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It is possible. Analysts speculate that it might happen. Southwest has steadfastly claimed that their lack of change fees leads to higher earnings. So if the big 3 experiment with this and find it to be better for them, they may eliminate them as well.
Some airlines have already stopped charging for them.
Yup. I received emails from both Delta and United announcing that all ticket fare classes booked after March 1 will incur no change fees for the next 12 months. American is doing the same. Will this last beyond the the current outbreak? we'll see. I doubt it.
Yup. I received emails from both Delta and United announcing that all ticket fare classes booked after March 1 will incur no change fees for the next 12 months. American is doing the same. Will this last beyond the the current outbreak? we'll see. I doubt it.
Which is an indication of how short-sighted these airlines can be. They are penalizing people who booked ahead (i.e. those who booked before March 1), when the impact of coronavirus was much less known, and they're rewarding people who booked while knowing that the virus was spreading. This will only serve to cause people to not book ahead but wait until the last minute, or not travel at all.
It's about maintaining the cash flow they need to keep people who hold their debt happy. And once United has your money, they're also now making it significantly harder to get a refund- without warning, they just changed their policy on how much of a schedule change you needed in order to get a full refund on a ticket. It used to be a two hour schedule change allowed for a full refund, and now it's suddenly 25 hours of schedule time difference before you can get a cash refund instead of just a free rebooking.
Southwest is the most “customer friendly†airline and I always utilize them, whenever possible.
The others are greedy and awful. United is the worst I’ve ever flown, IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man
I'll start out by saying that I've long thought that change fees are nothing but raw, naked greed on the part of airlines. (I'm not at all talking about a possible fare difference; I'm talking about a fee just for the "privilege" of changing one's flight.) One of the major reasons that Southwest gets most of my air travel business is that they don't charge this fee.
That said, the coronavirus is causing a lot of people to want to postpone or cancel their travel. And for those who bought their tickets prior to March, they're still bumping up against fees of up to $200, per person, just to postpone their trip. For a family of four, that's $800 down the tubes. Do you think that there will be enough of an outcry, or enough people who refuse to take the risk and just don't book at all, that airlines will be forced to do away with change fees?
Should we cancel Trip to Lithuania this Summer because of Corona ?
Should we cancel Trip to 'Kaunas , Lithuania this Summer because of Corona ?
Its June 10-26 to visit family. However, we have connecting flights in Belgium and will have a 1 year old with us. Not really worried about the virus... Worried more about de-stabilization or food shortages or being stuck?
Travel insurance purchased was max everything with Amex....
Even though my wifes family owns a huge farm and we can live there lol but i dont want to be trapped......
I think/hope that you will be ok for June 10th. I really think that by the end of April it's going to be pretty safe to travel to most places. We're booked to visit Japan in August and very much plan to keep those reservations.
Which is an indication of how short-sighted these airlines can be. They are penalizing people who booked ahead (i.e. those who booked before March 1), when the impact of coronavirus was much less known, and they're rewarding people who booked while knowing that the virus was spreading. This will only serve to cause people to not book ahead but wait until the last minute, or not travel at all.
I don't think it's necessarily short sighted. I believe that as of right now, the waiver/exception only applies to tickets booked between March 1 and March 31 for most airlines. So it's not a long-term thing. I would wager they'll take it month to month (i.e. if there's still Covid-19 hysteria on April 1, they may offer the same deal). Because there are no guarantees that the exception will last, people who want to take advantage of the opportunity will have to book now rather than wait. Because if they wait until after March 31, they may not have the same flexibility.
Under normal circumstances, airlines generally use dynamic pricing anyway which tends to hit the early birds harder. Of course, walk up fares and very last minute fares (i.e. week of) are often astronomical. But the normal pricing structure of a fare is typically higher way in advance (6 months to a year out) vs. closer in (one to two months out). The airlines know a lot of travelers want to "play it safe" and book way in advance to avoid potential price increases. So they price fares higher for dates that are far in the future. They typically lower them a month or two out to fill the planes. Then they jack them up in the week or two before the flight.
I wouldn't do anything now. You have time to wait and see.
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Should we cancel Trip to Lithuania this Summer because of Corona ?
