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Altering Booked Expedia Flight

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Anyone have experience changing the dates on a flight booked through expedia? The destination will remain the same but dates will change.
Is this easy, hard, or impossible?



When I tried to do it this summer, I spent hours on the phone and ended up just losing the $400 I'd spent on teh ticket.... so yeah... Good luck!

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In my experience, every flight I've ever booked online were non-refundable and subject to additional fees to change. I can't remember how much I had to pay extra the only time I ever needed to change the itinerary but it wasn't too hard. I did make sure I got a real person to talk to and make the changes for me and confirm the changes.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Yes, and it was a load of bullshit. I tried to change a flight I'd already booked to the next day due to a family bereavement emergency. The barely-understandable guy at the Expedia call center in Calcutta or whereverthefuck wanted to charge me a "re-booking fee" of more than it would have cost to simply abandon the booked flight and buy a new one. While looking at the Expedia online booking screen as we spoke, I asked him to put me on Flight #XYZ. He said it wasn't available. I told him "I'm looking at your website right now and it says there are still 5 seats left." He insisted I was wrong, that the flight wasn't available, and refused to accommodate me. They were straight-out lying to me, and wouldn't provide their advertised "good customer service" even for a customer with a death in the family. So, I wound up just abandoning my booked flight and buying a seat on that Flight #XYZ (the one they claimed wasn't available).

Incidentally, for flights up and down the East Coast, I find that the cheapest price deals available directly on the websites of Air Tran, Southwest, US Airways, etc. are very often not available if you look at the Expedia, or Priceline, or Cheaptickets websites. Those sites are a bit more convenient to use; but if you're willing to take just a little more extra time to look at a few airlines' own websites, going directly through the airline is usually better. At least that's been my experience the last several times I've flown commercial.

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Is it true that the airlines only make a certain number of seats available to Expedia and others?

Maybe that explains why the airlines has seats while the discounters don't?

I don't know. I'm just askin'.
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

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Anyone have experience changing the dates on a flight booked through expedia? The destination will remain the same but dates will change.
Is this easy, hard, or impossible?



If you can't get any satisfaction, check out www.elliott.org - Friend of mine, has a TON of pull with the airlines - he's like an ombudsman.
_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

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Anyone have experience changing the dates on a flight booked through expedia? The destination will remain the same but dates will change.
Is this easy, hard, or impossible?



If you can't get any satisfaction, check out www.elliott.org - Friend of mine, has a TON of pull with the airlines - he's like an ombudsman.



The fees charged for changing flights are collected by the airlines, not the agent (whether its Expedia, which I use all the time, or another 3rd party agent).

If you dont want to pay change fees, buy full fare economy tickets in the 1st place, which is expensive.

PS: I've changes several tickets via expedia, and found their service reasonable.
Remster

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Anyone have experience changing the dates on a flight booked through expedia? The destination will remain the same but dates will change.
Is this easy, hard, or impossible?



If you can't get any satisfaction, check out www.elliott.org - Friend of mine, has a TON of pull with the airlines - he's like an ombudsman.



The fees charged for changing flights are collected by the airlines, not the agent (whether its Expedia, which I use all the time, or another 3rd party agent).

If you dont want to pay change fees, buy full fare economy tickets in the 1st place, which is expensive.

PS: I've changes several tickets via expedia, and found their service reasonable.



Agreed - End result, read the fine print. Cheaper isnt always best.
_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

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Is it true that the airlines only make a certain number of seats available to Expedia and others? Maybe that explains why the airlines has seats while the discounters don't? I don't know. I'm just askin'.



That's my presumption, too - seems logical.

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I changed the same ticket 4 times with Southwest one time... no fees :) even got a $10 credit cause the last flight ended up being $10 cheaper :P



I'm curious - did you do it directly thru Southwest, or thru one of the "discount" places?


Southwest doesnt sell via agents.
Remster

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I changed the same ticket 4 times with Southwest one time... no fees :) even got a $10 credit cause the last flight ended up being $10 cheaper :P



Love Southewst... Just hate that they dont fly in anywhere close to me [:/]


I like their prices. I just don't like the cattle call at boarding, since there are no pre-reserved seats. I'm surprised (more?) fistfights don't break out between people vying for the same seat. I can also do without the bad standup comedy (I reserve that right to myself), but I can tune that out.

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I use expedia alot.
But for changes in the itinerary, I go directly to the airline. Most of the time they charge a change fee, but not always.

