Question: Need Help ASAP

[kstategrad]

Ok, please don't flame me for this, but I have a sincere question that I'd like an answer to.

How much of a time change is considered "significant" when requesting a change in airline tickets?

My specific situation is this: I purchased plane tickets for November. My flight was supposed to leave at 9:15 am. The airline changed my departure to 8:35 (not a huge difference, but one nonetheless). For our return flight, I booked a 12:35 pm flight. The departure has been changed to 12:25.

My vacation dates have been changed to September, but I cannot afford the HUGE fees the airline wants me to pay to change my tickets from November to September.

Can I call the airline and tell them that the new flight times won't work for us, or is the time difference too little?

Please, no self-righteous responses or flames. I am just curious if anyone has had experience getting an airline to waive the change fees due to the airline changing the original-booked flight times.

Thanks in advance!

 

[LadyZolt]

The 12:35 to 12:25 wouldn't really be a problem since you have to be at the airport an hour before departure, but the 9:15 to 8:35 one -- that's more than a half hour and I can totally see having a problem with that. But I think they're going to try to get you on a flight that day -- not say you can cancel it and change it to September instead.

I guess what you could try is calling and canceling your current trip altogether and blame it on the time change, then re-book on a different call (or use their web site) to book totally fresh. That way, you're not changing a flight -- you're canceling and booking new.

Hope it works out for ya!

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[kstategrad]

Thank you. My tickets are "non-refundable," so I don't know if they'll let me cancel. I think I am going to try to call them and see what happens.

I think the worst they can do is say no, right?

 

[Tozzie]

Ok, please don't flame me for this, but I have a sincere question that I'd like an answer to.

How much of a time change is considered "significant" when requesting a change in airline tickets?

My specific situation is this: I purchased plane tickets for November. My flight was supposed to leave at 9:15 am. The airline changed my departure to 8:35 (not a huge difference, but one nonetheless). For our return flight, I booked a 12:35 pm flight. The departure has been changed to 12:25.

My vacation dates have been changed to September, but I cannot afford the HUGE fees the airline wants me to pay to change my tickets from November to September.

Can I call the airline and tell them that the new flight times won't work for us, or is the time difference too little?

Please, no self-righteous responses or flames. I am just curious if anyone has had experience getting an airline to waive the change fees due to the airline changing the original-booked flight times.

Thanks in advance!

It really depends on the airline, many posters report that Airtran will refund or change flights if they change the times by as little as a few minutes other airlines it has to be over a few hours.

 

[uva185]

#1 Rule with airline customer service: If you don't like the answer hang up and call again.

 

[kstategrad]

#1 Rule with airline customer service: If you don't like the answer hang up and call again.

LOL...so true.

I called Northwest, and I told them that the time changes would not work for our schedule. The representative told me that there was nothing she could do unless the change was an hour or more. She also said that even if they made a change I would have to pay the $150 per ticket fee to change the seats, even though THEY are the ones who changed the time.

We are going on a DCL cruise, and I tried telling her that DCL recommends that you book your flight after 12:30 PM, and with Northwest's changes, my flight was now before 12:30 PM, which would make the new schedule not compatible with the recommendations of the cruise line. That didn't work.

On Thursday night I checked Northwest's site to see how much it would be to change our tickets. The price I was quoted was $319, but I didn't do it b/c I hadn't heard back from our travel agent yet and didn't want to change our flight without having a reservation at WDW and DCL!

Then on Friday I checked the site again, only to find out that the fee now would be $671!!

Today I checked it again, and now the fee to change the flights is $1203.

It's doubling every day!

I emailed customer service and explained the situation to see if they would change the flights and waive the fee. I don't hold out much hope, but I thought it'd be worth a try.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Most airlines as a courtesy (they are not obligated) will allow you to reschedule or request a refund for a major change, which varies but is almost always in excess of 60 minutes (some are 90, 120, etc.).

Remember, when you purchased your tickets you agreed to the terms and conditions of those tickets, including them being non-refundable and the specific change fees. You also agreed to the contract of carriage which in most cases pretty much states that all the airline is responsible for is getting you from point A to point B on the date of the ticket. Time, seating, plane configuration, etc are all subject to change.

I don't see where you have any possible recourse or should have an expectation that the airline should waive the change fees. Even if they did offer as an exception to make a change, all I would see them allowing is a change in time for the original flight date, not rescheduling to different travel dates, no where near your original dates.

 

[kstategrad]

Yes, I'm aware of the rules I agreed to when I purchased the tickets, yada yada yada.

I just wanted to know if the changes they made were considered "significant" enough to get them to change the tickets.

I don't expect them to make the change, but I hope that they will.

I also wanted to hear what others' experiences were in getting an airline to waive a fee.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Yes, I'm aware of the rules I agreed to when I purchased the tickets, yada yada yada.

I just wanted to know if the changes they made were considered "significant" enough to get them to change the tickets.

I don't expect them to make the change, but I hope that they will.

I also wanted to hear what others' experiences were in getting an airline to waive a fee.

In general, the changes are not significant enough as I clarified in my post above.

Didn't you post something similar in a previous thread too? I know you may not want to hear it, but unfortunately without a more signficant change, I do not see where the airline is going to adjust anything without paying the change fee.

