When trips began closing in March, most major airlines were generous in waiving change and cancellation fees, even if the actual process of obtaining a credit or refund was arduous for many travelers.
Don’t expect that practice to last forever. Travelers still have a chance at record fares, and miles and frequent flyer status should be safe until at least 2021. But fees for changing or canceling a ticket will eventually return.
Several major domestic airlines are scheduled to see the deadline for fare change waivers on new tickets on July 31, even as new cases of COVID-19 continue to skyrocket in the United States and it’s on the air. yes Operators will extend this grace period.
Alaska Airlines, for example, continues to waive fees for changes to new tickets booked prior to July 31, 2020, for travel through June 30, 2021. But lower priced “Saver” fares do not qualify for itinerary changes.
American Airlines offers a similar policy for future trips booked for the end of July, although passengers can make changes without penalty and delay the trip until December 31, 2021. Customers can change their cities of origin and destination as part of this offer . .
United Airlines is a bit more complicated: any ticket purchased before July 31 can be canceled or changed without any charge. But if a passenger re-books a flight, they will have to pay the fare difference between the original ticket and the new one, and no credit or refund will be issued if the new itinerary costs less than the original reservation.
On Delta Air Lines, any tickets purchased before July 31 for future travel can be canceled or exchanged for up to one year from the date of purchase at no charge. But a Delta spokesperson told Fortune that the airline is evaluating an extension of its waiver of exchange fees.
JetBlue Airlines also originally had an end date set for July 31, but has since extended its free offer for future changes to new and existing reservations, although fare differences may apply. Travelers now have until at least September 8 to rebook flights scheduled until the end of JetBlue’s current schedule, which currently runs through February 2021.
Orbitz recently launched a new search filter in response to COVID-19 that allows travelers to narrow down flight search results to only show tickets with flexible exchange policies or no exchange fees. Going forward, Dohmen says, travelers may be less inclined to buy cheap fares that are restrictive and choose to pay a little more to have more flexibility to switch plans without penalty.
That said, in the US, where we’ve seen changing conditions. Destination to destination And from week to week, I think this event will change the number of travelers buying flights.
Regardless, airlines are desperate to have passengers in their seats (even in the middle seats, social distancing guidance notwithstanding) to stop the bleeding of their results. Saniya Shah, CEO of Pilota, a business-backed travel technology startup based in New York City, says airlines will keep these policies in place for the foreseeable future to encourage customers to consider taking a flight to complete their Bookings. However, Shah cautions, airlines are likely to continue to gradually extend the deadlines for modifying a reservation rather than announcing these decisions well in advance.
There’s still an incentive for travelers to book travel now with the assurance that it won’t cost much, if anything, to change plans, advises Mike Taylor, senior director and practice of travel intelligence at J.D. Power.
When the fines return, passengers will have the responsibility to dispute any fare they consider unjustified. There has always been some room for maneuver, especially for citizens of the European Union and also for passengers traveling on European airlines to and from the EU, where the rights of travelers are more protected by law.
There is also the usual alternative to travel insurance, sometimes provided by major credit cards, but also through insurance providers.
That is why it is really important for travelers to read their policies carefully to understand what the limitations are for post-COVID travel, specifically whether canceled or impacted trips will be covered, as well as whether their travel health plans will cover any complications related to COVID. -19 “.
