I know quite a few of CC regulars fly internationally often. Does anyone know which airline has the lowest change fees for international flights? I’ve scoured a few of the websites but most don’t give exact information. D has been advised that she needs to purchase a RT for her study abroad with a return within 90 days but when she arrives and applies for a visa she will then have to change the return date. A one way tickets actually costs more than a RT so that won’t work.
I don’t really know, you could try on Flyertalk.
However, some airlines really get you in you don’t book a two way ticket. Others don’t care. I know I was looking at Condor and you can book 2 one way fares and it’s no different than booking it as a roundtrip fare. That way, you’d only be changing one fare. Here’s the details for changes:
You can see it better on their web site since it is shown on a graph. https://www.condor.com/us/info-service/optional-service-fees.jsp scroll waaaaay down
To be sure, you probably have to dig in the trenches of each airline you’re considering. Interesting that Condor allows a “name change”.
A few years ago, Aer LIngus charged us $150 to change a fare. Plus the fare difference. The fare difference was in our favor so that was $0 although I tried to get them to apply that as a negative charge, lol.
This is from 2016 but could be helpful if your D is going to Europe:
https://www.airhelp.com/en/blog/best-and-worst-airlines-for-flight-change-fees-europe-edition/
I think you are going to have to check the airlines that fly the route your D needs. They are all different. Also, be very careful with the class of ticket you purchase and the restrictions/rules that apply to that ticket. For instance, I fly Cathay Pacific frequently. The change fee is generally $100 for the fare I purchase, but on occasion, I have been offered some super deal price that does not allow changes (or upgrades or accumulation of air miles!) I have chosen to pass on that “deal” as my personal preference is to keep my options open.
What country is she going to?
I know this isn’t the point of your thread but I find it very odd the study abroad program is approaching the visa that way. Seems backwards. Our experience with such things is applying for the student visa stateside and, therefore buying the round trip ticked for the real dates beyond 90 days. That sucks that they are requiring you to incur extra and what seems like unneeded additional costs.
Hungary. She will have a choice of student visa which requires going to NYC in person and missing classes (I think she can have the RT ticket for that but it does say to reserve/not purchase? even then), it takes 4-6 weeks to get an appointment and then another 1-4 weeks to get the visa itself (so time is an issue) or a resident visa which the program helps you get once you arrive, which requires a RT ticket within 90 days and then the change of course.
I just re-read your original post. I’ve learned that it may be necessary to start the purchase process to uncover what the fare restrictions and/or change fees are. Every airline website in the world seems to do things slightly differently which is very confusing and upsetting when you want a simple answer or booking process! I do not use Expedia/Orbitz/etc for booking, so I don’t know if that might be a quick way to compare airlines’ change fees and restrictions. Perhaps, but I would book directly from the airline’s site for easiest change. I always figure that as long as I haven’t given the airlines any kind of credit card info, I can relax and explore the options and restrictions. We have been in your situation a couple times with one kid living in Asia and I have learned to read the fine print having been burned once. Good luck.
When my daughter went to Denmark for her master’s, she bought a round trip ticket for a longer period than 90 days. It was from August until Christmas break. She also went through the visa process once she arrived in the country. She was very nervous about it, but it wasn’t a problem.
If you have enough points and miles, you may want to consider those for buying your ticket since in our experience domestically they can often be changed with less hassle and expense than ones paid for in cash. Also one way tickets are pretty reasonable purchased via points or miles.
Thanks @HImom I don’t have points or miles good for international flights unfortunately. @FlyMeToTheMoon another person has suggested this to me but what happens when she arrives in Hungary and they do question the lack of visa? @Momofadult, guess I’ve got my work cut out for me lol, the purpose of this post was hopefully to avoid that. Thanks everyone for your input.
No visa is needed to enter and stay for up to 90 days; then she will need a visa.
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/hungary.html
“Hungary is a party to the Schengen Agreement. U.S. citizens may enter Hungary for up to 90 days for tourist or business purposes without a visa. Your passport should be valid for at least three months beyond the period of stay. You need sufficient funds and a return airline ticket. For additional details about travel into and within Schengen countries, please see our Schengen fact sheet.”
@BunsenBurner, yes, you need a return airline ticket within those 90 days is the way I understand it in case you are questioned at immigration. She will be in the country for at least 5 months.
@NEPatsGirl, she experienced anxiety about that, even though she was told it would go smoothly. But it did go smoothly, luckily. But then it’s Denmark, and Denmark is a really easy country to deal with.
She had a letter from either the school, or Fulbright, or both, to document that she was a student.
Yes, she needs documentation that she is enrolled (and fully paid) in the program as well as proof of sufficient living funds and several other pieces of documentation. I’m waiting to hear back from the Northeast rep about the visa issue, hopefully they can clarify better than the written policies I’m reading, both online and from the program itself.
@FlyMeToTheMoon How long ago was it for your daughter?
I’ve read a lot that says that enforcement of the Schengen visa requirements were more lax in the past but have tightened up considerably given terrorist attacks in Europe and other worldwide events.
@doschicos , it was August 2014. Yes, it could have changed since then.
We threw out the return ticket - the airlines wanted to charge the one way rate. For coming home, it was cheaper to fly kiddo to Copenhagen on a one way ticket, let her explore the city for a few days, and then fly her back on a one way fare on a discounter.
I forgot we dealt with something similar to this when one of my kids did a gap year and wanted to stay within Europe for longer than 90 days without the chance of acquiring a student visa.
Our solution was to book the trip with the arrival in the Schengen country of choice and for the return we booked from Dublin to home. You could do UK or other non-Schengen countries as well but we chose Dublin because there is only one airport in the city and there are lots of discount carriers in Europe that fly into Dublin. Also, Aer Lingus tends to be pretty cheap.
So, check that out if that is an option for you and would fulfill your daughter’s requirements. In our case, we didn’t book the European City to Dublin leg until later as kiddo wanted to explore and wasn’t sure on exact dates/locations months in advance. In your case, you might find a cheap, budget carrier flight from Budapest to a non-Schengen country and then you can just replace that small leg of the trip later at a lower cost than a change fee might be. Hope this makes sense as I’ve described it…
Thank you @doschicos, that makes sense 