Changing Flights

At some point in our lives, everyone has experienced flight purchase regret. Maybe you fall ill right before you are supposed to leave for a vacation, or maybe that family reunion you were flying home for was pushed back. Whatever the case, we all know that moving a flight can often be more expensive than an all-inclusive Caribbean escape.

When you purchase a flight, you are committing yourself to that airline, which is what makes switching flights so expensive. If you found a good deal to fly on one airline, chances are that moving that flight within the same airline will be extremely costly. For example, if you had purchased a ticket from Los Angeles to Boston one month ago for the dates of July 15 – July 22 on US Airways, it would have cost you about $190. To move the flight to July 1 – July 8 (exactly two weeks earlier), flight prices jump radically, especially because of the holiday weekend. When you add in the fact that you will be charged $150 by the airline for moving the flight and an additional $30 by the booking company, you are looking at only $10 worth of credit from your original flight. The cheapest tickets US Airways is offering for your new selected dates are over $1000. Your family may have thought it was a great idea to move the reunion to the Independence Day weekend, but now you are out one grand.

In this case, it is better to buy a new ticket entirely, an idea that for some reason does not occur to too many people. Most people assume it will always be cheaper to reschedule a current flight than to purchase a new one. However, the airline industry does not quite work the way the rest of the world does. Buying two airline tickets in this case will actually be cheaper than exchanging the original one for a new one. A quick search on Expedia, Orbitz, or Priceline reveals flights from LA to Boston on July 1 – July 8 at less than $300on various airlines.

Now, you have two tickets for a total cost of less than $500, instead of one ticket that cost you over $1000. You also have the choice of flying cross-country twice in one month (once for your reunion and once to see the lovely east coast sites) or canceling the original flight and saving your $10 credit for a rainy day. Either way, you have saved a bundle. Basic psychology makes us feel like we have “wasted” the first flight, since the money we spent on it never ended up being useful. Our gut reaction is to “exchange” the ticket, because it makes us feel as if the cost and effort of buying the original ticket was useful. However, try your best to ignore your basic instincts. Buying a new flight is the better option in this case.

Just keep in mind that when it comes to flight tickets, nothing is intuitive. One non-stop flight costs more than two connecting flights, even though the connecting flights use more gas and cover more miles. Buying a new flight is cheaper than exchanging an old flight. It doesn’t make sense, and this is just something we must learn to accept. Remember to shop and around and keep your options open when looking to move or cancel flights. Most importantly, don’t forget your sense of adventure. You never know where you may end up or when that extra flight may come in handy.