With all the added fees for onboard services, baggage, unaccompanied minors and pets, it’s easy to lose sight of the cost to change a reservation.
And while the airlines announce fare sales and mergers and new routes with much fanfare, they don’t do the same when they increase their change fees. Which means that for travelers not paying attention, the costs can really add up.
Perhaps the biggest culprit has been jetBlue, which started out with $25 fees, changed to $40, and then last year upped it to $100, which is as much or more than the price of a ticket in some markets. JetBlue encourages passengers to book on its web site for the “lowest” fares, but the higher fees are way down in the fine print, where past passengers might not notice. A regular business client who booked a personal ticket with jetBlue last week called me looking for help because he had totally missed it, and wondered if it was different for travel agents.
Alas, it isn’t.
Delta Air Lines, which once made a big deal out of their lower change fees, has quietly raised its fees up to the industry norm of $150, probably to be in line with Northwest. (Why when airlines say that they need to “align” their fares do they always go up, not down?)
And even Alaska Airlines, with both a consumer-friendly reputation and need to compete with Southwest Airlines, has upped its fees to $75, with an extra $25 for changes made by phone with their reservationists or at the airport.
Of course, airlines need to make a profit, and of course, it costs something for them to change a ticket. In addition, from a public relations perspective, announcing higher fees is never a winning strategy. But particularly for leisure clients, especially families, these changes can amount to a sizable hit on a vacation. And while consumers should always read the fine print, it would be nice if the higher fees were more obvious.
Even travel agents don’t always read all the rules every time, and even experienced agents I know have been caught. (The result is a later non-negotiable invoice – called a debit memo – from the airlines.)
So far, no airline has dared break the $150 (plus fare difference) barrier, though most international ticket change fees have gone up to $250. But eventually, one of them is likely to try it. And I’m not betting on a press release.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
