Airline Help!!!!!

[tink5]

I have a problem. We already booked our flight with us air for Saturday Aug 7th for our cruise. But now we want to go on Thursday before to spend a couple of days in Florida. They said we would have to pay $100.00 per ticket to change since they were non-refundable tickets. That $500.00! Any ideas of what we can do? Thanks for your help.

 

[huckster]

your pretty much stuck with non refundable. as i recall from my air tickets.good luck

 

[CGC33A]

buy new tickets

 

[Mary Anne]

Sometimes they will let you fly standby on a different flight, with no exchange fee. However I think that may only work on a say day as your original flight and then there is the problem of actually have seats available on the other flight.

Call back and ask what their policy is on flying standby on a different flight.

Otherwise, yes, you'll be $100 per ticket to change. Sorry.

 

[tink5]

Thanks for your help. I thought I would give it a shot, going on thursday. I guess we'll have to stick with Saturday.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

$500.........or risk missing the boat, hmmmmm.

It is a bummer they do charge that much--but if you weigh in what it would cost if your flight was delayed and you had to fly the whole family to the first port of call...it really isn't that much at all.

What if you compromised and spent less on a hotel room to help offset the costs.

We had tix to a family reunion this summer--part of the family decided not to go--our tix were only 165--so to be charge 100 to change was rediculous. They ended up deciding to go, so luckily we didn't change our tickets at all. As long as your 100 is the only fee you would be charged ...

 

[macbaby]

Can you cancel your current flights, get airline credit, then book new flights? (I know on Southwest you can do that with no penalty.)

 

[westjones]

Aren't 'non-refundable' tickets called that because you can not cancel them? I have never had to do this, but a friend of mine just asked me this last night. Her parents are taking her kids on the DCL and now a problem has come up and it may not work out for them to go BUT they wanted to know what to do about the airline tickets. I told them I thought they would lose that money ($600).

Is this true with non-refundable? If you don't use them they just lose them?

DJ

 

[macbaby]

"Refundable" depends on the airline.

Southwest's policy is:
"Nonrefundable fares may be used as credit toward the purchase of another ticket."

US Air's policy is:
"...the ticket will retain value and can be used toward another nonrefundable ticket less a $100 US Airways administration fee..."

(Should have done my research first )

 

[kristen821]

I don't know how this would work but can you change the name on your tickets, maybe you can get lucky and sell them on ebay or a church to raffle them off. I don't know if you are able to change the name on the tickets, but it might be worth a shot.

 

[tink5]

What really bothers me about this whole thing is I originally booked and paid for a flight on the way home (Aug 14th) at 2:30pm. Last week I get a letter saying my flight has been cancelled and they rebooked me for a 5:45 flight. Off the ship at 8:30 am - flight home at 5:30pm, thats a long day in the airport. Called and asked them why they would't give me $100 per ticket for changing MY flight? She said no. Just doesn't seem right that they can change my flight without paying me but I have to pay them $100. per ticket if I want to change!

 

[gottaluvdis]

Originally posted by kristen821
I don't know how this would work but can you change the name on your tickets, maybe you can get lucky and sell them on ebay or a church to raffle them off. I don't know if you are able to change the name on the tickets, but it might be worth a shot.

The airlines don't allow you to change names on already issued tickets, i.e., they are non-transferable. This is why I book Southwest when at all possible. If you need to cancel with Southwest, you can get a credit without the $100 fee and they will allow you to transfer your credit to anyone you want as long as it's used within 1 year. They are the only airline that allows this.

 

[cindy21494]

tink5, I assume you are flying out of Philadelphia. What time is your flight Saturday?

We have had problems with US Airways on our last 3 flights. Last June, We flew out of Philadelphia on a Saturday for our cruise and didn't get to the ship until 4:20 (they were having mechanical problems). Since our air was booked with DCL, they would have held the ship for us. If you book the air on your own, they will not hold the ship for you.

Then in February, our flight was delayed 3 hours because of mechanical problems. And finally two weeks ago, we were delayed 1 1/2 hours. We were called just as we were leaving for the airport that it was delayed because they couldn't find a pilot for a previous flight. When we got on the plane the pilot said it was delayed because of mechanical problems.

I don't want to scare you, but this seems the norm for US Airways anymore (we have had time to talk to other passengers). Hopefully you won't have any problems, but we always fly in at least a day before now. We actually are flying with United this October, because we are so sick of the delays with US Airways.

If I were you and could afford it, I would pay the extra and fly in earlier. As you have already experienced, US Airways is always changing flight times.

Good Luck, and let us know what you decide.

 

[tink5]

We always fly out of Pittsburgh. So far we haven't had any trouble with delays on USAir. But thats what I'm worried about, that we will miss the ship. What the heck was I thinking when I booked our flight for Saturday morning!!!!!

 

[Greysword]

Hey Tink,

How high up the management ladder did you climb before accepting the $100 change fee? I know it is in your contract, but usually if someone gets high enough in the food chain, they can get the results they desire. of course it takes be nice and to politely ask to speak to the next highest management.

They may be willing to change the tickets for free (or a reduced charge) if you fly a lot on US Air or can show they will loose quite a bit of business in the future should you become upset
If you are willing to, call back and ask to speak to a supervisor immediately. Talk with them, then escalate it further up until you get your response or they require you to write the coporate office. If you are able to negotiate financially, then maybe a compromise of half the charges would get you a ticket change.

Remember, polite gets the best results from a customer service rep, and Good Luck!

 

[1stNoel]

I'm pretty sure if the carrier changes your flight times you can cancel and get a full refund. I've done this twice, once on Delta and again on United (just last week). I called and said that the change THEY made to the flight time did not work with our schedule. For the one I just canceled, we are traveling with a group that are booked on another airline flying the same time as our original flight and we cannot change the ground transportation to the airport or to our home. United didn't have a flight to accommodate our schedule, so I got a full refund and $25 coupon for that one. We just booked on the carrier the group is on for less money. It's worth a shot. Good luck.