Changing flight date?

[Iamthesea]

Could someone tell me how difficult (and costly) it would be to change the date of our overseas flight to a couple of days later than we currently have it booked? 

 

Details: 

We have a European cruise booked from Barcelona to Venice.   As usually, we have planned pre and post stays around this cruise.  After the cruise ends in Venice, we have planned on taking a train to Milan and then spending a couple of nights in the Lake Como area before continuing on up through Switzerland for a few days.  Our trip would end in Zurich before flying back to the states.  

 

The reason we would want to extend our vacation is because DH recently had open heart surgery.   Something that was NOT in the picture when we booked our flights.  DH will be 2 weeks post surgery this Friday.  Although he will be cleared to travel by the time we leave, I feel that the itinerary that we have planned for the post cruise travel may be too hurried and tiresome for him to accomplish in the few days that we previously allocated.   I thought it would be nice to extend the time, if possible.  We can always cut back (not try to see as much) on the land travel part, but since we would already be over there, it seems a shame not to take advantage of experiencing what we can.  In our recent past travels, we have been quite efficient in getting around and exploring/covering a good amount in a short few days.  Not so sure for this trip. 

 

We are currently booked on a flight from Zurich back to ATL in Delta One (Z) seats that we paid cash for at a reasonable rate.  We did not use miles. 

 

What is the current price to change an overseas ticket on Delta?  It used to be $250, but for some reason I am think it higher.  Perhaps because a Business Class ticket would be more to exchange???  Although we only want to change the ticket dates, I cannot tell if the ticket is refundable or non-refundable.  We are only Gold Medallion members. 

 

I assume that in addition to paying the exchange fee,  we would also have to pay the difference between what we paid and the current airfare for the same cabin type.  The price difference between what we paid and the current price of a Delta One/First/Business seat, for two days late, is $600 pp.  Not bad considering that the price difference for the original flight is now $2000 more per ticket! 

[6rugrats]

It would have been a lot faster to just call DL and ask them, than to type all that😂.

You pay the change fee plus the difference in fare.

The change fee for the last international ticket I had was $350 per ticket.

Call DL for the most accurate information about your ticket.

[Twickenham]

The answer depends entirely on what fare class you booked and the associated rules. Each category of seat (economy, business, etc.) can have several fare classes associated with different rules, including change fees.

[GeezerCouple]

You really do need to call the airline.

 

No one here can give you definitive answers that are specific for your tickets.

 

GC

[Iamthesea]

Sorry, with my husband being ill, I did not feel like, or want to take the time to play phone tag with Delta.   Since I had a few minutes of quiet time yesterday while DH was napping, I decided to ask on here.  It did not take but a few seconds to right my post.  Was hoping someone might know the cost of the exchange for an International flight because the Delta site is vague. 

 

After further taking a look on Delta's website, I have a better idea, but still uncertain of the cost of the exchange.  I know the ticket will be about $600 more per person.

 

Twickenham - I mentioned above that the ticket was  Z class. 

 

Thanks for the responses.  Hopefully I will get a chance to call Delta soon. 

Edited January 17, 2019 by Iamthesea

[waterbug123]

On 1/16/2019 at 8:25 AM, Bee Guy said:

I understand that a TSA strike would be illegal.   Is that true?

 

18 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

What is the current price to change an overseas ticket on Delta?  It used to be $250, but for some reason I am think it higher.  Perhaps because a Business Class ticket would be more to exchange???  Although we only want to change the ticket dates, I cannot tell if the ticket is refundable or non-refundable.  We are only Gold Medallion members. 

 

I assume that in addition to paying the exchange fee,  we would also have to pay the difference between what we paid and the current airfare for the same cabin type. 

 

I believe the current change fee is $350/ticket, and yes, you will also need to pay any difference in fare.  As to whether your tickets are refundable or not, it depends on the exact fare class, not just that they are "business."  There are a couple of fare categories within business class.  That said, I would almost guarantee that any fare you found reasonable enough (likely a Z fare) to pay for was non-refundable business class.   If you happened to get super lucky and got a J fare, it should be fully refundable, but again- I highly doubt that's what you bought.

 

All that said, call Delta and as succinctly as possible, explain that due to your husband's current health situation, you would really like to extend the trip so you aren't as rushed each day. (as a gold member, your wait time should be relatively short)  Ask them to help you see what the possibilities are.  It's possible that an agent will waive the fee in light of your gold status.  We've had it done several times as diamond/platinum members. 

My personal opinion is that you should NOT directly ask them to waive the fee; directly asking a question like that is likely to elicit a response along the lines of "sorry, this is our policy."  An agent who is blatantly asked to ignore a policy may well go on the defensive against a customer who appears to feel "entitled" by their status.  The agent will have already see your status via your Sky Miles number.  Or when asked for your confirmation number, just say "let me give you my sky miles number" at which point they can pull you up and see your status and reservation. 

