Changing flights...

[tuapekastar]

I'm considering (by no means sure of it, but it's a good opportunity to clarify anyway) changing a BNE-MEL flight by bringing it forward a day. It's a red-e-deal and the Change T&C's are below:

Changes before the day of scheduled departure:
Your original fare may be used as credit towards the payment of a new fare of equal or higher value, provided the new fare conditions are met.
For changes made over the phone, you must pay the service fee applicable as at the date of change.


At the time of making the change you must pay:

• <LI style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">the change fee applicable as at the date of the change
• any fare difference between the fare for your new booking and the original fare.

And I'm comfortable with most of that (and knew I was booking a restricted fare) but unsure about "new fare of equal or higher value"

Paid fare is AUD129
On the flight I'm considering changing to (and that's really the only choice) a red-e-deal is AUD115 (so it's $14 cheaper than the 'from' fare), but the next fare up on the QF website is Super Saver (AUD215) which is way above the 'from' fare.

So I presume at the moment to change I must fork out $86 (fare diff) plus $44 (change fee) in order to change? I'd happily fork out the $14 difference between current and new red-e-deal, even more, but the $86 is pushing things.

If this is the case I may well be better waiting till the red-e-deal goes up (to something more than $129 but hopefully considerably less than $215)!

Have I interpreted this correctly? (never thought I'd actively be looking for a fare rise :shock:)

 

[oz_mark]

You could start the change process and see if it offers you the more expensive red-e-deal options. You can cancel the process before the payment page. I don't think the change process offers you fares you can't change to.

 

[comint]

Don't forget that within each fare category (red e-deal, super-saver, etc), there are several fares (e.g. E, O, Q, N are all red e-deals).

The Qantas website, will only display the lowest available fare for each category. But, the other fare codes are available, just not displayed.

So, when it says "equal or higher value" it means fare code, rather than fare category.

As per oz_mark - make a dummy booking from your booking/voucher (i.e. don't confirm it) and the website will display prices relevant to your situation.

 

[tuapekastar]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

I used the 'change flights' function through to and including the 'review' page (one step prior to purchase) and it seemed to indicate I would just pay the $44 change fee:

Original price ~259 (for return)
minus ~14 (diff between BNE-MEL original fare and new selected fare)
equals ~245

plus 44 change fee

equals 44 total to pay.

I guess the 'purchase' page will be the making or otherwise of it.

If I end up deciding I want to change I'll give it a try and report how it went.

Cheers

 

[Mal]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

I used the 'change flights' function through to and including the 'review' page (one step prior to purchase) and it seemed to indicate I would just pay the $44 change fee:

Ages ago, the system didn't like fares less than the original price paid, but I think that changed a while ago... I remember having to call Qantas once to get a correct fare change happening due to that bug.

Glad it comes up correctly and only shows the $44. Any fare reduction is lost - unless changing routes I think.

 

[JohnK]

Another option is to make a new booking paying the current airfare, which just happens to be cheaper, and cancel the current booking.

The cancelled booking will remain in credit on your account for up to 12 months from the date of the first flight of the booking and you can use this credit for a higher airfare, say a trip to New Zealand, and pay the change fee applicable at the time.

 

[Nigelinoz]

I recently had exactly the same problem to deal with,I booked a flight from ABX-SYD for my GF for the 25/04 on a red e deal for $78.00 and a few hours later realised I had made a mistake and that it was the 25/05 that I should have booked.
I went on the the QF website and discovered that the lowest fare for the 25/05 was $59.00 ,$19.00 less than what I had paid,I rang QF and after
about half an hour of being told that the $59.00 fare did not exist on their
own reservation system,the agent I spoke to looked at the Qantas website and confirmed what I had said was correct and offered me a full refund of the original fare and made a new booking for the new day at the lower price.
I was surprised that I would get away with it,considering it was my own fault for booking the wrong date,but Qantas ,to their credit,helped out.

 

[oz_mark]

They seem to be reasonable in helping out if you ring them shortly after the booking was made. If you wait days or weeks they tend to be less helpfiul.

 

[garyjohn951]

They seem to be reasonable in helping out if you ring them shortly after the booking was made. If you wait days or weeks they tend to be less helpfiul.

Yes, I had the same problem, I keyed in the wrong month and rang two later and they changed it. The operator said as it was only 2 hours since I had booked and the mistake was "obvious" , no other fees were charged. The two days had the same price as well.