Also remember the fees being quoted are inclusive of the change fee and the difference in fare price, which may be less then or more then the original fare you paid.

 

[kstategrad]

I posted something the other day about the change in my itinerary, but not this specific question.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[hygienejean]

In my experience, AT will change your flight for the same day if they changes your times and the difference is more than 30 - 35 mins for no charge. I don't think they would let you change the day unless the day was something like the day before or the day after and I am not even sure of that. I don't think they would let you change it by months though but it can't hurt to ask. Talk to a couple of CS people too. The first may say no but the next one may say yes. You never know but I am thinking they may nix this one. Good luck!

 

[kstategrad]

I'm flying with Northwest. The agent on the phone said they couldn't change it, so I emailed their customer service department to see if I'd get a different answer.

I don't expect that they will change it, so I'm just hoping that the airfare will go back down to take a little "bite" out of the fees.

 

[mommy*RN]

I live by the motto it doesn't hurt to try. I hope you get the desired answer OP.

 

[kstategrad]

Thanks, MommyRN.

I guess I'm just annoyed by the whole thing b/c the fares change every day! I so wish I would've changed the flights when I saw the $319 fee. I'm kicking myself and hoping that the fares will go back down.

Any ideas on when the best time to check the Northwest website for the best fare?

Does anyone know of any sales coming up through NWA?

 

[DVCBELLE]

I would call NW and tell them that the changes in flight times don't work for you and you would like to cancel your flights.

Tell them that 8:35 is too early for you to leave as you rely on someone else to drive you and it won't work and the return flight is now before the reccomended flight time.

Airtran changed my flight by 10 mintues and made the change for me b/c I was no longer comfortable with my layover.

Then book your flights on Airtran. I see the prices out of Memphis (which is where I think you are based on your location) are about 60-75 one way on Airtran. There is a coupon out there that you can use on your tickets for $25 off a person - if you book using that and book each segment as a one way - then you will save a TON of money on airfare.

 

[kstategrad]

OMG...I would love to cancel my flights and rebook through AirTran, but NWA said that they won't let me cancel my flight. I told them that the schedule does not work for us (and that our ride to the airport could not get us there in time for the earlier flight), but they just won't budge.

I'm going to check into AirTran anyway if I can get that good of a rate. Even booking brand new tickets may be less expensive than paying those outrageous fees.

Is there a code to use for the Airtran deal?

THANK YOU!

 

[gracie1]

LOL...so true.

I called Northwest, and I told them that the time changes would not work for our schedule. The representative told me that there was nothing she could do unless the change was an hour or more. She also said that even if they made a change I would have to pay the $150 per ticket fee to change the seats, even though THEY are the ones who changed the time.

We are going on a DCL cruise, and I tried telling her that DCL recommends that you book your flight after 12:30 PM, and with Northwest's changes, my flight was now before 12:30 PM, which would make the new schedule not compatible with the recommendations of the cruise line. That didn't work.

On Thursday night I checked Northwest's site to see how much it would be to change our tickets. The price I was quoted was $319, but I didn't do it b/c I hadn't heard back from our travel agent yet and didn't want to change our flight without having a reservation at WDW and DCL!

Then on Friday I checked the site again, only to find out that the fee now would be $671!!

Today I checked it again, and now the fee to change the flights is $1203.

It's doubling every day!

I emailed customer service and explained the situation to see if they would change the flights and waive the fee. I don't hold out much hope, but I thought it'd be worth a try.

That is crazy to pay that to change! I know airtran charges $75 per person to change. Does northwest not have a set fee?? I just noticed our airtran just changed it by 25 minutes flying out. I am going to call them and see if I can get on the earlier flight and tell them this one isn't going to work. Not sure what they do if you have an assigned seat though? Do they change that?

 

[jlewisinsyr]

That is crazy to pay that to change! I know airtran charges $75 per person to change. Does northwest not have a set fee?? I just noticed our airtran just changed it by 25 minutes flying out. I am going to call them and see if I can get on the earlier flight and tell them this one isn't going to work. Not sure what they do if you have an assigned seat though? Do they change that?

Yes, NW has a set change fee, what the OP is posting is the change fee plus difference in fares.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Yes, NW has a set change fee, what the OP is posting is the change fee plus difference in fares.

And that the $319 she saw first would have included the (at the time) reduced/sale fare: $600 change fee minus the difference in the price of the new tickets from the amount she paid for the existing tickets. Even $671 is only a $71 additional cost in the price of the tickets. The $1203 must mean there aren't four new tickets at the lowest existing fare, and that four new tickets for her party would now cost an additional $603, plus the $600 change fee.

 

[Jestocost]

Unfortunately, barring a successful BSing session with customer service you are not likely to get your schedule changed without paying the change fee and the difference in ticket prices. The fact that your vacation schedule has change is not the fault of the airline and the schedule changes in this case don't let you slip through a loophole to avoid the change/cancellation fees.

If a change fee of $150 per ticket is reasonable or not (it really isn't, IMO) isn't the issue. You knew (or should have known) when you booked the ticket that such fees would apply. The airlines are very happy to charge you more for fully refundable tickets, which would have you in the clear as far as changes go at this point.

It is unfortunate that you can't game the system at this point, but that's life. And if a slice of reality is equal to flaming, then you better buy an asbestos suit.