Flight change fiasco
 

So am I right to be angry? We booked flights to Italy for this summer on Air Berlin and, due to change in jobs and a move to another state, we can't go. I am happy to pay the change fee and thought we could rebook for next summer. After all, the policy says we have a year to reschedule. Well, Air Berlin flights are only scheduled through January and there is no such thing as a voucher for future travel. We can only reschedule for existing flights. We can't go anywhere until next summer. I think this violates their own change policies. What do you think? Do I have any recourse?

Suggest you ask on the Airlines forum. You might try flyertalk.com as well.

I wonder whether you could reschedule for January and then reschedule again when the summer schedule is released? It would mean two change fees but would presumably still be cheaper than eating the cost of the tickets.

Thanks for the info. Already posted on the Airline forum but received no responses. More traffic here I think. Yes, I considered your suggestion concerning rebooking twice, but $1200 total in change fees seems absurd.

Ouch! Any chance of going later this year, or are you constrained by school holidays? The weather will be better later in the year.

I am constrained by school holidays along with the fact that this was to be an Amalfi Coast trip. Really not worth doing in the cold in my opinion.

If you have, for example, EconomyClassic Fare, the T&C says a few conditions:

https://www.airberlin.com/site/affil...agb/ABB_en.pdf

<i>If a rebooking is to be made to a later flight, this is only possible <u>within the published schedule</u>, and only if
the later flight is less than 365 days after the outbound flight originally booked. </i>

The key words seem to be "within the published schedule."

Another option is to rebook within the published schedule to other destination that is more suitable for a cold season school break. Is Amalfi Coast in summer the only destination you care to visit in Europe in your life?

If you booked the fare that greg discussed, your options seem to be take a Xmas/Thanksgiving trip or eat the tickets.

[P.S. - depending upon the ages and interests of your kids, an Amalfi Coast trip can be interesting or exceedingly dull but it won't be their trip of a lifetime when they look back on it.]

I'm a teacher; no kids. And I suppose you're right re: the conditions. Live and learn. No, must rebook for the exact same itinerary as well. Which is a bit ridiculous. I'll be more careful in the future. Ugh!

Is the flight into Rome or Naples? Those would both be nice destinations for a late fall trip.

And you can always take the train, or a budget flight, somewhere else.

AirBerlin is codeshare partners with American and British Airways, among others. Is there a possibility they could code share an AA or BA flight next summer? I'd give them a call ... and don't accept the first "no" as the final answer. Ask to talk with a supervisor, and go up the chain as far as you can.

Rather than lose the tickets altogether, consider going during Christmas break. Yes, it will likely not be nice enough to sit out to eat, and ferries won't be running.

However, touring Pompeii and Herculaneum is actually nice in Winter. I have gorgeous pictures of Vesuvius in Snow. Naples has lots of Christmas shops and some great museums. When the sun popped out, it was warm enough to remove jackets.

Worst comes to worst, head up to Rome, which is interesting anytime.

Even more, worst come to worst, book a cheap flight from Naples to Barcelona or someplace with great Christmas concerts, decorations and markets, museums and food.

There have to be lots of things better than tossing the tickets.

That's s odd. .
When I tried to book a flight (nonstop) from Berlin to New York, I was able to pick any date until July 2018.

>>> That's s odd. .
When I tried to book a flight (nonstop) from Berlin to New York, I was able to pick any date until July 2018.

It depends on where OP is flying from. Not all airports benefit from year round flights in ongoing basis. OP might look at OTHER departure airport where there might be a flight of interest.

If the OP insists on Amalfi Coast only (whatever the arrival airport is), from his airport, in summer 2018, there seems to be no solution.

It MUST be Miami-Rome. Yesterday that route was scheduled through January and today through March. Spring break is April which I read is a nice time of year on the AC, so maybe that will become available within a week. (Although I would definitely miss swimming.) I will also check out the code share option. Thanks everyone!