Air France - change in return dates
 

I purchased 2 RT tickets to Paris from Air France via Travelocity. I tried to change my return date from 12/12 to 12/14 (arriving 12/6), but was quoted an extra $220 per ticket to change. Does anyone have any tricks/advice I do not know about? I only paid $372 per ticket to begin with.

I'm sure that the terms of your ticket indicate a change fee for ANY change, plus the increase in fare. Chances are, the low fare you got is not available on the new date (or if it once was, all those seats are sold out). Pays to make sure you have your plans in place BEFORE you buy restricted tickets.

Hi Mary,<BR><BR> I'm afraid that you will be flying back on the 12th.<BR><BR>

It always amazes me when people buy these incredibly cheap tickets with rules spelled out ad nauseum that they are amazed that they can't be changed.

I suspect a is right, the extra cost is most likely partly because that low a fare wasn't available on your new dates: your new return date is a Sunday and fares are always higher, it seems to me, and less available because a lot of people fly on Sunday for business. Also, if they were having a sale fare ($372 must have been), those seats are probably gone. I've bought a lot of AF tickets, and the fares often go up the closer to the date, even within coach, because cheapest tickets get sold. The change fare is probably $100 and then an extra $100 or so for a higher fare, I'll bet. there's really nothing you can do and I doubt it's a Travelocity issue but simply the dates and timing. I've bought quite a few AF tickets on Travelocity and the fares are the same as buying from AF.

Skidoo,<BR><BR>Perhaps people use this great site to get excelent information from others willing to share. If you have no information, keep your less than pleasant, judgemental thoughts to yourself!

Oh, and thanks to the others for confirming what I thought. I needed to change my plans for a rather serious reason, but will have to make other arrangements.

Whether your plans needed to be altered for serious reasons or convenience reasons makes no difference. The agreement you entered by clicking to buy the tickets is all that matters. Skidoo had a valid point.

Don't give the airlines a complete free ride - they use low fares as a come on and then sit back and rake in the extra dough when folks have to change travel plans. What we need is a rational fare plan. Pulse ten folks riding on the same plane on the same day going between the same destinations and you will discover at least five different fares! What a crazy mess!

M-<BR>Did you call AirFrance DIRECTLY? It has been my experience that the dotcom's are not always right.I have also had friends who for whatever reason have had the change fee waived.Never hurts to ask.

What could be so serious that almost a month from departure, you need to extend your stay in Paris by two extra days? If you needed to leave 2 days early, I could possibly comprehend this. And if you were leaving earlier (not later as you are trying to do), you could have gone to the Air France counter at CDG or Orly and inquired if you could be bumped up a couple of days early at no charge. Nevertheless, the 12th is a Thursday, and the 14th (your preferred date for departure) is a Saturday, when airfares are usually higher than on Thursdays.<BR><BR>I don't know where your departure point from the US is, but $372 is a great fare to Paris, and the $220 penalty isn't that awful, it's really a $100 penalty, and an additional $120 for flying on a Saturday.

Messed, what's your point? The 10 people that you referred to all bought their tickets at different times. Each ticket in coach may have different restrictions and may be in different classes of service, although they all appear to be the same when sitting together. <BR><BR>The early bird gets the worm, and those that purchase tickets with more restrictions know that in advance. Some people want to take the gamble and others don't.<BR><BR>Are you saying that you would prefer that all people pay equally - say the average fare and be eligible for all types of cancellations and modifications without any charge? I know I don't want to participate in that type of program, when I seek out the best and cheapest fare available.