Help about airline ticket

[christie1111]

Any information you know would help.

So...........

My mom is here longer than expected due to my sil's cancer surgery. I lnow the ticket she came on was a cheap one. So in the non-refundable type. Whe it was clear that she wasn't going back when originally planned, sil called and changed the return date to being open. I know there must have been some fee charged then.

Now my Mom is asking me to help figure out about her return stuff. But I didn't buy the original ticket.

I know that mid-week is the cheapest. And after Labor Day would also be cheaper.

But do you think there is a different fee for the return trip other than the initial change fee?

Thanks BBs ever so much!

[Ritterskoop]

Tues, Wed, and Sat are generally the cheapest days.

There could be another fee if the new flight is more than the original. But maybe the change fee took care of that.

Possibly if you speak to an agent in person (or a supervisor) you might get something by explaining about the cancer surgery (they have bereavement rates, some of them, but this does not apply here so who knows).

If you give people a chance to help you, often they will want to (if they can).

[bazodee]

Every situation is different and each airline has different rules.

Most likely you have NOT been charged a change fee yet. That usually happens when you issue the revised ticket, or in this case, exchange the ticket.

When the phone agent searches, they will try to find a fare within the same fare basis as the original ticket, but that's not always available. It is quite possible you would need to pay the difference in fare for whatever fare basis is now available (in addition to the change fee)

That said, you should look at the possibility of throwing away the remainder of the ticket and just buying a one-way fare, avoiding the change fee. This may make sense depending on which airlines serve your city pair. Some airlines like AirTran, only sell one way tickets; even some of the legacy carriers have now made one-way fares more logical.

[christie1111]

you should look at the possibility of throwing away the remainder of the ticket and just buying a one-way fare, avoiding the change fee.

Well, one thing I should point out is that this is a ticket from Newark to Honolulu.

I think the change fee should be lower than the one way fare.

I hope.

[kayrharris]

I'm late chiming in...a late trip to the grocery. As a rule, it's the change fee (generally in the $100 range) plus the difference in the air fare she paid and what it is now. The airlines like SW and others that only sell one way tickets don't charge you that change fee. I've checked into changing non-refundable tickets on both Delta and American and they have the exact same policy.

You can always check on what it is one way. You never know...it may be cheaper. Certainly won't hurt anything to check it out.

[marrymeflyfree]

But do you think there is a different fee for the return trip other than the initial change fee?

There may be. If the fare to go home on the day she wishes to go is more than the fare on the day she initially paid for, they may charge her the difference. You can always ask the res agent to check multiple days and/or itineraries to compare. (I'm guessing the ticket is on Continental with the EWR-HNL routing.) If your mom is game for making a connection, you should check that out. CO also flies to HNL through IAH (Houston) and LAX.

I would suggest that whoever calls mention the circumstance that is necessitating the change. I think they are not really supposed to waive fees these days, but stranger things have happened. If the agent seems to be utterly without sympathy, hang up and call back. You'll get a different agent and possibly different results.

[Ritterskoop]

Delta is $500 with a stop in Atlanta, leaving by Aug. 13. I can't find anything better.

If there is any chance she can use the original credit with the original airline for a future flight, maybe this is an option.




I didn't say it was a good option.