changing dates to an airline ticket????

Parent Cafe
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<p>First the good news: S’s team is in the top 25 and will likely go to the regionals in May. Very exciting!!</p>

<p>Now the bad news: I’ve already bought his ticket home from college (about 3 weeks ago). If they do go on to regionals he would need to come home at a later date, and if they do well at regionals, possibly even later! I’ve never had to change a date for flying for myself or anybody in our family so this is new to me, but I’m sure there are seasoned travellers here who have experience with this. Any tips on what to say to the airline? </p>

<p>thanks!</p>

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<p>Congrats to your S!
You can do it, usually for an extra fee of $100 or so. You don’t need a special excuse, just $.</p>

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<p>^^^Agree. They don’t care the reason. There is a change fee. Sometimes it is $75 and sometimes it is $100.</p>

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<p>If it is Southwest there is no change fee. You may have a different fare, but you have full credit from your old ticket.</p>

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<p>Within 24 hours of original booking, which is unlikely to be the case here, it is free on most airlines.</p>

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<p>True…I’ve heard that about Southwest. Unfortunately, they don’t fly in and out of where I live.</p>

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<p>great! Thanks you guys. Southwest does service our city, but not where S’s college is :frowning:
I’m OK with $100, although free would be nice. I just was hoping I wouldn’t lose the whole ticket.</p>

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<p>Also, in addition to the change fee, some airlines will charge you the difference in the price of the seat if it is different from the “booking class” you originally reserved. Best if he is flexible in terms of return dates and times. Last time I did this S had to contend with a connecting flight instead of the original non-stop because the price difference at the last minute for the non-stop seat was astronomical.</p>

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<p>Well they just lost a conference game so I may have no worries about this after all. More convenient for us, but I’m sure a disappointment for him. I guess we’ll have to wait a couple more weeks to see where they stand. </p>

<p>thanks for the replies :)</p>

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<p>Does anyone know if a round-trip plane ticket can be purchased with only using it one-way - meaning out-bound without using the return?</p>

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<p>yes, you can always use the outbound only, but if you buy a round trip ticket and don’t use the outbound, you will not be able to use the return portion only.</p>

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<p>I had to change the date on an international ticket, and the fee was $100 for the change, but the new ticket was $300 cheaper !!! so we got a $200 voucher towards a future flight. Niccceeeeeee.</p>

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<p>S, last week, missed his plane to, by one full day. A silly mistake in forgetting what day he was in. He had to pay a rebooking fee of 500 rupees. Later while waiting in lounge, Air India paged him and refunded the fee. Kudos to Air India.</p>

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<p>chocoholic is right. i learned this the hard way. was almost stuck in miami, which isnt a bad situation lol</p>