How do I do ticket change with the minimum change fee with AA

November 15, 2015 9:08 PM

I booked a couple tickets from New York City JFK to Columbus Ohio for 11/17 with AA for my parents. I just found out they may be coming from New York to Columbus any day other than 11/17. AA change fee is 200 plus the difference. That's sooooo high on these 280*2 tickets. Any idea of how to change the ticket to get the minimum change fee?? Thank you! Plus, AA never sent me confirmation number via email or phone. I called today to confirm the purchase. Not sure if that's gonna help my case.
posted by lijiaxiaoniu to Travel & Transportation around Columbus, OH (6 answers total)

If you booked the tickets in the last 24 hours, cancellation is free.

Otherwise, your only option is to beg and plead with a customer service representative. A useful phrase to use is "one time exception." You have almost no chance of succeeding at this, though.

Plus, AA never sent me confirmation number via email or phone. [...] Not sure if that's gonna help my case.

Realistically, no, it won't.
posted by saeculorum at 9:15 PM on November 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Sounds tough. Thanks for the reply!
posted by lijiaxiaoniu at 9:27 PM on November 15, 2015

Unless you have unusual luck, as saeculorum suggests, the "minimum" change fee is the one you've already been quoted. You can take a look at this comprehensive article about change fees, but as you'll see if you read it, they are generally impossible to wriggle out of.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:58 PM on November 15, 2015

You are out of luck. The rules and the disclosures around airline fees can suck, but there is no way around the change fee - specially for an major American airlines. You would need to pay the change fee and the difference in airfare (on the new date).

The cancellation fee is probably $200 too. But if it is less (and/or if you have a refundable ticket), it may be worth finding out if it may be cheaper to cancel and book through another airlines for your target date.
posted by justlooking at 11:04 PM on November 15, 2015

My boss once got them to waive the fee by driving to the airport and talking to someone in person. I feel like this has a pretty low probability of success, though.
posted by something something at 4:21 AM on November 16, 2015

this summer my spouse discovered she had purchased a ticket for a 12:05am flight scheduled to depart on a sunday (this meant that it was effectively a saturday night flight, just after midnight). we, of course, had plans for that saturday which were the sole reason she purchased a ticket to begin with. when she discovered her error (because she got the "its time to check in for your flight" email a day before she was expecting it) and called them they were nice enough - too nice if you ask me, the CSR on the phone actually said the phrase "everybody has trouble with am/pm when it comes to booking after midnight flights" which id say is, well, untrue - and didnt even charge for the change to the correct day.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 5:48 AM on November 16, 2015