does anybody have any tricks on how to change the date of a return flight without having to pay out the wazoo?

There are no tricks. As soon as you take your outbound flight, see if the same type of fare that you're booked on is available for the flight you want to change to. If it is, you can make the change for just the change fee. Otherwise you will pay change fee plus fare difference. If you want to avoid paying change fees, then buy refundable tickets.

man, that sucks. it will cost me double to change it.

Yes, that is the way it goes. Unfotunalty. There are no tricks to get around this.

It is tough - it is one of the risks we all take when we buy other-than-full-fare tickets.

Depending on where you are going, you may be able to buy another ticket, even RT, that will be cheaper than changing original ticket. Try alternate airports or Southwest or other carriers that offer less expensive or one-way fares and buy that.

Last year we had booked open jaw round trip flights from California to SFO and return from Las Vegas (planning to stay in LA for a month) nearly 10 months ahead and got a good price (we thought) to do that. But as time approached we found we just couldn't do the full month in LA so had to change our tickets about a month before going. Surprisingly, although there was a $100 charge per ticket to change, there was a current special on part of the flight, so they deducted the new price, making our charge something like $19.00 per ticket. But we just happened to luck out. Maybe you will too? Have you checked the current price with that airline for the tickets you have?

When were you planning to return? You might be able to stand by if it is before your scheduled return, and there is no cost for this. My daughter was even able to get a standby seat on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

My understanding is that one can fly standby on an EARLIER flight - but I thought it had to be the same day. My husband does this often - sometimes they charge him a fee, sometimes not. But I think that may have to do with fare class of his ticket.

You can standby on the same day of travel regardless of whether it's before or after your ticketed flights. Delta will confirm a flight 3 hours prior to departure for a $25.00 change fee as long as the change is for the same day of travel.

Some airlines, like AA for example, require you call them to advise if you will be flying standby on a later flight. Otherwise, you could be considered a no-show and your itinerary cancelled.

well, pretty much everything is working against me here.

my flight is the 20th-28th. we would like to stay through new years.

so not only is my flight in a few days, but its also peak travel time. so to change it at this point is ver expensive.

'stand by' wouldn't work in this instance would it?

Nope, standby won't work for you in that situation.

You don't say where you're flying from/to, but have you looked at what a 1-way ticket on a discount airline like Frontier, Jet-Blue, Southwest would cost for the day you want to return? As suggested by someone else earllier, it may be cheaper than changing your original ticket.

no, tickets are really expensive for right after new years.

would stand-by work if say we wanted to leave earlier than the 20th instead of staying later than the 28th?

i'm flying from seattle to tampa.

One cheap way is Southwest, 1/5 $119.20 including tax, one-way SEA-TPA, arriving early morning 1/6. That may be too late for you, though, if you just want to stay until 1/1 or 1/2.

If you can fly New Year's Eve or very early New Year's Day...you might find decent prices. Jan 2 or 3 however....forgeddaboutit.

Just to clarify... as a Platinum (maybe Gold too) on AA you can go stand by for an earlier flight on your outbound travel with no problem unless you purchased your tickets on Hotwire, Priceline or Orbitz (maybe other online sites too) as many of these fares are NOT changeable, period.
The outbound is tricky because if you simply do not show up for the scheduled flight they cancel the intinerary. So I generally schedule the outbound for the latest flight I am willing to take and often leave on an earlier flight if I feel like it.
The return is simple...I just show up for any flight on the day of departure. Earlier or later it does not matter if you are platinum. I have never been charged for stand by and I RARELY take my scheduled flights.
One HUGE advantage I have is that I can see flight load information... how many seats have been sold, reserved, etc...
so I will not take a chance if I see the flights are really full.
This also helps me with my seat selection strategy.

I think TxTravelPro's advice is only for if you want to leave earlier than your scheduled ticket, but on the same day. If you want to leave on an earlier day, I seriously doubt that the airline would allow you to go standby without a change fee. But, have you called them to ask this? No matter what anyone here tells you, you'll want to confirm with the airline anyway or you could be in for a big surprise!

yeah i tried calling. they said only the same day.

yes, 1/6 is too late.

looks like i'm screwed.

Yeah, don't see other ways.

First available seat TPA-SEA on Southwest is 1/4. $317.70. Jetblue can get you back on 1/3, but it's over $400 one-way. Suncountry also close to $400, with over-night in Minneapolis.

Greyhound takes 3 days about $200.

Anyways, the current fare for a SEA-TPA roundtrip for 12/20-1/2 is about $600. If your current ticket is kind of expensive, then you may just call your airline and pay the difference (and change fee, when applicable). If your current ticket is cheap, than I just don't see any way to get back cheap and quick soon after new year.