Change Fees are back for trips originating outside the US/Canada
Apr 27, 2024, 10:23 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2015
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Change Fees are back for trips originating outside the US/Canada
Apologies, if this had been mentioned somewhere before -- tried to search but nothing came up.
Starting with tickets issued after March 21st, Delta is now charging change fees again on Main Cabin fares originating anywhere outside the US/Canada.
PS will also incur a higher change fee as well compared to Main Cabin. Only D1 remains free (right now).
Conveniently, Delta would not let me make changes online to an itinerary originating in the EU ("you have to call in, it's a feature", how that is a feature is beyond me), so I ended up taking the e-credit and booking new - of course after March 21st, so now DL wants to charge me change fees.
Sneaky? Yes. Am I furious? Yes. Can they do that and is it standard airline procedure? Yes.
Starting with tickets issued after March 21st, Delta is now charging change fees again on Main Cabin fares originating anywhere outside the US/Canada.
PS will also incur a higher change fee as well compared to Main Cabin. Only D1 remains free (right now).
Conveniently, Delta would not let me make changes online to an itinerary originating in the EU ("you have to call in, it's a feature", how that is a feature is beyond me), so I ended up taking the e-credit and booking new - of course after March 21st, so now DL wants to charge me change fees.
Sneaky? Yes. Am I furious? Yes. Can they do that and is it standard airline procedure? Yes.
Apr 27, 2024, 10:45 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: bouncing C1&2
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That's what I might end up doing but I was going to coordinate my travel with someone else so now I might just have them terminate at the same destination instead and just not bother with waiting for a change.
Apr 27, 2024, 1:09 pm
#4
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 1,340
They've already telegraphed (Delta Product Survey) that they want to reinstate change fees globally. This is just the first shoe. Personally I'm glad I'm finally spending down my eCredits across all family members since the stench of greed from Virginia Ave is truly becoming overwhelming.
Apr 27, 2024, 1:37 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2019
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This was announced last year (jointly by AFKL/DL/VS): though DL was a few months slower than the others to implement, they had agreed with the other JV partners to start charging the change fee.
I would expect that ex-North America will continue to allow free changes (though with somewhat higher fares). The next big change is likely to be some form of Basic Delta One: AFKL in particular would like to introduce that (at this point, the only reason they haven't introduced it for flights to/from US/Canada is the Delta JV)... $500 to a $1000 extra for changeability, lounge access (unless Elite+), checked baggage (unless Elite+), and seat selection (unless Elite+) is probably the right ballpark for that.
I would expect that ex-North America will continue to allow free changes (though with somewhat higher fares). The next big change is likely to be some form of Basic Delta One: AFKL in particular would like to introduce that (at this point, the only reason they haven't introduced it for flights to/from US/Canada is the Delta JV)... $500 to a $1000 extra for changeability, lounge access (unless Elite+), checked baggage (unless Elite+), and seat selection (unless Elite+) is probably the right ballpark for that.
Apr 27, 2024, 2:00 pm
#6
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,123
Not really new for Mexico origin fares. $200 change fees on DL Main Cabin fares for ex-Mexico fares have been there since late 2022 -- https://web.archive.org/web/20221126...ggage/overview
AA/BA also started bringing back change fees from certain origins on Main fares in 2022 -- Change fees reinstated in some markets from June 8, 2022
AA/BA also started bringing back change fees from certain origins on Main fares in 2022 -- Change fees reinstated in some markets from June 8, 2022
Apr 27, 2024, 2:23 pm
#7
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What is this "cancel fee"? From the matching amounts, I assume it is a confusingly named procedure where they collect the change fee in advance to replace your ticket with an ETC or something?
Refundable fares from Europe have no cancellation fees that I see, and a "cancellation fee" is meaningless in the context of a non-refundable ticket.
Refundable fares from Europe have no cancellation fees that I see, and a "cancellation fee" is meaningless in the context of a non-refundable ticket.
Apr 27, 2024, 2:44 pm
#8
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Posts: 23,123
What is this "cancel fee"? From the matching amounts, I assume it is a confusingly named procedure where they collect the change fee in advance to replace your ticket with an ETC or something?
Refundable fares from Europe have no cancellation fees that I see, and a "cancellation fee" is meaningless in the context of a non-refundable ticket.
Refundable fares from Europe have no cancellation fees that I see, and a "cancellation fee" is meaningless in the context of a non-refundable ticket.
Apr 27, 2024, 7:18 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: bouncing C1&2
Programs: DL*DM/AA*G
Posts: 529
This was announced last year (jointly by AFKL/DL/VS): though DL was a few months slower than the others to implement, they had agreed with the other JV partners to start charging the change fee.
I would expect that ex-North America will continue to allow free changes (though with somewhat higher fares). The next big change is likely to be some form of Basic Delta One: AFKL in particular would like to introduce that (at this point, the only reason they haven't introduced it for flights to/from US/Canada is the Delta JV)... $500 to a $1000 extra for changeability, lounge access (unless Elite+), checked baggage (unless Elite+), and seat selection (unless Elite+) is probably the right ballpark for that.
I would expect that ex-North America will continue to allow free changes (though with somewhat higher fares). The next big change is likely to be some form of Basic Delta One: AFKL in particular would like to introduce that (at this point, the only reason they haven't introduced it for flights to/from US/Canada is the Delta JV)... $500 to a $1000 extra for changeability, lounge access (unless Elite+), checked baggage (unless Elite+), and seat selection (unless Elite+) is probably the right ballpark for that.
Will be interesting to see how far they take the spiritification of the premium cabins. Some aspects are fine (like seat selection, with some caveats, similar to BA), but completely gutting the product and benefits will probably not bring a lot of customers. Not that fares would actually be lower if you booked a business lite fare.
Apr 27, 2024, 9:03 pm
#10
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: Flying Blue, Hilton Honors, Amtrak Guest Rewards
Posts: 2,432
AFKL has been back in the change fee game for almost a year now - a few months slower is an understatement. Though I suppose that we (I) benefitted more then. The fares ex-US are higher anyway already: fwiw, I could usually fit up to two roundtrips ex-EU into one ex-US price-wise, but that remains true on AA/BA and will likely remain that way.
For flights to the US/Canada/Mexico, AFKL only brought back change fees on December 12, 2023. They brought back change fees ex-EU to other markets a couple of years ago.
Apr 28, 2024, 9:13 am
#12
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May 1, 2024, 11:11 am
#13
Join Date: Apr 2018
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Posts: 139
They attempted to charge me a change fee on a ticket issued back in January. I pushed back a bit and then they said "oh we'll waive that". The online system also automatically adds it in even for preexisting tickets. Is it not part of the fare rules? Trying to figure out where this is actually published.
May 1, 2024, 11:23 am
#15
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They attempted to charge me a change fee on a ticket issued back in January. I pushed back a bit and then they said "oh we'll waive that". The online system also automatically adds it in even for preexisting tickets. Is it not part of the fare rules? Trying to figure out where this is actually published.
Whatever this "cancel fee" thing is and some of the free-wheeling "cancel your ticket for credit" (instead of having a canceled ticket with value) are a bit ad-hoc, and are not.