Is this possible? Anyone ever heard of it?

[bubbles1209]

I was wondering out of curiosity if this is possible, or if anyone's ever heard of doing this? Is it possible once you've purchased a non-refundable airline ticket, to change it (upgrade it) to a refundable one?

[paul929207]

Check with the airline. My guess is no, but it can't hurt to ask.

[greatam]

AA will do it, usually without mentioning the change fee. Most airlines will do it, but some agents will try to apply the change fee (usually $100 depending on fare rules), then apply the remaining value to the new ticket.

 

Call the airline-MAKE SURE you are VERY clear in what you want to do. And you may have to call 2/3 times before you get an agent that can actually think through the equation that their employer is getting MORE money (usually considerably MORE) for the same seat with very little hassle on their part. BE PERSISTENT.

[bubbles1209]

then apply the remaining value to the new ticket

:confused:

[bubbles1209]

Here's why we want to do it, and why I ask

 

My SO has booked airfare for his daughter, her husband, their child & a friend of their child for our June cruise. The whole trip is his treat. He booked non-refundable. I'm worried they are gonna back out. They claim to have applied for their passports Nov. 23rd, and to this date supposedly haven't heard anything. I called the airlines to see if they didn't go if he could get his money back, and was told that the tickets could be cancelled, and credit in their name would be issued on future travel. I also asked if he could get credit back in his name because they don't travel, and he's the one that payed for it, and was told by the lady at AA that maybe if we spoke with guest relations they might do it. They are booked 1-way on AA for the return trip, and 1-way on Delta for the trip down. Delta said he was just flat out of luck.:( So, if we paid say $243.80pp, multiplied by 4 = $975.20, and the non-refundable ticket now sells for $830.00pp multiplied by 4= $3320.00, how much more would it cost us? I can look at that equation and say far more than I would like, but any help here is appreciated.

[greatam]

:confused:

 

Example: Your current ticket cost $500.00. There may be agents that INSIST on applying the change fee (the usual fee is $100), thus leaving a balance of $400.00 to be applied to your new, higher priced refundable ticket.

 

This is "normal" course of business and the easy way out. Don't let it happen to you, even if you have to call back 2/3 times to get different agents. IF you can't make someone understand that you want the same itinerary, just a higher priced refundable ticket and are willing to pay the difference, ask for a supervisor.

[fti]

I was wondering out of curiosity if this is possible, or if anyone's ever heard of doing this? Is it possible once you've purchased a non-refundable airline ticket, to change it (upgrade it) to a refundable one?

 

Many airlines allow it but with a note on the new ticket that the original non-refundable portion remains non-refundable. Otherwise everyone would take a non-refundable ticket, convert it to a refundable one and request a refund. The airlines are not THAT stupid!

[greatam]

Here's why we want to do it, and why I ask

 

My SO has booked airfare for his daughter, her husband, their child & a friend of their child for our June cruise. The whole trip is his treat. He booked non-refundable. I'm worried they are gonna back out. They claim to have applied for their passports Nov. 23rd, and to this date supposedly haven't heard anything. I called the airlines to see if they didn't go if he could get his money back, and was told that the tickets could be cancelled, and credit in their name would be issued on future travel. I also asked if he could get credit back in his name because they don't travel, and he's the one that payed for it, and was told by the lady at AA that maybe if we spoke with guest relations they might do it. They are booked 1-way on AA for the return trip, and 1-way on Delta for the trip down. Delta said he was just flat out of luck.:( So, if we paid say $243.80pp, multiplied by 4 = $975.20, and the non-refundable ticket now sells for $830.00pp multiplied by 4= $3320.00, how much more would it cost us? I can look at that equation and say far more than I would like, but any help here is appreciated.

 

First-where did you get the tickets? AA/Delta sounds like Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, etc., etc.

 

Second-a split airline ticket on non partner airlines (Delta/AA are NOT partners in any sense of the word) would be notoriously hard to book in a refundable category. What you would be booking, I THINK, is two one way refundable tickets.

 

Third, on a split airline non refundable ticket like this, you would only get 1/2 of each ticket back from each airline and you will NOT get cash/credit card refund. What you will get, if you get anything: Change fee most likely will be applied (most likely $100 PER AIRLINE) so you will have a grand total future credit of $43.80 split between two airlines. You will only be able to use the credit on a future flight, flown within one year of the ORIGINAL BOOKING DATE, NOT THE FLIGHT DATE.