Also, beyond not blatantly asking for the fee to be waived, I find it works well to let them know you're in kind of a pickle, and ask for help.  (sort of the damsel in distress mode).   Just don't be all emotional about it, and don't drone on and on with unnecessary details.  This empowers someone to want to actually help, as opposed to stating emphatically what you "need them to do" which again, is likely to put them in a more defensive/stick to the policy frame of mind.   This approach has worked for me several times when either I made a bone-headed error in booking, or something changed that was our of our control (a wedding on the opposite coast was cancelled, meaning we no longer needed to travel there).  When they introduce themselves and ask what they can do to help, I just say something like, "hello, yes, I actually do really hope you can help me.  I'm kind of in a situation here and I'm not sure what my options are."  Then I briefly explain what's going on.

In the end, understand that any fee waiver is favor, or gesture of goodwill, and the agent is under no obligation to do this.  If that's the case, accept it graciously.  They are only following policy, and may have just received a memo on not waiving fees.   But you just might get lucky.   🙂 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

Sorry, with my husband being ill, I did not feel like, or want to take the time to play phone tag with Delta.  

 

Suggestion to all:  When you are on hold, listening to the same music again and again....

 

Put the phone on speaker, then go about doing your other "stuff".  When the agent comes on, then pick up the phone and do your business.  I don't mind the "current wait time is 20 minutes" message....I just turn to another task or whatever and let the music play without my ear to the phone.

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Suggestion to all:  When you are on hold, listening to the same music again and again....

 

Put the phone on speaker, then go about doing your other "stuff".  When the agent comes on, then pick up the phone and do your business.  I don't mind the "current wait time is 20 minutes" message....I just turn to another task or whatever and let the music play without my ear to the phone.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. Do this all the time...

[em-sk]

15 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Sorry, with my husband being ill, I did not feel like, or want to take the time to play phone tag with Delta.   Since I had a few minutes of quiet time yesterday while DH was napping, I decided to ask on here.  It did not take but a few seconds to right my post.  Was hoping someone might know the cost of the exchange for an International flight because the Delta site is vague. 

 

After further taking a look on Delta's website, I have a better idea, but still uncertain of the cost of the exchange.  I know the ticket will be about $600 more per person.

 

Twickenham - I mentioned above that the ticket was  Z class. 

 

Thanks for the responses.  Hopefully I will get a chance to call Delta soon. 

 

The problem is there is multiple different types of Z class tickets.  

 

I have had flights in the past that have a change fee of a few hundred dollars before you start your journey but are free after you start your trip.  The solution is to do the change at the airport ticket counter just after check in.  

 

To many variables.  

 

Hope things go well with your DH operation.

 

[waterbug123]

22 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Twickenham - I mentioned above that the ticket was  Z class.

 

Yep, you did, and I missed it.  Z is discounted business which is non-refundable.  I'd still try, as I detailed above.  Delta agents are often empowered to waive fees.

 

6 hours ago, em-sk said:

 

The problem is there is multiple different types of Z class tickets.  

 

I have had flights in the past that have a change fee of a few hundred dollars before you start your journey but are free after you start your trip.  The solution is to do the change at the airport ticket counter just after check in. 

 

 

Depends on what you mean by "after you start your trip."  With Delta, one can do what's called a "same day confirmed" change for travel that day.  The change fee is $50 (for domestic, not sure if international is more) and this fee is officially waived for diamond and platinum medallion members.   If you're talking about changing the return in advance of flight day but after the trip has begun, I don't know if there's a specific Z fare that allows that without fee, or if you just got lucky with the agents you dealt with...curious if you have medallion status?  Either way, I suspect the OP wants to have the change confirmed well in advance, rather than take a chance changing it at check-in.

 

[Iamthesea]

10 hours ago, em-sk said:

 

The problem is there is multiple different types of Z class tickets.  

 

I have had flights in the past that have a change fee of a few hundred dollars before you start your journey but are free after you start your trip.  The solution is to do the change at the airport ticket counter just after check in.  

 

To many variables.  

 

Hope things go well with your DH operation.

 

 

Interesting!   However, I would like to have things changed well in advance because of hotels, transportation, etc. that have to be scheduled ahead of time.  This is good to know if we were traveling within the US.

 

Meg - Very helpful information.  Never did I consider trying to get the fee waved.  I was  trying to gather info for the total price of changing days so that I could discuss with DH.  We would also not want to cancel the trip.   If it came to that,  we do have an annual trip insurance policy.    

