Of all the questions a flight passenger might ask, this particular question doesn’t always come with a beaming smile. Mishaps and delays happen, and it’s not really a great experience to have especially if you’ve been looking forward to that special trip for months. If you happen to find yourself in this unfortunate situation, changing flight schedules might be the only best option there is.
Common rules among airlines
Every airline has their own set of policies and regulations that each passenger needs to consider before buying a ticket, but the following seems to be universal among different airlines:
- Once purchased, airline tickets are non-transferable. You can’t just simply change the name of the passenger listed on the ticket or hand it over to someone else.
- You are not allowed to switch your ticket to that of another airline.
How much does it cost?
There really isn’t a set price on changing scheduled flights, and this greatly depends on the airline where you purchased your tickets. Basically, airlines charge a penalty fee in order to change your ticket and the price varies whether you are taking a domestic or international flight. Sometimes, these penalties can reach up to a whopping $400 and may even cost more than the price of your old ticket.
Not only that, but you’ll have to pay for the price difference between the old ticket and a new one. Regardless if you’re changing your flight to a later time within the same day or to another date, you’ll still be subject to pay the price difference if you want to change your schedule.
If the new ticket ends up being more expensive than the old one, you’ll have to pay both the penalty fee and price difference. There’s really no way around it, you have to spend more if you need to change the dates of your flight.
Now, what if the price of the new ticket turns out to be cheaper than the old one? Are you eligible for a refund? Sadly, no. If this happens to be the case, you won’t get your money back but you won’t have to pay for a price difference anymore. However, you will still have to pay the penalty fee, so you’re not exactly off the hook. At this point, it might be best to purchase a new ticket instead of paying for a more expensive penalty fee.
How to deal with flight changes in the future
If you feel disheartened about what you have to deal with in case of flight changes, we can’t blame you. It’s something that’s bound to happen to a frequent traveler, but there’s definitely a lot that you can learn from this experience.
Now that you know about the penalty fee the airlines charge their passengers, compare your airline’s penalty fee with the other airlines, and see which one has more lenient policies on flight changes and less expensive penalty fees. This way, you’ll be prepared with an extra budget if you come across this mishap again.
The bottom line is, researching the best airline for you is highly recommended before buying tickets. This is to make sure that you are aware of what policies they have and what you need to do as a passenger.
If you’re looking for more info like what to do when you’ve missed a flight, or didn’t make it to your connecting flight on time, make sure to check out our flying tips page.