 

If this was one airline, you would have a pretty good chance of applying all funds on the non refundable ticket to the same itinerary refundable ticket WITHOUT any penalties.

 

But on a split airline ticket, I think you would just be better off encouraging everyone to get on the plane, have a good time and forget about any refunds.

[greatam]

Many airlines allow it but with a note on the new ticket that the original non-refundable portion remains non-refundable. Otherwise everyone would take a non-refundable ticket, convert it to a refundable one and request a refund. The airlines are not THAT stupid!

 

Not necessarily. AA will give a voucher for the entire ticket price OR voucher for the non refundable portion + cash/credit card refund for the refundable portion. Again, the normal voucher rules apply-use the voucher one year from the date of ORIGINAL BOOKING.

 

So if you are willing to take the voucher and can use it one year from ORIGINAL BOOKING DATE, you essentially get a total refund.

 

This is a pretty darn smart move on AA's part. If you elect to take the entire ticket in voucher (total refund) and can't use it, AA just got a chunk of change for nothing. If you take voucher + cash refund, they get the change fee when you rebook using the voucher. If you do use the voucher in full, they got a loyal customer because they gave you full credit. Pretty good business in my book. YMMV

[fti]

Not necessarily. AA will give a voucher for the entire ticket price OR voucher for the non refundable portion + cash/credit card refund for the refundable portion. Again, the normal voucher rules apply-use the voucher one year from the date of ORIGINAL BOOKING.

 

So if you are willing to take the voucher and can use it one year from ORIGINAL BOOKING DATE, you essentially get a total refund.

 

This is a pretty darn smart move on AA's part. If you elect to take the entire ticket in voucher (total refund) and can't use it, AA just got a chunk of change for nothing. If you take voucher + cash refund, they get the change fee when you rebook using the voucher. If you do use the voucher in full, they got a loyal customer because they gave you full credit. Pretty good business in my book. YMMV

 

But a voucher is not a refund. You must use the voucher on future flights with the airline, thus the non-refundable portion remains non refundable, just converted to a voucher for future travel. The airlines will never give cash back on any portion of a non refundable ticket.

[bubbles1209]

Sorry for the confusion, should have made things a little more clear when I started the question. Because of flight times, we booked a 1-way ticket for 4 people from Illinois to Miami with Delta Airlines, then we booked a 1-way ticket for the return trip from Miami to Illinois with American Airlilnes, that's why I have mentioned both.

[fti]

Sorry for the confusion, should have made things a little more clear when I started the question. Because of flight times, we booked a 1-way ticket for 4 people from Illinois to Miami with Delta Airlines, then we booked a 1-way ticket for the return trip from Miami to Illinois with American Airlilnes, that's why I have mentioned both.

 

Neither airline will give you cash back if your tickets are non-refundable, even if converted to a "refundable" ticket. As greatam stated, you should be able to get a voucher for future travel.

[bubbles1209]

The voucher for future travel would be great, if it's in his name, because yes, that would more or less be him getting his money back out of it, but American told me that the voucher would be for the people whose name is on the ticket. Ok, they don't normally travel, so what are the odds of us getting it changed to his name? The voucher would be awesome if my SO could use it and get his money back out of it that way. I agree with the way he feels, if they can't hop on a flight that's paid for to take a cruise that's paid for, why should they get the vouchers to go somewhere else within a year's time? Just wondering if they'll change the vouchers to his name for my SO to travel if they don't go. I would really rather them go on the trip, he hasn't seen her in over 10 years, and this is supposed to be his birthday/father's day cruise. I hope they do go to avoid any of this confusion, not to mention it would break his heart.

[greatam]

The voucher for future travel would be great, if it's in his name, because yes, that would more or less be him getting his money back out of it, but American told me that the voucher would be for the people whose name is on the ticket. Ok, they don't normally travel, so what are the odds of us getting it changed to his name? The voucher would be awesome if my SO could use it and get his money back out of it that way. I agree with the way he feels, if they can't hop on a flight that's paid for to take a cruise that's paid for, why should they get the vouchers to go somewhere else within a year's time? Just wondering if they'll change the vouchers to his name for my SO to travel if they don't go. I would really rather them go on the trip, he hasn't seen her in over 10 years, and this is supposed to be his birthday/father's day cruise. I hope they do go to avoid any of this confusion, not to mention it would break his heart.

