Help!! -- US Airways Ticket Change Required

[sif]

I am just sick about this situation. After much research and planning, I booked our airfare a few months ago for our WDW vacation. We (me, DW, DS7, DS5, DD2) are (were) planning to go in the first week of November 2006. Got what I considered a great fare on USAirways (approx $1000 for all 5 of us), locked in a good rate on a rental minivan, and booked a great rate on a villa. It's all good, right?
Well last night DW, out of the blue, realizes that she has a work commitment that week that she absolutely cannot get out of (she is a prof.musician).

I called USAirways and was informed that it will cost us $100 for EACH ticket just to make a change, plus the cost difference to whatever the new fare is. Has anyone had any success in having that fee waived or reduced? I'd REALLY rather not pay $500 and get nothing in return.....

Also, the airline recently changed our flights and times a bit. The times have shifted no more than 1 or 2 hours, and we are still nonstop. But could this give me any leverage in making an argument to waive or reduce the change fee?

Any experts out there with any ideas? Much appreciated........

 

[Scottish-Helen]

Don't know if this will help but I work asa travel agent in Ireland. We had a situation today where a customer was booked to fly to Chicago with American Airlines but wanted to change his dates as he has an audition to go to. AA's rules were non changeable/non refundable and originally they wouldn't budge on this. We had however received a schedule change, again only by about an hour or so but because of this they are letting the customer get a refund on his ticket.

Obviously different airlines have different rules and are pretty strict on these things because of cost cutting etc but I say it's worth giving it a try based on the time change thing.

I wish you luck

 

[CarolA]

I am not sure what USAir's policy is on changes due to the time changes. (Hopefully SafetyMom will stop by, she is pro at USAir) However, had you already spoken to them about the time changes? If so, you "accepted" the change and all you can do is wait for another one.

The time change is really your only hope. The airlines don't waive those fees, it's the risk you take for the cheap fares....

 

[Servants of Evan]

It sounds to me like you're trying to change your entire trip by a week? If that's the case, I don't think US Air's changing your flight by an hour or two will hold much water in the "I need to then switch my entire trip" claim. As Carol said, that's the cost of cheaper tickets -- higher restrictions. I checked into shifting my vacation and changing my flights when Disney announced free dining, but Continental wanted too much to change our tickets to make it worthwhile.

 

[sif]

Actually, we'll need to change our trip by more than just a week. The week we HAD booked was the only week available for us (or so I thought). It's likely that we'll have to reschedule for January 2007!

I tend to agree that it's not likely that USAirways will waive the cancellation/change fee just because they changed my flights by 1-2 hours. I just wondered if anyone has had success with that approach. CarolA raises an excellent point, much to my chagrin. Just a few days ago (before this fiasco came to light), I called the airline because when they changed my flights, they screwed up the seat assignments so that we didn't all have seats. I got that all straightened out over the phone, FOR THE NEW FLIGHTS. If I'm USAirways, I would also say that you "accepted" the new flights, so tough luck.

Well, I think I know what kind of situation I'm in, and it doesn't smell good. Hope a few others jump in with their 2 cents. Thanks.

 

[safetymom]

I can't speak from experience but I would think that since you accepted the new seat assignments you can't use the time change argument.

You agree when you buy the ticket that there will be a fee if you need to change it along with any change in the fare.

You might want to ask on the US Airways forum at www.flyertalk.com They will be able to give you the answer. Go to miles and points, then the airlines forums, then to US Airways.

 

[Lewisc]

You're trip isn't until November. There is a good chance of at least one more schedule change. I'd wait it out, if the schedule change is more than a few hours you might be able to negotiate a full refund.

 

[ducklite]

LewisC has the best plan--but then you take a risk that it won't happen. mY experience with US in the past year is that their times don't change all that much, a few minutes here and there. I can also tell you that they are pretty strict about enforcing their change fees, unless there's a practical consideration such as getting you out of the airport early in the face of an oncoming blizzard.

Even with my FF status with them, I've still had to pay a change fee to move my ticket by a day (the fare was the same, otherwise I would ahve had to pay that as well)

Anne

 

[Hannathy]

I don't think you should be able to change without paying because you reallly are doing what they are trying to prevent/ what you agree with the ticket.

