Airplane Ticket ???

[CamColt]

I know this is probably a stupid question, but from reading a bunch of fine print, Im all confused.
If a plane ticket is "nonrefundable" and you end up not being able to use it, are you totally out of luck? I think what Im reading is, if you make any changes they add a 50.00 service charge per ticket. In general does that include if you decide not to use your tickets you have for say, December, but decide you want to get tickets for August. Could you just pay that extra charge, to change dates by about 8 months?

 

[TeresaNJ]

I've had to cancel trips a few times, and although the ticket always says nonrefundable, I was always able to change the ticket to another date, of course with losing the $50-$100 penalty. I was even able to book the new ticket under one of my other children't name, even though it was originally booked for a different child because I had paid for it with my credit card. Hope this helps.

 

[mickeyfan1]

on when you actually bought the ticket and on which carrier.

Here is how Delta does it..... If you bought the ticket before some date in August (sorry, I don't remember the exact day) and you don't use it, for $100.00 you can rebook with in a year. If you bought it after that date, you eat it. Think of it like a Broadway show, if you buy the ticket, and don't get to use it, you pay for nothing. Except you can try to resell the show ticket and you CAN NOT resell an air ticket. The airlines have to do something to stop bleeding $$$, this is just one thing they did. It is very inconvienient, but it does make you stick to your plans a little more. If you get fully refunable, they cost a lot more, but at least you get most if not all of your $$$ back. Perhaps a working travel agent can explain it better. I also call the carrier to be sure, and I almost always buy my tix online from the carriers website, or call them directly.

Last time I checked, Southwest had the best non refundable policy, they let you reuse the ticket any time, and I am not sure they have a fee.

 

[swanmom]

I see that this is a recent post so I'm going to give a recent reply.
The airlines have really, really cracked down on enforcing "nonrefundable" tickets. On Continental, for example, even if you pay the change fee (usually $100) you MUST rebook another flight before midnight of your original flight day or you lose the value of the ticket completely! Many carriers are following similar guidelines now. But I'm with Mickeyfan1, you can't assume anything. I also agree with Mickeyfan1 about the comparison to a Broadway ticket....... if I can''t use a Broadway ticket, I can give it away or resell it, it doesn't have my name on it. If they are going to require payment for airline seats in advance and NOT refund $$$ if an emergency requires you to miss the flight, then they better let me transfer it to someone who CAN use it!

 

[DopeysGal]

Southwest Airlines will let you cancel a flight and they give you a "credit" for the amount you paid, that has to be used within a year. There is no fee to change but if the flight you want to take is more than your credit you have to pay the additional amount. We almost always get a flight for the same amount as our credit and a few times have even had credit left over to use on another flight.
Also, if you book your flights through their website, you only need to fly 4 round trips in a year to get a free flight. We fly four times a year on short trips to see relatives then use our free flight to go somewhere fun. My son and I have flown free to Orlando 3 times, Nashville, St. Louis and Houston. The free ticket is also transferable (my friend used my son's free ticket to go to Baltimore with me...no problem). They really are the best for customer service (and have never lost a bag of mine in over 200 flights).