If airline changes flight times, can I change date???

[paysensmom]

My parents are flying to visit us in April. The airline has changed the flight departure time. My parents would like to add a few days here. They didn't get refundable fares or anything. Dad lost his job, so now they are able to stay a few extra days. It is $150 for each ticket to delay their departure date from here to go back home. Is that time change a loop hole to get to change the dates on their tickets? Are we out of luck?

 

[JennCa]

It depends on how different the change is. I would call and explain what you want and see if they can accomodate you. If the change of date or route is minor they usually won't. I have had luck changing twice. Once they changed my route and the other time the departure and arrival time shifted more than 3 hours.

Good luck!

Jenn

 

[msmayor]

The simple answer is...it depends. If the airline can reasonably accommodate you on the original date of travel they probably won't change you without charging the fee.

But...if you don't accept the change, they normally offer you a refund and then you are free to purchase alternate tickets. However, you will have to pay today's price, not the price you obtained when you first bought the tickets.

 

[n2mm]

All good advice. It depends on the airlines. Some are better than others when accommodating you. I've had this happen a few times now and have had no problem changing to another day, however, that was either the day before or the day after. Obviously if the time changed by minutes, maybe no, but if by hours, maybe yes. So it's possible.

 

[RadioFanatic]

this past january, usairways changed our 6 am flight to 5 am which, with a three year old - they changed my flight for free to the night before and we got an extra night at disney! good luck!

 

[mistysue]

With Airtran we have used that loophole to change our flights for free. Last time we went to Disney we stayed 2 extra days because they changed our flight time by 5 minutes.

 

[Free4Life11]

What airline? Delta changed one of my flight times by a few minutes and here are the rules:

If a Delta schedule or routing change has delayed your departure or arrival by more than one hour, you may be eligible to select an alternate flight at no additional charge. Note that the below conditions may apply:

• Your origin, destination and travel date must remain the same
• Alternate flights must be available, and you can only modify once as subsequent changes may result in additional fees
• Voluntary changes to other flights not impacted by a Delta schedule change may result in additional fees

 

[crashbb]

It is rare that they'd let you change it by "a few days". If they make a "significant" change (depends on the airline, but usually a couple of hours), then definitely either a refund or a change within that day will be allowed. You can sometimes change to the day before or the day after. It would be quite rare for them to let you move by a couple of days - it would be difficult for you to argue that a flight time change of 90 minutes (or whatever) meant that you now had to fly four days later, which is what you are arguing when you make a change due to one of the airline's changes.

 

[Mkebound]

Which airline? They are all different, but most all will have information on their website on what you can do if they change the time on you and you don't like the new times they assigned.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Chances are this will be seen by the airline as a regular change and not due to a change in departure times. Most people affected by a schedule change don't ask to leave several days later.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I agree that it depends on the airline. They all have policies as to the time change which will allow you to make flight changes for free. Your parents probably won't be allowed to make a change of several days, but who knows for sure? It doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[paysensmom]

It is American Airlines. I would just be happy to change it to the next day! Of course, the more days the better

 

[MichiganKris]

You never know until you ask. The policy is to not allow changes like that for most airlines, but, if the flight your parents is on is possibly overbooked, and they can change to another flight that has room, the airline will probably make the change for you without a cost penalty, since it will save them money in the long run.

 

[ccgirl]

Jet Blue changed my flight by 1 hour. WHen I called they said that since the change was greater than 30 minutes, I could pick any other flight out that same day from the same airport. Not sure of the policy of American. It is probably best to call them to ask in order to get the most accurate information.

 

[MomToOne]

I've been able to argue United into letting me change to the next day, but that was with an arrival time change of 3 hours and 59 minutes. Funny how it was "just one minute short" of 4 hours, which I have always heard is a somewhat magic mark with many airlines or the DOT or something (which of course could be completely wrong). United made it sound like they were doing me a MAJOR favor by allowing the date change "just this one time" and that was only after I told them if they didn't allow me to change my flight they would have to have someone from the airline pick myself and DD9 up at the gate, gather our luggage for us and then personally drive us out to long term parking at the airport because there was NOOOO way I was going to do all of that by myself at 11:30 at night with a tired child! Yes, it was a completely useless, idle threat but it got my point across

I absolutely refuse to fly United these days, because of too many runs in like this with their "customer dis-service" department.

 

[luckyfin]

Another option if the time changes would be to look into canceling the reservation. I was able to do this on my last WDW world trip because there were no viable options. I had purchased park tickets for our travel day because we originally had a late flight and they tried to move me earlier in the day. I canceled the reservation and rebooked a one-way flight with another airline. Of course, you would want to check the prices of other options first. They did not give me a hard time about it all.