AirTran...anyway around the flight change fee?

[Jaylin]

To make a long story short....my mom passed away in Aug., for my Dad's bday in Nov. we bought him a tix to go to DW with us in May. We had already had our DVC room booked before she died and thought it would be perfect, the dates that I had originally picked to travel fell over her birthday...so....I thought it would be great for my Dad to be with us during the week of her bday.

Well he told me today that he really doesn't want to go. He's got bad knees/ankes and knows he's going to have a hard time walking so much, and refuses the idea of a scooter......

So here's my problem....now I feel horrible that we are leaving him alone the whole week of her birthday, and to make it worse we're bringing my brother with us, so he really will be all alone.

So I've now decided that I HAVE to move the dates. We were originally 5/18-5/27 and I want to push it up a week to 5/11-5/19. I've got 8 tix. 1 will need to be cancelled and the other 7 need to be changed. The $600 change fee really sucks, anything I can do about it? Or just suck it up?

Thanks

 

[kristenrice]

If they change your flight times, you can get a refund, but you will then have to rebook at whatever the going rate is for the dates you want. I don't know if they will allow you to move your dates by an entire week for the same price if they change the times, but you never know. The way AirTran changes flight times, you may luck out and get a refund without paying the fee. OTOH, you might get stuck paying an inflated last-minute rate that would be more than the $600 change fee.

Good luck.

 

[gmeh1]

To make a long story short....my mom passed away in Aug., for my Dad's bday in Nov. we bought him a tix to go to DW with us in May. We had already had our DVC room booked before she died and thought it would be perfect, the dates that I had originally picked to travel fell over her birthday...so....I thought it would be great for my Dad to be with us during the week of her bday.

Well he told me today that he really doesn't want to go. He's got bad knees/ankes and knows he's going to have a hard time walking so much, and refuses the idea of a scooter......

So here's my problem....now I feel horrible that we are leaving him alone the whole week of her birthday, and to make it worse we're bringing my brother with us, so he really will be all alone.

So I've now decided that I HAVE to move the dates. We were originally 5/18-5/27 and I want to push it up a week to 5/11-5/19. I've got 8 tix. 1 will need to be cancelled and the other 7 need to be changed. The $600 change fee really sucks, anything I can do about it? Or just suck it up?

Thanks

First, I am very sorry for your loss.
Second, why not call them and see what they can do for you. Since they are in the process of merging with Southwest, you never know what changes they have put into place. Certainly worth a try.

 

[maxiesmom]

In my experience, no. We recently had to change travel dates for a few reasons. The biggest one being an appendix surgery a few weeks before our trip on my 11yr old niece. Air Tran wouldn't wave the change fee.

It doesn't hurt to call, but I wouldn't count on them doing anything. You will probably have to eat the fee.

 

[Brian Noble]

You can call, but I would expect to be told that there is nothing they will do for you.

 

[Lewisc]

Your situation wouldn't be covered by travel insurance (if you had bought it). Basically the OP wants to move the dates because her Dad would not rather use mobility aids such as a wheelchair and they want to move the trip so as not to conflict with a birthday week.

The OP has good reasons for wanting to make the change but they don't even rise to level of getting a claim paid by travel insurance. I can't see any reason to think AT would make an exception. You can call. Maybe if you document the fact that your Dad isn't mobile enough to enjoy traveling you might at least get a full refund on one ticket.

I think you're going to have to suck it up.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I'd be willing to bet they have changed your original flight times and you can call and cancel. I have never taken an Airtran flight when the time did not change from my original flight.

If the flights have changed, you can call and ask them to change them or cancel them.

 

[dancin Disney style]

How about going on the trip as planned and bringing dad along to enjoy the resort. You could hit the parks early in the morning and then come back to the resort mid day to spend some time with dad. Then if you want, go back to the parks after dinner.

 

[Ode]

I'd be willing to bet they have changed your original flight times and you can call and cancel. I have never taken an Airtran flight when the time did not change from my original flight.

If the flights have changed, you can call and ask them to change them or cancel them.

DVCBELLE,
If AT changes my flight times, can I cancel my flight w/o fee?

 

[vacationclub]

DVCBELLE,
If AT changes my flight times, can I cancel my flight w/o fee?

I'm not so sure about that. You can change flights without a fee if they change your flight time, but completely cancelling them....especially for a very slight flight time change, which is most likely what will happen....seems less likely.

Basically you've booked a cheaper fare, and the reason it's cheaper is that the tix are non-refundable. Anyone booking those fares takes a chance that they won't have any reason to cancel. AT is not going to budge here since one person in your part simply changed their mind. AT's pending merger with SW won't likely matter, as AT is still being operated as AT, with very little assimilation into SW policies yet.

I think you're better off staying with the trip as planned and trying to get your Dad to come along anyway, and simply hang out at the resort, casually walk at Downtown Disney a bit, etc. You might have to always have someone stay with him while others do parks, etc. But to me, cancelling the entire flight schedule and incurring those fees, just because he is concerned about walking, seems a bit over-reactive.

Also, maybe I'm missing something here, but you're still planning on leaving him alone a week later anyway. Except that week isn't the b-day week. Perhaps if he refuses to go just celebrate the b-day with him before you leave, call him several times on the b-day, etc. He knows you've booked this because of him, and he changed his mind...I would guess he may be OK with you leaving him home on his B-day since that's what his wish is.

 

[Lewisc]

In the past AT has honored passenger requests for refunds over minor schedule changes. That courtesy isn't required. SW is now calling the shots. I wouldn't count on being able to get a refund if the schedule change is only a few minutes.

 

[Jaylin]

Thank you for all the posts! I called yesterday to have his tickets cancelled from our group. There are 8 of us. And then was able to immediately go online and change flights for the rest of us and use his credit as a partial pmt. I just quickly played dumb on the phone and was told there was a $75 fee.....there ended up being a $700ish difference that we had to pay

But one good thing is that instead of having an 11:30am flight home, we now have a 1:50 flight, which means we have time to eat breakfast with Donald and Mickey at Tusker House! I love doing that instead of just packing up and leaving first thing in the morning.

The most surprising thing out of all of this is that I had zero problems rebooking absolutely everything. My DVC room was available, along with all of our ADRs, the castle, BBB, Pirate league, pirate cruise.......it was amazing.

And I can now go feeling better knowing that my Dad won't be home alone on my Mom's first bday without her.

Thanks everyone....oh, and now I just have to watch the airtran site everyday to see if the flight prices go lower!!!

 

[PatMcDuck]

Just another example of why I fly SW for the most part...... the flexibility with flights is incredible. I have had to change flights too. Between DD who has serious health issues and our aging parents (sadly, all gone now) we had to adjust dates several times...... it just is peace of mind knowing changes can be made easily and for free.


Good luck to you!