Flight Change Ticket Costs - The Cheapest & most Expensive Airlines to Change

[stament]

I wondered if it would be worth having a thread on this that tells people the cost of changing flight with a particular airline. I know that there are many different classes of tickets and depending upon which you pay/choose different restrictions will apply. However, I thought it would still be good to highlight these, as people do book flights and then they occasionally need to change plansl

For example I've booked direct with Emirates before and the change of the return leg has been GBP 200. Equally I've booked direct with BA before and the change has only been THB 2000 which is a big difference between the airlines.

Whilst people sometimes book in advance to get cheap fares, plans sometimes change and then the ticket change fee comes into play. I just thought it would be interesting to have a thread about this.

It would be useful if people could post whether they booked a cheap restricted ticket, semi-restricted, etc or perhaps even ticket class letter. This would give people some idea. The plan is to highlight those that are very cheap and those that are expensive so people are aware and if they do think they might change ticket in the future can factor this in when purchasing.

I wish flight engines provided this as I think it would be a useful add-on and I'd be prepared to pay a little bit extra for mitigating the risk of a potential future cost.

Surely it can't be long till this feature is added by some wiseguy in today's internet world - hint, hint Kayak.....

[harrry]

Most of THAI fares have a free date change and a set cancellation fee which often is not that high. You have to check the details of the fare though as they vary.

[stament]

Most of THAI fares have a free date change and a set cancellation fee which often is not that high. You have to check the details of the fare though as they vary.

Well worth knowing ;-)

Thanks

[KittenKong]

The trouble with this is that fee varies wildly according to the class of the ticket as well as according to the airline. So to say that Emirates charges GBP200 or that BA wants GBP40 is not necessarily accurate.

I flew with Emirates a year ago and a date change on that ticket was GBP100. Qatar was GBP50 on a ticket I had the year before. I recently flew with BA and the date change fee printed in the T&Cs was GBP100 but I got it reduced to zero simply by asking (before purchase).

[roamer]

Best way to do this is with an initial search through Matrix ita http://matrix.itasoftware.com/search.htm . Select your flight and when the details come up click on the "rules" link which will have the full information relating to that flight. They only list airlines and not re sellers however and sometimes you might be able to get the same flight through a re seller cheaper. So then go to somewhere like Kayak and find if that is the case, if so then check before purchasing ticket that the same penalty clauses apply. If the flight is significantly cheaper it could be because it has more restrictions. However this method at least gives you a ball park figure as if the penalty clauses are higher or more restrictive than you would like on Matrix they certainly won't improve when going through a re-seller as they are the airline flight rules.

Edited September 11, 2013 by roamer

[irishken]

I recently paid 512 Euros for return flights from BKK to Samui for 2 adults and 1 infant with Bangkok airways.

I did think it was very expensive but then i needed to change the dates.

I sent a email which was answered very fast and flight were changed for free within 1 hour. No issues and great communication from there staff.

[stament]

The trouble with this is that fee varies wildly according to the class of the ticket as well as according to the airline. So to say that Emirates charges GBP200 or that BA wants GBP40 is not necessarily accurate.

I realise that, which is why it might be better for people to say the ticket letter class too

[Bpuumike]

I find BA very flexible, GBP40 or free.

[lomatopo]

The challenge is that there will be too many permutations, tens of thousands, to accurately collate, track and provide useful to anyone.

Airline

Season

City-pairs/route

Class of service

Fare bucket

Before travel begins: pull in/push out

After travel has begun

Re-route

Is original fare bucket available on new date

Cost to buy up

Most booking engines offer a glimpse at the fare-rules, so maybe easiest/best to pop in a dummy booking, then look at the fare rules?

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Generally speaking, as you move up the fare bucket chain, from least expensive/most restrictive (Q/V/W/S/K/L/T on some airlines) to most expensive/least restrictive (Y/B/M/H) change fees may approach zero, from a high of $400 USD.

