix all the time (better routing, adding a day or two to a vacation), but revenue, tix, I book when I know my schedule...And for me, fortunately, that's anywhere from 6 to 12 months ahead.

I'm flying to trade shows--domestic ones in which we exhibit, and international ones in China where we buy...All of those are scheduled a year ahead or more. If I'm going to fly to a big client, I book my ticket 3-4 weeks ahead, when I know my schedule won't change...And I've never had a client reschedule on me either.

Vacations are the same...I don't book them when there are trade shows that I'll be attending here or abroad. I avoid conflicting schedules and ASSUME delays...If I'm getting home from China on August 1st, I'm not even thinking about a personal trip until after August 4th or so.

exerda

I'd also be curious how many of the $0 are "$0 out of my own pocket, but $xxxx paid by my employer."


I've thrown away several. Last January, I had a $140 ticket to TPA to visit in-laws, and work interfered. I wasn't about to pay $200 just to get that $140 back. When I booked that one, I was certain I'd be able to take the time off, but the government was about 3 months behind schedule releasing my contract's RFP... and dropped it right in the middle of several booked trips (hence a good chunk of my change fees, plus that one as a throwaway).

Even back in the $100 change fee days, I threw some away, as I had sub-$100 tickets.

changey2

~ $500 I think. sad that US airlines seem to charge more than Asian airlines

PushingTin

Are you counting the $200 change fees and the difference in fares? $4500 isn't divisible by $200, but it would be over 20 changes- a lot, but like you said less about 15 percent of your legs.


Unfortunately, I've had it go the other way too.. Didn't get keynote taken, but 1st day morning to 2nd day afternoon.

And the time I got confused by the calender and booked the wrong month for the return. Months days sometimes line up and .bomb sometimes seem to think you are going to be away a month. Luckily I caught it a month out.

I spend about $400 a year, picked up by my company since it is work flights and issues. 1K helped this year since they 'SDC' me to a flight a day earlier, that as technically not a SDC.

mgcsinc

Not all change fees are $200

bldr1k

Just counting change fees.

21 domestic changes @ $200 and 1 International change @ $300 = $4,500

I flew about 125 segments on United (and 25 on other airlines for which I didn't count those change fees).

outoftown

Zero, countless SDC as Diamond on Delta, also 24 hour no-charge change policy after booking with my corporate TA helped a few times.

I spent five years at a division of an accounting company with a full-fare refundable policy, but I never bought a full-fare ticket during that time. Any change fees I rolled into the next fare bought on that airline. Top tier on three airlines at the time. My client still saved from a cheaper fare, but that was when a change fee was $75. If everyone would have managed expenses that way, maybe they would not have sold our division to a competitor.

-outoftown, heading to ANU on vacation tomorrow!!!

krazykanuck

In 2014, I paid $75, actually Amex paid $75 on my behalf, for a SDC fee. I ended my trip a day early because I was tired of vacation and it was cheaper than paying for another night in a hotel. F I miss Gold status...

Pinned

Paid $450 in 2014, though $250 should be refunded by trip insurance...

PV_Premier

in 2014 only about $200 or $400 for work trips

in 2013, more

in 2015, expect to spend $0 because AS waives change fees for MVPG at any time ^^^ they also waive change fees for everyone up to 60 days before departure. far and away the best policy in the industry. i've already changed half a dozen flights for 2015 either to change plans as needed or to save money on lower cost fares that might become available.