 

Not good. You will have to be VERY persistent, probably get a supervisor or upper management involved and call back repeatedly to even get an agent who will be willing to point you in the direction you want. And you will have to do this with TWO airlines. Delta is MUCH stricter about everything IMHO than AA.

 

You won't get an actual paper voucher from AA. What you need to use the remaining value is the TICKET NUMBER, not the confirmation number. If you bought the tickets at the AA website, you should be able to print out the RECEIPT, which is the ONLY place the actual ticket number appears. I don't know about Delta. Then when you want to rebook travel, you call them up, give them the ticket number, they deduct the $100 (usually) change fee from the previous ticket price and you can use the balance on another ticket.

 

This is off the record, but AA really has NO idea who is ACTUALLY calling. DH has had numerous tickets floating around on AA when he has decided at the last minute to NOT accompany me on a business trip. So I have either called (I have a very low voice) and said I was DH or he has called and used the remaining ticket value of his tickets to book a ticket for me.

 

In fact, the trip I am on right now (South America) was partially paid for with ticket value from unused tickets DH had accumulated over the last 6 months. AA will generally only allow value from two tickets IN THE SAME NAME to be applied to a future ticket.

 

Since you have 8 tickets on 2 different airlines in 4 different person's names, your SO will have to do a lot of traveling to use up the value. AND you will be charged $100.00 per ticket change for each airline, so I am not sure you will gain much.

 

I agree that the situation sucks. Keep encouraging, helping, anything you can do to get them on the plane and the cruise. Been caught in this step parent/adult children dilemma who haven't seen Dad frequently for 35 years. I empathize wholeheartedly.

[wench25]

Here's why we want to do it, and why I ask

 

I'm worried they are gonna back out. They claim to have applied for their passports Nov. 23rd, and to this date supposedly haven't heard anything.

 

 

Only because no one posted about this since you asked about airfare. Sometimes - depending on the "season" it can take up to two months on the turn around for passports - especially if they are "new" ones and children are involved. Since they applied during "holiday" season, I say give it another couple of weeks before panicing about passports.

 

If it turns out that they didn't really apply for them - then I think he needs to have a sit down and see what is up with his family and why they'd flake on a fully paid for trip !

 

One more side note - I re-read the posting and it states they are taking a friend for the child? Be sure to have documentation from that child's parents that they know (and approve) of their child going on a vacation without their parents. Since most cruises leave the country - better to be safe then have the cruise think they are kidnapping the child.

 

...just my $0.02 worth !

 

Good luck !

[bubbles1209]

Only because no one posted about this since you asked about airfare. Sometimes - depending on the "season" it can take up to two months on the turn around for passports - especially if they are "new" ones and children are involved. Since they applied during "holiday" season, I say give it another couple of weeks before panicing about passports.

 

If it turns out that they didn't really apply for them - then I think he needs to have a sit down and see what is up with his family and why they'd flake on a fully paid for trip !

 

One more side note - I re-read the posting and it states they are taking a friend for the child? Be sure to have documentation from that child's parents that they know (and approve) of their child going on a vacation without their parents. Since most cruises leave the country - better to be safe then have the cruise think they are kidnapping the child.

 

...just my $0.02 worth !

 

Good luck !

Well, my SO called her last night, and she wanted to give him this story that the passport office mailed the applications that she filled out back, along with 3 blank applications. She said she was going to go over them to see what she did wrong, fill them back out, and re-apply. When he told me this I called her and asked her why would she have to re-apply. She told me that she had the receipt and she would go Tuesday (today) and get it all straight. She also told me that the post office was open until 7 so she had plenty of time, well my SO had already been on the department of state website and looked up the places that accept applications where she lives. One closes at 3 and the other at 6. Ok, when we applied for our passports, they double-checked everything on the spot. Well tonight, we got a message that she had gotten everything straight and to give her a call. He did. She told him that she had neglected to give them the check.:rolleyes: .......but yet the other day, she told me she had a receipt and everything.:rolleyes: Anyway, bottom line, supposedly she has now applied and she even gave him the website that she's gonna track the applications on. We'll see, but it will be hard to sit down and have a talk and see what the deal is on flaking on an already paid for vacation because we live in Ga, and they are in Illinois. He says he's gonna give her ample time for the passport application, and if she doesn't come across with them he's gonna cancel their end altogether, and just take the loss on the airfare. We've already been in contact with the mother of his grandson's friend and discussed them filling out the parental consent and having it notarized, had that base covered.

Wish him luck, I know this means more to him than he's letting on.