It was one of those theoretically simple changes that turned out to be a potential nightmare. A client booked an advance-purchase business class ticket and then found he needed to change the return to come back earlier. This can be a very expensive proposition.
As with many tickets, a change, either to the outbound or return prior to departure, means a need to completely recalculate the fare as if the traveler was starting from scratch. In this case, since he was trying to make the change only 12 days prior to departure, the new fare was about $3000 higher, plus a $400 change penalty.
On the other hand, changes after departure are not subject to advance purchases rules, and so would only be $400 plus any fare difference. Although SWISS now has four different fare categories of business class, C, D, Z and J, all eligible for the same seats, but at different prices. And this ticket was booked at the lowest “J” fare.
The traveler was willing to come home on one of three earlier dates, two of which were almost sold out, one which still had seats at a “Z” fare that would only be $1400 total, counting the change penalty.
After a few calls to SWISS to see if there were any alternatives, we decided to wait, and hope the flight would stay open. Which it seemed to be doing. The day prior to departure I noticed only two seats at that fare left, so I suggested he ask at the airport, to maximize his chances. He is a very personable man so I figured they might cut him a little slack.
(As many frequent travelers know, airlines have different interpretations of the term “after departure,” which often vary based on with whom you speak. But, it can mean “once you have checked in at the airport for your flight,” especially if you get a nice airport agent.)
I eventually got a call from the airport saying he had talked to a very nice agent indeed, who only charged him $400 to change the ticket. While that was great, I told him it was surprising, since I knew that lowest class of service was sold out on the date in question.
The traveler said, “Yeah, actually the flight we were looking at was sold out for the slightly higher fare, but the agent found a seat on Saturday and that was fine.”
Fine indeed, only one thing — The fare he was booked on had a Saturday night minimum stay. He supposedly, according to airline fare rules, wasn’t allowed to fly home until a day later.
Now if a travel agent changed a ticket in such a fashion, we would receive a “debit memo”/bill from the airline in question. Probably quickly, sometimes months later, but we would have to pay it.
When an airline agent breaks their own rules, everyone involved is off the hook (and happy). Okay, maybe someone in the airline’s accounting department might not be happy, but actually, the Saturday flight was wide open and SWISS might be able to sell his original seat for more money.
Alas, it’s impossible to count on finding an agent who either doesn’t know the rules or is willing to break them. But it never hurts to ask. Being a elite-status frequent flier also doesn’t hurt, but often I hear this kind of story from ordinary travelers who just got lucky by talking, nicely, to the right person.
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.)