 

I looked this morning and I think I have shown too much interest in that flight home.  The price has gone up!  I'll talk to DH and we can look again next week. 

 

Getting the change fee waved would be nice, but understandable if we need to pay.  Having to pay another $950 pp to change the tickets (including the previous $600 extra per ticket) is not all that bad, but the current pricing is now another $1000 pp, making the change $1950 each.  🙄  Add in extra hotel nights, and our budget suddenly zoomed! 👆

 

PS - I am all for putting a phone on speaker and continuing with my day, but when I have an ill patient trying to rest, I need to be as quiet, and we all need to be less irritated!

 

Thank you all!  I'll let you know if we decide to make the change.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Iamthesea

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

I looked this morning and I think I have shown too much interest in that flight home.  The price has gone up!  I'll talk to DH and we can look again next week

 

 

 

Apparently, another urban legend has resurfaced.  The one about how pricing goes up if you look too often.

 

NOT TRUE.

 

What has likely happened is that there has been increased demand (in economic terms, aka "ticket sales") and reduced inventory in the lower priced fare buckets.

 

If the underlying inventory doesn't change, one can look a dozen times and the pricing will not change.  But, to the layman, you won't know this unless you have access to tools that show inventory in fare buckets (such as ExpertFlyer).

Edited January 18, 2019 by FlyerTalker

[cruising cockroach]

You need to get the fare rules for the ticket if you have not already done so, and these can change, even with the same fare code. Not Delta but an AF ticket (DL also sells the flight under a codeshare arrangement) that I bought a little while back.  Cheapest of the cheap T class one-way.  For some reason, there was a cost to changing flights before departure but refunds were remarkably full and free.  A few days after I bought it, there was a refund fee of quite a few hundred dollars added. Same 6-letter fare code.  Just checked again last week and the fare is fully refundable again.  The DL site always had restrictions so I wasn't buying there.

[em-sk]

19 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

Yep, you did, and I missed it.  Z is discounted business which is non-refundable.  I'd still try, as I detailed above.  Delta agents are often empowered to waive fees.

 

 

Depends on what you mean by "after you start your trip."  With Delta, one can do what's called a "same day confirmed" change for travel that day.  The change fee is $50 (for domestic, not sure if international is more) and this fee is officially waived for diamond and platinum medallion members.   If you're talking about changing the return in advance of flight day but after the trip has begun, I don't know if there's a specific Z fare that allows that without fee, or if you just got lucky with the agents you dealt with...curious if you have medallion status?  Either way, I suspect the OP wants to have the change confirmed well in advance, rather than take a chance changing it at check-in.

 

 

In my example it was departure from Canada on a ticket originally sold inside China.  These rules can be different based on country of origin and destination, where it is sold.  

 

The difference in my example is doing the change before departure it involved repricing the ticket while doing the change after departure only required space to be available on the flight in the correct cabin.  

[waterbug123]

21 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

 

Meg - Very helpful information.  Never did I consider trying to get the fee waved.  I was  trying to gather info for the total price of changing days so that I could discuss with DH.  We would also not want to cancel the trip.   If it came to that,  we do have an annual trip insurance policy.    

 

 

 

 

Well again, it certainly isn't guaranteed, and as mentioned, I strongly advise against just outright asking for the fee to be waived for the reasons I stated.  Open the conversation with something like "we have a trip planned but our situation has changed due to my husband's health.   We hope not to cancel altogether, so I'm wondering if you can help me see what our options might be."    It keeps you from sounding like you have a predetermined goal in mind (i.e. getting the fee waived), indicates that you're flexible (and you might need to be, for ex, if a lower fare is available if you adjust your itinerary to another city or your return to another date by a day or two), and most importantly, by asking for help, you empower the person to get creative.  Also remember that you don't have to do anything if you don't like the answer.  Sometimes you'll get an agent that just doesn't seem helpful.  You can always say ok, let me consider that and I'll call back.   Then try again with another agent.  In frequent flyer lingo we call it HUCA...Hang Up, Call Again.  For the average customer, I'd fully expect them to stick to policy, but as a gold medallion, you may well get lucky and find an agent willing to offer an exception.  Good luck!

[cruising cockroach]

3 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

For the average customer, I'd fully expect them to stick to policy, but as a gold medallion, you may well get lucky and find an agent willing to offer an exception.  Good luck!

 

At least it isn't Leo Mullins'(?) "Simply Good Business" "no favors no waivers" policy in effect.

[FlyerTalker]

12 hours ago, cruising cockroach said:

 

At least it isn't Leo Mullins'(?) "Simply Good Business" "no favors no waivers" policy in effect.

 

Leo Mullin, who had previous to Delta been at such customer friendly companies as First Chicago, Commonwealth Edison and Conrail.