First, there's no reason to buy a $400 fare that far in advance. Second, like I said, you can get a full refund and fly another airline.

A ticket is to get you from Place A to Place B. That's really it. Nobody can force an airline not to cancel a route, and no rules say they need to give you a refund.

The only way to change it basically is to get new laws to address this. But that's another can of worms that I will not open here.

Rkkwan, when you are coordinating a trip with a number of other people sometimes you just have to suck it up and pay the freight. I know--I have had to do it several times. And depending on the time of year--like right at the end of the summer vacation time as this is--flights can be very full and very expensive. I know that because I have tried to fly standby at this time of year from a popular hub and eventually had to buy a ticket to get out. As for cancelling a flight for lack of people--don't forget that that airplane has to get from point a to point b in order to get to point c in many cases. Who knows. But in the meantime, I think a connection is in the future of the poster.

stocktsi,

I believe you are still missing the point here.

I and few others tried to explain to you why things are the way they are and you still think that's just because I used a $200 fare example, (which btw was not directed towards you), and that you have kids, that somehow you should be exempt.

If you want to be exempt totally from any changes, walk up to the ticket airline counter and buy a full fare ticket. I assure you that the airline will bump a cheapie fare pax(s) just to accomodate you. No need to worry, and there will be no schedule changes,

but when you buy a ticket with restrictions, the rules stick, and whether you or I like them doesn't matter, we have to live with them.....

"a trip scheduled in a couple of weeks" may bring more changes before all is said and done. They can and do change schedules right up to the end. FYI

American doesn't even email you to tell you of any changes until it is within 30 days of departure! I have a trip in October that was planned in May and the flights have at least twice that I've seen [and that is only because I went to check them online after seeing a post on here about changed flight schedules]!

Debi

That is very true Debi,

but if you were to walk up and while purchasing a full fare, fully refundable ticket, you were told that the schedule has changed, you could take your cash or your CC, walk across to the competitor and ask them what their schedule looks like....