loisco

I am not sure what a non refundable ticket means on Continental..

If I can't make the flight..is my money gone?...or can I pay something (?) and make a change to the reservationl. I looked all over the website and couldn't find the info..

Thanks again..

AAFrequentFlyer

I really don't know Continental's policy on non-refundable tickets but in most cases, as long as you inform the airline that you won't be making the flight(s) before the initial flight, the airline will keep a credit for future use minus some kind of a fee(anywhere between $25-150 for domestic flights up to $250 for international flights). You will have up to 1 year to use the credit. Just make sure you keep the ticket number (not the reservation number).

I'm sure others will chime in and tell you the exact Continental policy on this issue.

AAFrequentFlyer

Here is what I found on Continental.com:

<i>Can I cancel my reservation on continental.com?
Yes, if your plans change and you prefer not to change your itinerary immediately, you may cancel the reservation and return to it later to make flight changes for up to one year from the date of issue. A change fee may apply.</i>

http://www.continental.com/web/en-US...ervations.aspx

dfr4848

I've had to do this several times on CO and AAFF's quote is accurate. Just tell them you can't make the flight. When you're ready to reschedule, go online, use your &quot;old&quot; confirmation number, and make new reservation. The fee for doing this just went up to $100. Just make sure you're not a no-show.

dfr4848

Should've emphasized the policy, as noted, that the ticket is good for one year.

Seamus

Please note that if you simply don't show up for the flight you may well lose what you paid. To be sure you get the one year period to apply what you paid to a new flight (with a change fee added) be sure to cancel the reservation. You can do this online and will get a confirmation email, or call an agent (believe you will now be charged a fee to talk with an agent for something you can do online.)

loisco

This happened once before and I had bought a round trip ticket but didn't use the return portion...should I have called and cancelled it?..I didn't...so do they have a record of my not showing up?..I guess next time I will have to call.

rkkwan

No, loisco. If you plan on using the the remaining value, then you need to call. If you have no intention of using the return or its value, then don't call.

rkkwan

And if you have already flown the outbound, in general, you can't change the inbound's routing. All you can do is to change the date. And you still have to pay the change fee and potential fare difference.

thorspecken

I have another post with about Delta on the board. My husband missed his flight. But he would have made it if he hadn't tried to check his luggage. So are you saying that even with a non-refundable ticket my husband could've gone to the counter and told them he couldn't make the flight and gotten some sort of credit for the future by cancelling the flight he couldn't get on? Then I could have bought my husband a round trip ticket on another airline (we ended up buying two one-ways) and then paid $100 and been able to use some of the value of the ticket in the future? One complication--the ticket was using miles from my credit card so I don't know if it had a cash value or any inherent value.

thorspecken

Just one more thing. This is where I think airline service is an issue. I've fessed up to the fact that my husband blew it by being too late to check his luggage and get on his Delta flight. But if you guys know all this stuff I would hope that the airline personnel would know. At the ticket counter and when I was on the phone before the flight left any of the people could have tried to help us come up with a solution. The only solution offerred was pay up and extra $1,000.

clevelandbrown

Its possible that customer service gave you the best option, and you just didn't realize it.

In general, the rule is if you cancel the ticket and buy another, you pay a change fee, and you also pay the current fare for the replacement ticket. So if you insist that you have to fly the same day, it is likely that the cost of the new ticket would be far more than the cost of the ticket you originally bought. That, and the change fee, could easily approach or even exceed $1000. The cost of a full-fare tourist ticket, which may have been all they had left, is far higher than most of us are used to paying.

I think its a little much to expect the representative of one airline to advise you to cancel your ticket on their airline and buy one on a competitor's.