Is your wife's job all week? could you and they kids fly down as planned and then only pay for her ticket change and she join you there. Just an idea.

 

[canwegosoon]

I had a similar experience. I had tickets, but had to switch dates. The dates I ended up switiching to were $132 dollars cheaper than to origional tickets. SO They rebooked the tickets, took the $100 penality, but I got a $32 dollar credit per ticket. Granted I switched routes (went through CTL as opposed to Dulles), btu it worked out good for me. I was bummed that I paid the 100 per ticket, but at least I got cheaper airfare. Good Luck

 

[sif]

Hannathy:
I agree that what I would be trying to do is exactly what they are trying to prevent. That is why I started this thread by saying that I'm sick about the whole situation. My wife will need to work several nights during the week we're there, and for the next two weeks as well, she plays in an orchestra and will be in a 3-week run of an opera production. She cannot get out of it. She was not aware of the first week, and it just got scheduled (hadn't been scheduled like that in past years).

The fact that I had everything booked in March for our November trip should tell you that I don't think I could wait and hope that USAirways makes another flight change. Don't know yet what we'll do.

 

[iluvflorida8]

This is the main reason I ONLY fly Southwest. There is NO charge to change your flights. I don't fly any legacy airlines anymore for that reason.

 

[DebbieB]

I learned the hard way about USAir vs Southwest. I had planned a trip with friends to Disneyland for late this month. USAir and Southwest were about the same - around $314. I booked USAir because I am trying to get silver status this year with all my work travel, plus I've found Airbuses are more comfortable than 737's. Well the trip ended up getting changed to Disney World. The fare PIT/MCO ended up being about the same as PIT/LAX, so I had to pay the $100 fee. So it ended up costing me $414. Meanwhile one of my friends got a ding on Southwest for $97 (she had not booked the LAX flight)! If I would have booked Southwest to LAX, I could have got the ding for $97 when our plans changed and had the rest in SW travel credits for another trip.

One thing to keep in mind - since you booked in March, your credit to reschedule would only be good until March 2007.

 

[nuttylawprofessor]

FWIW, I once got a full refund of a ticket when the departure time changed by 15 min. on United.

 

[sif]

DebbieB -- is that true (voucher good for only 1 year from date tix were BOOKED)? I was thinking/hoping that any voucher would be good for 1 year from the original date of travel, which was Nov. 4 '06.

Anyone out there able to confirm one way or the other? Thanks.

 

[sif]

I decided it was worth a shot to call USAirways and see if I could get some relief from the change fees. At first, the agent told me that I was out of luck because I hadn't complained about their changing my flights within 7 days of being notified. I told her that, in fact, I had NOT been notified. No call, no email -- if I hadn't looked online by chance, I wouldn't even know of the change even today. She transferred me to a supervisor. The supervisor told me that even if I did change my flights as a result of the airline's change, I could only move my flights 7 days in either direction from my original dates. This won't work, since it looks like we need to reschedule for January 2007 (originally going in Nov 2006). Seemed like I was going to be stuck with the $100 change fee x 5 tickets!

Then, the supervisor volunteered another solution. She said that "looking at this reservation, I'll be willing to just cancel the entire itinerary and refund the full amount to your credit card." This was fantastic. Now my November tickets are cancelled, as if they never existed. No fee. If I rebook in January, I'll of course pay whatever the going fares are, but no rebooking fee. The best possible solution. I suspect she did not have to do this for me, but I'm obviously grateful that she did.

Incidentally, as follow up to a few points raised in earlier posts.... No agent ever mentioned that I had called in to confirm my seats after they had changed my flight times. They either didn't have a record of it or didn't care. So I was not deemed to have "accepted" the change. Also, I confirmed that if this supervisor had not been kind to me and if I would have cancelled my tix outright, my voucher would have been good for 1 year from original date of PURCHASE of ticket (in my case 2/15/06), NOT 1 year from original departure date (in my case 11/4/06). Significant difference.....here, happily irrelevant.

Thanks for all input and ideas. Alls well that ends well.

 

[safetymom]

Glad to hear it worked out well for you.

 

[zurgswife]

This is the main reason I ONLY fly Southwest. There is NO charge to change your flights. I don't fly any legacy airlines anymore for that reason.

Ditto...

I hope it works out.