Don't get angry at the kid in India, get angry directly with the airline.:)

mp


"The reason angels can fly is that they take themselves so lightly." --GK Chesterton

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I changed the same ticket 4 times with Southwest one time... no fees :) even got a $10 credit cause the last flight ended up being $10 cheaper :P



I'm curious - did you do it directly thru Southwest, or thru one of the "discount" places?


As Remster said... SW doesn't sell through discount places... but I can still fly from Birmingham, AL to Portland, Or for $220 round trip B|


Amstalder--> They fly out of BHam, I know thats a drive for you though... I'm just upset that JetBlue doesn't fly anywhere close by, I like them as much as SW.
"Damn you Gravity, you win again"

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I changed the same ticket 4 times with Southwest one time... no fees :) even got a $10 credit cause the last flight ended up being $10 cheaper :P



Love Southewst... Just hate that they dont fly in anywhere close to me [:/]


I like their prices. I just don't like the cattle call at boarding, since there are no pre-reserved seats. I'm surprised (more?) fistfights don't break out between people vying for the same seat. I can also do without the bad standup comedy (I reserve that right to myself), but I can tune that out.


Nah, every time I've boarded a SW plane it has been very civil and polite. If you want a better seat you can buy a business class ticket and get priority seating... Other than that your place in line is based on how early you check into the airport.
"Damn you Gravity, you win again"

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I changed the same ticket 4 times with Southwest one time... no fees :) even got a $10 credit cause the last flight ended up being $10 cheaper :P



Love Southewst... Just hate that they dont fly in anywhere close to me [:/]


I like their prices. I just don't like the cattle call at boarding, since there are no pre-reserved seats. I'm surprised (more?) fistfights don't break out between people vying for the same seat. I can also do without the bad standup comedy (I reserve that right to myself), but I can tune that out.


Nah, every time I've boarded a SW plane it has been very civil and polite. If you want a better seat you can buy a business class ticket and get priority seating... Other than that your place in line is based on how early you check into the airport online system :ph34r:.


Fixed it for you, you Rookie you! lol

I dont like the cattle call boarding either, and My 1st instinct has always been to think it would be such an inefficient system, but SW does an amazingly good job in how quickly they turn a plane around, including the loading of us cattle.

I only use them to ABQ and Vegas, but they're alright.
Remster

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SW doesn't sell through discount places... but I can still fly from Birmingham, AL to Portland, Or for $220 round trip B|


Amstalder--> They fly out of BHam, I know thats a drive for you though... I'm just upset that JetBlue doesn't fly anywhere close by, I like them as much as SW.



I did like SW for some flights, provided that I don't have to make more than 1 stop-over to get where I need to go. The first time I took SW from Birmingham to the west coast, specifically, end destination was San Jose, CA with a quick hop over the mountains from there to Watsonville in my brother's Bonanza.

Never again. SW took me from Birmingham to Louisville, KY, to Phoenix, AZ, to L.A.X. and finally San Jose. :S

I have taken American or Delta since then to get to CA. Just one stop in Dallas/Ft Worth on American from B'ham, or non-stop on Delta from Atlanta.

To me, it's all about the flight paths/times, especially more so with 2 kids in tow.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Anyone have experience changing the dates on a flight booked through expedia? The destination will remain the same but dates will change.
Is this easy, hard, or impossible?



Generally, making changes with online travel agencies is easy, but the amount of hassle and fees involved depend on who you're flying with, when you're flying and where, and how booked the flights are, as well as what kind of tickets you bought.

First, try to make the changes with Expedia at 1-800-EXPEDIA (1-800-397-3342) or 1-404-728-8787. They are your travel agent, and you should start out by working with them.

if you don't like the answers or options they give you, you can try going directly to the airline, but the airline may send you right back to Expedia, and the options they give you may not be any better.

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Anyone have experience changing the dates on a flight booked through expedia? The destination will remain the same but dates will change.
Is this easy, hard, or impossible?

It is rare, but I had to change flight twice, cost me a $150 change fee that was still better than rebooking a $500 airfare.

You should do it DIRECTLY with the airline during regular business hours (less likely to reach an India call centre) rather than the travel agency. Or even go to the airport and get it changed there; during a quiet time period when the airport is not too busy.

The change fees range from $50 to $150 assuming you find another ticket of the same price ON THE AIRLINE'S WEBSITE. (Unfortunately it often doesn't count if the price is found on another website) Otherwise you pay the difference. There are also times I found the new itinerary was too expensive, and I had to stick with the original flight instead.

That's why I tend to prefer booking Air Canada if possible, because the change fee is only $75 even for an international flight between Canada-USA, which I can tolerate. Too bad Southwest doesn't fly here.

NEVER telephone off-hours or to the agency...

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