Since this come up fairly often I thought I would post this info I found on Carlson Wagonlit's site.
http://www2.carlsonwagonlit.com/us/home_PDF_downloads/NR_Ticket_Exchange.pdf
The major airlines I read about here I detailed below
AMERICAN AIRLINES
· Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to reschedule travel and apply the unused ticket to their new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must cancel reservations prior to the scheduled departure date/time of their original flight. To support and enforce the policy, American has implemented automation that closes non-refundable e -tickets for future re-use when the customer no-shows their flight and does not cancel their reservation.
· Policy applies to non-refundable tickets purchased for travel scheduled after August 19, 2003.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all
other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler
Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date the original ticket was issued.
CONTINENTAL
· Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to reschedule travel and apply the unused ticket to their new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must cancel reservations prior to the scheduled departure date/time of their original flight.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for travel scheduled on or after August 20,2003, including tickets issued prior to the policy revision.
· Change fees apply on some non-refundable ticket changes, particularly if the day of the week or the destination changes, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date the original ticket was issued.
DELTA
Travelers holding non-refundable tickets that allow changes have one year from the date the original ticket was issued to reschedule travel without losing the full value of the ticket and apply the value of the unused ticket to a new travel itinerary.
· Travelers do not have to notify the airline or their travel agent prior to the scheduled departure time of their original flight to retain the value of the non-refundable ticket.
· For domestic travel, tickets must be re-issued and travel completed within one year of the original date of ticket issuance. For international travel, tickets must be re-issued to the same or another international destination and travel must commence within one year of the date oforiginal ticket issuance. Exception: The death of the passenger, immediate family member, or traveling companion. In this case, Delta requires a copy of the death certificate be forwarded to the Passenger Refunds Department mailing address.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for travel scheduled on or after August 21, 2003, including tickets issued prior to the policy revision.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets purchased for travel within the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Canada; and for international travel originating from the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For international travel originating in
Canada, the policy will apply for travel scheduled on or after October 20, 2003, to comply with Canadian government requirements.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Policy applies for non-refundable tickets on Delta, Delta Connection, Delta Shuttle, and SongDeltas low-fare service.
NORTHWEST
· Wholly unused non-refundable tickets may be exchanged toward the purchase of a new nonrefundable ticket. The ticket may be exchanged within 90 days after the first missed flight on the ticket. Changes requested after 90 days are not permitted.
· Travelers do not have to notify the airline or their travel agent in advance of their scheduled flight to cancel reservations in order to retain the value of the non-refundable ticket.
· Travelers do not need to identify an alternate itinerary at the time of cancellation.
· Travel must be completed on re-scheduled non-refundable tickets within 90 days from the date of the first scheduled flight departure of the travelers original itinerary.
· When applying an unused international ticket towards purchase of a new ticket, the base fare amount of the new ticket needs to be equal or higher than the base fare amount of the original ticket and the penalty fee applies. Unused international tickets can be applied towards a new domestic or international ticket as long as it follows the rule mentioned above.
· Partially used non-refundable tickets may not be applied towards the purchase of a new ticket, as the one-way fare for the segments actually flown would probably have been higher than the price paid for the round-trip ticket, and would result in no residual value.
· The policy applies by travel date to any non-refundable ticket with a travel date on or after April 15, 2005, regardless of when the ticket was purchased.
· For domestic travel, a $100 change fee on non-refundable tickets will apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler. If the new itinerary has a higher fare, the fare difference will be collected along with the change fees. If the new itinerary has a lower fare than the original ticket, a credit voucher will be issued for the
residual amount less any fees, which may be applied towards the purchase of future travel on Northwest.
UNITED
· Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to reschedule travel and apply the unused ticket to their new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must change or cancel reservations on or before 11:59 p.m. of the day of scheduled departure. Failure to make the change on/before the scheduled flight time will result in the ticket having no value for travel or exchange.
· All non-refundable tickets must be reissued or revalidated at the time of change with all applicable fees.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for scheduled departures originating in the U.S. for travel worldwide after August 23, 2003.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date the original ticket was issued.
·
USAIR
Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to re-schedule travel and apply the unused ticket to a new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must cancel reservations before 11:59 p.m. on the originally scheduled departure date.
· US Airways policy requires travelers to contact a CWT travel counselor or US Airways reservations directly to cancel their reservation so the ticket can be properly coded for later re-use. This includes reservations made via a self-booking tool. If an agency or passenger does not notify US Airways by midnight of the day of departure, the ticket will be suspended and lose its value.
· Policy changes apply to both domestic and international non-refundable reservations.
· Policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for scheduled departures after September 13, 2003.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date of the originally purchased ticket.
http://www2.carlsonwagonlit.com/us/home_PDF_downloads/NR_Ticket_Exchange.pdf
The major airlines I read about here I detailed below
AMERICAN AIRLINES
· Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to reschedule travel and apply the unused ticket to their new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must cancel reservations prior to the scheduled departure date/time of their original flight. To support and enforce the policy, American has implemented automation that closes non-refundable e -tickets for future re-use when the customer no-shows their flight and does not cancel their reservation.
· Policy applies to non-refundable tickets purchased for travel scheduled after August 19, 2003.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all
other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler
Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date the original ticket was issued.
CONTINENTAL
· Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to reschedule travel and apply the unused ticket to their new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must cancel reservations prior to the scheduled departure date/time of their original flight.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for travel scheduled on or after August 20,2003, including tickets issued prior to the policy revision.
· Change fees apply on some non-refundable ticket changes, particularly if the day of the week or the destination changes, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date the original ticket was issued.
DELTA
Travelers holding non-refundable tickets that allow changes have one year from the date the original ticket was issued to reschedule travel without losing the full value of the ticket and apply the value of the unused ticket to a new travel itinerary.
· Travelers do not have to notify the airline or their travel agent prior to the scheduled departure time of their original flight to retain the value of the non-refundable ticket.
· For domestic travel, tickets must be re-issued and travel completed within one year of the original date of ticket issuance. For international travel, tickets must be re-issued to the same or another international destination and travel must commence within one year of the date oforiginal ticket issuance. Exception: The death of the passenger, immediate family member, or traveling companion. In this case, Delta requires a copy of the death certificate be forwarded to the Passenger Refunds Department mailing address.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for travel scheduled on or after August 21, 2003, including tickets issued prior to the policy revision.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets purchased for travel within the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Canada; and for international travel originating from the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. For international travel originating in
Canada, the policy will apply for travel scheduled on or after October 20, 2003, to comply with Canadian government requirements.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Policy applies for non-refundable tickets on Delta, Delta Connection, Delta Shuttle, and SongDeltas low-fare service.
NORTHWEST
· Wholly unused non-refundable tickets may be exchanged toward the purchase of a new nonrefundable ticket. The ticket may be exchanged within 90 days after the first missed flight on the ticket. Changes requested after 90 days are not permitted.
· Travelers do not have to notify the airline or their travel agent in advance of their scheduled flight to cancel reservations in order to retain the value of the non-refundable ticket.
· Travelers do not need to identify an alternate itinerary at the time of cancellation.
· Travel must be completed on re-scheduled non-refundable tickets within 90 days from the date of the first scheduled flight departure of the travelers original itinerary.
· When applying an unused international ticket towards purchase of a new ticket, the base fare amount of the new ticket needs to be equal or higher than the base fare amount of the original ticket and the penalty fee applies. Unused international tickets can be applied towards a new domestic or international ticket as long as it follows the rule mentioned above.
· Partially used non-refundable tickets may not be applied towards the purchase of a new ticket, as the one-way fare for the segments actually flown would probably have been higher than the price paid for the round-trip ticket, and would result in no residual value.
· The policy applies by travel date to any non-refundable ticket with a travel date on or after April 15, 2005, regardless of when the ticket was purchased.
· For domestic travel, a $100 change fee on non-refundable tickets will apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler. If the new itinerary has a higher fare, the fare difference will be collected along with the change fees. If the new itinerary has a lower fare than the original ticket, a credit voucher will be issued for the
residual amount less any fees, which may be applied towards the purchase of future travel on Northwest.
UNITED
· Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to reschedule travel and apply the unused ticket to their new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must change or cancel reservations on or before 11:59 p.m. of the day of scheduled departure. Failure to make the change on/before the scheduled flight time will result in the ticket having no value for travel or exchange.
· All non-refundable tickets must be reissued or revalidated at the time of change with all applicable fees.
· The policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for scheduled departures originating in the U.S. for travel worldwide after August 23, 2003.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date the original ticket was issued.
·
USAIR
Travelers have one year from the date of original ticket issuance to re-schedule travel and apply the unused ticket to a new itinerary without losing the value of the ticket.
· Travelers must cancel reservations before 11:59 p.m. on the originally scheduled departure date.
· US Airways policy requires travelers to contact a CWT travel counselor or US Airways reservations directly to cancel their reservation so the ticket can be properly coded for later re-use. This includes reservations made via a self-booking tool. If an agency or passenger does not notify US Airways by midnight of the day of departure, the ticket will be suspended and lose its value.
· Policy changes apply to both domestic and international non-refundable reservations.
· Policy applies to non-refundable tickets issued for scheduled departures after September 13, 2003.
· Applicable change fees on non-refundable tickets apply for each change made, as well as all other fare terms and conditions.
· Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
· Tickets must be re-issued within one year of the date of the originally purchased ticket.