Fare rules: BA non stop BKK-LHR V fare bucket:

CHANGES
ANY TIME
CHARGE THB 2000 FOR REISSUE/REVALIDATION.
NOTE -
CHARGE APPLIES PER TRANSACTION - PER PERSON FOR
ADULT CHILD AND INFANT WITH SEAT.
INFANTS WITHOUT A SEAT - NO CHARGE.
--------------------------------------------------
A CHANGE IS A DATE/FLIGHT/ROUTING/BOOKING CODE
CHANGE. REISSUE/REVALIDATION MUST BE MADE WITHIN
2 DAYS OF EACH RESERVATION CHANGE.
--------------------------------------------------
EACH RESERVATION CHANGE MUST BE REISSUED WITHIN 2
DAYS BUT NO LATER THAN SCHEDULED DEPARTURE TIME OF
FLIGHT BEING CHANGED.
OTHERWISE THE TICKET WILL ONLY BE VALID FOR REFUND
IF APPLICABLE.
--------------------------------------------------
WHEN MORE THAN ONE FARE COMPONENT IS CHANGED THE
HIGHEST PENALTY OF ALL CHANGED FARE COMPONENTS
WITHIN THE JOURNEY APPLIES.
--------------------------------------------------
--- REPRICING CONDITIONS ---
A. BEFORE DEPARTURE OF JOURNEY WHEN THE FIRST FARE
COMPONENT IS CHANGED THE ITINERARY MUST BE
RE-PRICED USING CURRENT FARES IN EFFECT ON THE
DATE THE TICKET IS REISSUED.
B. BEFORE DEPARTURE OF JOURNEY WHEN CHANGES ARE TO
BOOKING CODE ONLY IN THE FIRST FARE COMPONENT AND
RESULT IN A HIGHER FARE THE ITINERARY MUST BE
RE-PRICED USING HISTORICAL FARES IN EFFECT ON THE
PREVIOUS TICKETING DATE OR USING CURRENT FARES IN
EFFECT ON THE DATE THE TICKET IS REISSUED -
WHICHEVER IS LOWER.
C. BEFORE DEPARTURE OF JOURNEY WHEN THERE ARE NO
CHANGES TO THE FIRST FARE COMPONENT BUT OTHER
FARE COMPONENTS ARE CHANGED THE ITINERARY MUST BE
RE-PRICED USING HISTORICAL FARES IN EFFECT ON THE
PREVIOUS TICKETING DATE OR USING CURRENT FARES IN
EFFECT ON THE DATE THE TICKET IS REISSUED-
WHICHEVER IS LOWER.
D. AFTER DEPARTURE OF JOURNEY THE ITINERARY MUST
BE RE-PRICED USING HISTORICAL FARES IN EFFECT ON
THE PREVIOUS TICKETING DATE.
--------------------------------------------------
1. IF SAME BOOKING CLASS IS USED NEW TICKET MAY BE
LOWER - EQUAL OR HIGHER THAN PREVIOUS AND MUST
COMPLY WITH ALL PROVISIONS OF THE NEW FARE BEING
APPLIED.
2. IF A DIFFERENT BOOKING CLASS IS USED NEW TICKET
MAY BE EQUAL OR HIGHER THAN PREVIOUS AND MUST
COMPLY WITH ALL PROVISIONS OF THE NEW FARE BEING
APPLIED.
--------------------------------------------------
WHEN THE ITINERARY RESULTS IN A HIGHER FARE THE
DIFFERENCE WILL BE COLLECTED. ANY APPLICABLE
CHANGE
FEE STILL APPLIES.
WHEN THE NEW ITINERARY RESULTS IN A LOWER FARE THE
CHANGE FEE APPLIES AND NO CREDIT OF THE RESIDUAL
AMOUNT WILL BE MADE.
--------------------------------------------------
ORIGINAL REFUND CONDITIONS APPLY TO ANY UPGRADED
TICKET.
--------------------------------------------------
NO-SHOWS FOR A FLIGHT ARE CONSIDERED A
CANCELLATION AFTER DEPARTURE AND CHANGES ARE NOT
PERMITTED.
--------------------------------------------------
TICKET IS NOT TRANSFERABLE TO ANOTHER PERSON.

Edited September 12, 2013 by lomatopo