A question to frequent/experienced flyers

[ravip]

This is a story I heard from a friend (not a made up story).

She had  bought the ticket & the required visa (tourist) to Dubai from a travel agent.

Once in Dubai, after a month or so she had wanted to change the return date to an earlier date.

Tried the airline website, unsuccessful - requested her to contact the agent.

Called the airline head office, and they too said that they cannot do anything as it was purchased through an agent, and to contact the agent that she had bought the ticket from.

Finally, when the agent was contacted, they had quoted more than 50% of the cost she had already paid!

 

Is this normal?

[uttradit]

8 minutes ago, ravip said:

This is a story I heard from a friend (not a made up story).

She had  bought the ticket & the required visa (tourist) to Dubai from a travel agent.

Once in Dubai, after a month or so she had wanted to change the return date to an earlier date.

Tried the airline website, unsuccessful - requested her to contact the agent.

Called the airline head office, and they too said that they cannot do anything as it was purchased through an agent, and to contact the agent that she had bought the ticket from.

Finally, when the agent was contacted, they had quoted more than 50% of the cost she had already paid!

 

Is this normal?

I prefer made up stories. It depends on fare rules. Cheap tickets are expensive to change. It is normally very expensive to change as all the cheap seats are gone at short notice.

[AlexRich]

It’s not that unusual. If you buy a cheap ticket there are very few inexpensive options if you decide to change the date of return flight. Many of the seats could be taken, so you are left with those on inflated prices.

[ravip]

9 minutes ago, uttradit said:

I prefer made up stories. It depends on fare rules. Cheap tickets are expensive to change. It is normally very expensive to change as all the cheap seats are gone at short notice.

 

3 minutes ago, AlexRich said:

It’s not that unusual. If you buy a cheap ticket there are very few inexpensive options if you decide to change the date of return flight. Many of the seats could be taken, so you are left with those on inflated prices.

Okay. That answers the high price factor.

But, the date change can be done ONLY by the agent who issued the ticket? Not even the airline?

Edited February 4 by ravip
Typo

[Kinnock]

1 minute ago, ravip said:

 

Okay. That answers the high price factor.

But, the data change can be done ONLY by the agent who issued the ticket? Not even the airline?

That's normal.  The airline can only help with changes if you booked direct with the airline.  Also, lower cost tickets often have limitations on changes, even those booked direct with airline.

[JimTripper]

I never use agents. The best price is booking directly with the airline.

[nglodnig]

21 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

booking directly with the airline.

Plus your contract is with the airline and not some web site whose only interest is to sell the ticket, after that you're on your own. I ALWAYS book with the airline direct.

[soi3eddie]

1 hour ago, ravip said:

This is a story I heard from a friend (not a made up story).

She had  bought the ticket & the required visa (tourist) to Dubai from a travel agent.

Once in Dubai, after a month or so she had wanted to change the return date to an earlier date.

Tried the airline website, unsuccessful - requested her to contact the agent.

Called the airline head office, and they too said that they cannot do anything as it was purchased through an agent, and to contact the agent that she had bought the ticket from.

Finally, when the agent was contacted, they had quoted more than 50% of the cost she had already paid!

 

Is this normal?

Yes, often happens.

 

[soi3eddie]

I only book direct with the airline. Why?

• Usually free seat assignment - THAI Air and others
• Better clarity on mileage issuance
• Easier to change travel dates
• Often, same price, or very similar.

[Banana7]

Could be reasonable. There are 3 major price factors involved, the change fee per class, and the date change cost and finally, availability in the current class.

 

What is the initial cost of the ticket?  What is the fare class, like Y, J, B, A, etc. What is the airline? For example, I have to pay $200 or $300 to change my ticket, and that is the price for each flight. So if my trip is BKK to YYZ, there are 2 flights with a stopover for 2.5 hours, so the minimum I would have to pay is $400 (plus tax?) to change a return flight, and depending on the class, I may have to pay $600. There are classes that are free to change, only have to pay the fare difference due to the travel date.

 

Travel date prices vary greatly and by airline. Usually wednesday or thursday are the cheapest for one airline (United). Another airline the cheapest is Sunday (Finnair). In addition to the change fee, I may have to pay a date premium fee, based on the popularity of the travel weekday, and the season.

