Any tips for avoiding a fee for changing my return flight?

[Anonymous]

I don't want to come back from vacation!
Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't want to come back from vacation!
Thanks!

Don't know of a way unless you have an open return and paid full price.

[Anonymous]

Won't help much in terms of extending your vacation, but there is the "Flat Tire rule" you can invoke.

Basically, if you check in within 2 hours (maybe 3.. can't remember exactly) of your flight departure and give an extenuating circumstances reason why you missed your flight (flat tire, stuck in traffic, car wreck, ER visit, etc) the airline is obligated to put you on their next flight with availability.

Little known rule and if you don't know it/ invoke it, they will try to charge you full price fare + the change fee.

http://consumerist.com/2008/12/late-for-a-flight-try-the-flat-tire-rule-and-rebook-without-fee.html

[Anonymous]

you can take a chance and fly standby but if you are coming from a place with fairly limited flights that could be risky. Call the airline and ask what your options are - they should be able to tell you the specifics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Won't help much in terms of extending your vacation, but there is the "Flat Tire rule" you can invoke.

Basically, if you check in within 2 hours (maybe 3.. can't remember exactly) of your flight departure and give an extenuating circumstances reason why you missed your flight (flat tire, stuck in traffic, car wreck, ER visit, etc) the airline is obligated to put you on their next flight with availability.

Little known rule and if you don't know it/ invoke it, they will try to charge you full price fare + the change fee.

http://consumerist.com/2008/12/late-for-a-flight-try-the-flat-tire-rule-and-rebook-without-fee.html

Wouldn't you have to have some proof for these excuses? Other than "stuck in traffic" there would be a way to check. Also, now you have to be at the airport 2 hrs. ahead of time so I don't see how you could get away with this "flat tire" scenario.

[Anonymous]

I'm in the travel agency business, and yes, it works. You don't have to have proof of anything, but you need to have a plausible reason that meets the "out of your control" sniff test AND you have to know about the rule.

I can tell you every single person in my last staff meeting who was flying out on a late AM flight, but then our meeting ran long - - all invoked the 'flat tire rule' and got put on the next flight out. If you don't know about it, you'll get charged full walk up fare and most likely a change fee too.

[Anonymous]

SOOO. The OP can extend her vacation for 2, maybe 3 hour and then wait in the airport for the next available flight? Just making sure I'm reading this right.

[Anonymous]

DH and I once missed a flight home because we were stupid and got the departure time mixed up with the arrival time. We just showed up at the airport late and told the airline rep we forgot and tried to look pitiful and we were put on the next flight free of charge.

[Anonymous]

Airline person here.

A few things. First, the "flat tire" rule is a courtesy, not a law or rule. Second, and unfortunately, many airlines have dropped the practice. The airlines I work for do empower their employees with the ability to make exceptions on a case by case basis. The person who is telling you you have to "know about the rule" is mistakenly suggesting that airlines are obligated to make this exception for you, which they are not, and that it is some kind of game where you have to be specific, which is not the case. I learned about the "flat tire" rule long before I started working in this industry. I actually had a flat tire, and showed up late to a flight expecting to pay a ton of money for a change. To my surprise, the agent listened sympathetically to my story then rebooked me. Travel is not so pleasant anymore, sadly. The airlines share the blame here; we've had a bad business model for years that is simply unsustainable in the long run. However, threads like this one, where people just advise others to lie and say there were extenuating circumstances that simply did not exist, is a big part of the reason that most airlines cannot afford to honor the flat tire rule anymore.

So, OP, my only advice for you is to consider a more flexible fare next time, or to look online. Sometimes walkup fares on the discount airlines can be startlingly cheap a few days out if they have empty seats.

[Anonymous]

Depending where you are, the snowstorm in the Southeast means flights are being canceled and you can change flights without penalties on most airlines. I did that on Christmas when teh big snowstorm was supposed to hit here.