How to change a flight

[Dznypal]

I already booked for Jan a few months ago. At the time I thought it was a good deal but now it is cheaper.

I can’t remember what I need to do to change the fare. There is a change button at the bottom of my booking so I’m thinking do I click on the change button and then click on the same time flight I already have.

Sure didn’t think the fare would go this low

 

[DVC-Don]

Depends on the airline.

 

[Dznypal]

Oh sorry this is SW

 

[Akck]

As I recall, you can change it just as you described. You won’t get a refund, just a credit for the difference for a future flight.

 

[rangerxenos]

Oh sorry this is SW

So I changed mine to the lower sale rates this morning, but ended up having to call, first time that's happened as there is usually no issues doing it with the change option.

The person I talked to said it was because my flights were flagged as changed by Southwest (the times changed slightly), and that was the problem, it wanted to change me to completely different flights, which is not what I wanted.

I got right through on the phone with no issues, and I'm down to $117 roundtrip for my Nov/Dec trip now!

 

[rangerxenos]

As I recall, you can change it just as you described. You won’t get a refund, just a credit for the difference for a future flight.

You are correct, the credit goes to your account for a future trip. The nice thing about SW is that they don't charge you to change, and the credits never expire.

 

[sam_gordon]

The nice thing about SW is that they don't charge you to change, and the credits never expire.

Other airlines (Delta and I believe American, possibly United) have also done away with their change fees. You just pay for the difference in fare (if any).

 

[Dznypal]

wheeeee got everything changed--at first I kept getting a message that they couldnt process my request and to try back later

which I kept trying till I finally got in and got the lower price--

so now I have a credit of 67$
and DH has a credit of 33$ plus 2500 points back
I think this is the lowest weve ever paid
while Im happy when I find a lower fare
I was stress out changing things I afraid Ill delete everything
but so glad when its done
thanks all

 

[RedHead0186]

So I changed mine to the lower sale rates this morning, but ended up having to call, first time that's happened as there is usually no issues doing it with the change option.

The person I talked to said it was because my flights were flagged as changed by Southwest (the times changed slightly), and that was the problem, it wanted to change me to completely different flights, which is not what I wanted.

I got right through on the phone with no issues, and I'm down to $117 roundtrip for my Nov/Dec trip now!

Yes, if SW changes your flights, you are allowed to change to a different flight (regardless of price) twice. Which is great if you end up being able to move to a higher-priced flight, but annoying if you're trying to switch to a lower-price flight or rebook the same flight at a lower price.

 

[Dznypal]

Gee I didn’t know there was a limit how many times you could change to get a lower fare. No wonder last year when I tried for the third time the fare went down it wouldn’t let me.

 

[RedHead0186]

Gee I didn’t know there was a limit how many times you could change to get a lower fare. No wonder last year when I tried for the third time the fare went down it wouldn’t let me.

There is not a limit (at least not that I've ever encountered or seen anywhere).

 

[Dznypal]

Hmmmm one of the replies said there was a limit of 2.

 

[Sweettears]

I'm not aware of any limitation. You could always cancel and rebook your flight as well.

 

[EACarlson]

Hmmmm one of the replies said there was a limit of 2.

That was free change to any flight due to a SW schedule change. Not just a voluntary change to take advantage of a price drop. If SW changes your butt crack of dawn flight that you booked because it was cheapest, you can change to any other flight between those city pairs for free, but only twice without paying the fare difference.

 

[Dznypal]

Thanks for letting me know this. Cause last year I was able to change twice on the website but the third time the price went down I couldn’t do it on line. And wait time was 2 hrs.

 

[rangerxenos]

Gee I didn’t know there was a limit how many times you could change to get a lower fare. No wonder last year when I tried for the third time the fare went down it wouldn’t let me.

There is not a limit. The downside to changing often if your prices keep dropping is that you're limited to using 3 credits per transaction, so if you have a lot of smaller amounts you can't use them all at once when buying a ticket. I usually break the outgoing and incoming flights into 2 transactions if I have multiple credits.

 

[AgentMama]

Yes, if SW changes your flights, you are allowed to change to a different flight (regardless of price) twice. Which is great if you end up being able to move to a higher-priced flight, but annoying if you're trying to switch to a lower-price flight or rebook the same flight at a lower price.

I've had this happen where the cost was lower, I just changed the flight until it allowed me to change back to the flight I wanted for the lower fare.

There is not a limit. The downside to changing often if your prices keep dropping is that you're limited to using 3 credits per transaction, so if you have a lot of smaller amounts you can't use them all at once when buying a ticket. I usually break the outgoing and incoming flights into 2 transactions if I have multiple credits.

If you book a flight with the max three credits and then cancel it, they all combine into one credit from the newly canceled flight. You'd obviously need to be sure you weren't adding other unnecessary money into the credit.

 

[RedHead0186]

I've had this happen where the cost was lower, I just changed the flight until it allowed me to change back to the flight I wanted for the lower fare.

I have done this as well.

 

[RedHead0186]

Hmmmm one of the replies said there was a limit of 2.

Yes, my comment on the limit of 2 was that you get 2 'free' changes if Southwest changes your flight. If they change it, you can switch to a different flight 2 times, regardless of difference in fare.

If you're just rebooking the same flight to get a cheaper price, I'm not aware of any limit there.