 

Finally the change of class fee. If the original class was maybe super economy - class x, but on the date and flight you want, there are no Class x seats available, you'll have to pay for a class Y seat, which is full economy, and of course this costs more. You get an economy section seat for both class X and Y and maybe Z, too. The class fee changes how far in advance of the travel date you buy - eg. class Y can be at 120 days, $400, and 90 days $300, at 30 days $250, at 3 days $450, usually based on seat vacancies.

 

The airline may even change the fuel charge amount, if their fuel prices have changed.

 

The classes used here are just examples, and they vary by airline.

 

Normally, the ticket can only be changed by the issuing agent, not anyone else.

 

When buying, got to read the fine print, understand classes, change fees, etc.

 

 

Edited February 4 by Banana7

[NextG]

3 hours ago, ravip said:

This is a story I heard from a friend (not a made up story).

She had  bought the ticket & the required visa (tourist) to Dubai from a travel agent.

Once in Dubai, after a month or so she had wanted to change the return date to an earlier date.

Tried the airline website, unsuccessful - requested her to contact the agent.

Called the airline head office, and they too said that they cannot do anything as it was purchased through an agent, and to contact the agent that she had bought the ticket from.

Finally, when the agent was contacted, they had quoted more than 50% of the cost she had already paid!

 

Is this normal?

Yes. It’s normal. @Banana7 has it covered. I need add nothing more. 

[ravip]

On 2/4/2024 at 10:23 PM, Banana7 said:

Could be reasonable. There are 3 major price factors involved, the change fee per class, and the date change cost and finally, availability in the current class.

 

What is the initial cost of the ticket?  What is the fare class, like Y, J, B, A, etc. What is the airline? For example, I have to pay $200 or $300 to change my ticket, and that is the price for each flight. So if my trip is BKK to YYZ, there are 2 flights with a stopover for 2.5 hours, so the minimum I would have to pay is $400 (plus tax?) to change a return flight, and depending on the class, I may have to pay $600. There are classes that are free to change, only have to pay the fare difference due to the travel date.

 

Travel date prices vary greatly and by airline. Usually wednesday or thursday are the cheapest for one airline (United). Another airline the cheapest is Sunday (Finnair). In addition to the change fee, I may have to pay a date premium fee, based on the popularity of the travel weekday, and the season.

 

Finally the change of class fee. If the original class was maybe super economy - class x, but on the date and flight you want, there are no Class x seats available, you'll have to pay for a class Y seat, which is full economy, and of course this costs more. You get an economy section seat for both class X and Y and maybe Z, too. The class fee changes how far in advance of the travel date you buy - eg. class Y can be at 120 days, $400, and 90 days $300, at 30 days $250, at 3 days $450, usually based on seat vacancies.

 

The airline may even change the fuel charge amount, if their fuel prices have changed.

 

The classes used here are just examples, and they vary by airline.

 

Normally, the ticket can only be changed by the issuing agent, not anyone else.

 

When buying, got to read the fine print, understand classes, change fees, etc.

 

 

Thank you very much for your clear explanation.

[GinBoy2]

I work for United, and I can't count the number of times I've had passengers rail on me after something goes wrong.

 

If the ticket was purchased through a third party there is nothing we can do. The person who actually booked the ticket wasn't the passenger but that third party, be it an online website or one of those nowadays rather rare travel agents.

 

I can't count the number of times I've told passengers, you may well have saved $20, but if things go wrong, that $20 might well have been a price worth paying.

 

With the online booking websites, good luck with trying to get someone on the phone to help you when you're actually at the airport trying to resolve a problem with your flight!

 

 

[pomchop]

A huge problem in the travel biz for decades is that customers do NOT read the terms and conditions  regarding refunds, rebooking, etc before they buy the ticket.  They blindly click on the purchase button and then when they need to cancel or change whine about it over and over on the web and to all their friends.  DUH read before you buy.. 

 

Generally there are different fares available and surprise surprise the rock bottom cheapest fares are most often the ones that have a ton of restrictions along with being non refundable and no changes allowed.  It also happens often with hotel bookings on agoda and the like where people click book and never bother to read if the rate they are booking is refundable or can be changed etc..it is all right there in black and white if u bother to slow down and spend a few minutes to make sure you know what you are buying before you buy it.  If you want the cheapest of the cheap u better be sure you won't need to cancel or change it as not gonna happen.

 

I always try to book directly with the airline as you might have some vague hope of them bending a rule but don't bet on it.