Postpone return flight b/c of 'sickness'?...

March 1, 2006 5:32 AM

I want to postpone my return flight a few days, but I dont want to pay extreme fees to do so. Can I just tell them I got sick and can't fly for a few days?
posted by ejoey to Travel & Transportation (18 answers total)

How much are you willing to pay for your mental health? $50, $100, $300? I don't think there is any way to wiggle out of the extra fee unless you would have bought a refundable ticket to begin with. That's why airlines offer refundable tickets at higher prices.
posted by JJ86 at 5:42 AM on March 1, 2006

They'll tell you no problem sir, and for $200 they'll be happy to change that.

I've never managed to get a change fee waived more than a week or two before departure.
posted by I Love Tacos at 5:43 AM on March 1, 2006

(less than)
posted by I Love Tacos at 5:43 AM on March 1, 2006

S.O.L. my friend.
posted by unSane at 5:44 AM on March 1, 2006

I've had to change flights once, right after 9/11 because the border crossing from Canada to the U.S. took 5 hours. I missed my flight and they rebooked me on the next available one for 100 bucks.
posted by substrate at 5:45 AM on March 1, 2006

I've had the fee for rescheduling waived once, because of the death of a close relative. They wanted to see a copy of the death certificate before they'd do it, however.
posted by normy at 6:28 AM on March 1, 2006

Airlines will usually be more flexible on the return end with schedule changes. At least that is my experience with Delta. Give the airline a call if you haven't already.
posted by benightedly_heedful at 6:49 AM on March 1, 2006

I missed a return flight because I was in the hospital with some sudden, horrible virus, and I still had to pay the fee, even with a doctor's note.
posted by Zosia Blue at 7:09 AM on March 1, 2006

Oh, and that was Northwest.
posted by Zosia Blue at 7:09 AM on March 1, 2006

imagine if they did reschedule people who had been ill, because they wanted to be nice (for good pr, if you're cynical). soon every dickwad who didn't want to pay for a change of flights would be lying to them. so i doubt it happens, given the number of people out there who try to exploit this kind of thing. pity, but there you go - some people screw it up for others. hope you get better soon.
posted by andrew cooke at 7:15 AM on March 1, 2006

Seconding BH, give the airline a call. Some are more cooperative than others, depending on your frequent flier status, the load factor on the flights you want to switch, etc. Also, the further you call ahead, the better your chances. Their first response will be to charge you the change fee, but in the end, it will depend on a number of factors (including the mood of the agent with whom you speak). It's worth a shot. Good luck.
posted by flyingrock at 7:23 AM on March 1, 2006

Uh, this guy isn't sick. He wants to say he is, so he can get out of his return flight. In other words, he's one of the dickwads who's screwing it up for others.
posted by RustyBrooks at 7:51 AM on March 1, 2006

Yeah, RustyBrooks nails it. Read the post- he's not really sick, he's just trying to game the system.
posted by mkultra at 8:13 AM on March 1, 2006

One time I was a day late for my flight because I was absentminded and got the date wrong. The lady looked at me like I was an idiot, which I conceded that I was. She waived the fee and got me on the next flight without any problem.

Granted this was on a Canadian WestJet flight and they are almost suspiciously nice to their clients.
posted by dobie at 9:50 AM on March 1, 2006

I once fell terribly ill and fainted in the airport in Mexico City. Not only was my flight changed with no charge, but the airline (Delta or Continental, I can't remember) even provided transportation to a local hotel. So you could always just take a trip to the airport on the day of your scheduled departure and collapse right there in front of them. Overly dramatic? Perhaps. Depends how badly you want to save a few bucks.

Really, I think that your best bet is to call and hope that you get a sympathetic airline employee on the line. If you say that it's a bad case of food poisoning and you can't possibly travel and it's terribly embarassing, that may also help. Good luck :)
posted by wetpaint at 10:09 AM on March 1, 2006

Did you ask what it actually costs? I've done this and it only ended up being $40 (Canadian). It depends on the airline and on the type/length of ticket and when you call them (I stayed one week longer on a four-month stay and gave about a month's notice). I don't remember the airline, it was 5 years ago. (But I do remember that it was $40, because I was amazed by how cheap it was. I also changed my stopover from 3 hours to 5 days in NYC, on the same $40.)
posted by easternblot at 10:40 AM on March 1, 2006

Anecdote: my roommate was horribly horribly contagiously ill with chickenpox. In fact, she nearly went blind from it. It was the worst case of chickenpox her clinic had seen. When she tried to reschedule her flight- for the sake of the other passengers, not herself- the airline refused to do it without charging her a LOT. I hope some immuno-compromised person finally sues them, but they would never know about the person not permitted to change seats. I think my friend should have announced it on the plane, but then she might have been beat up or something.
posted by small_ruminant at 3:20 PM on March 1, 2006

I've had Easyjet and British Airways change fees waived on a couple of occasions. The easyjet ones were when I was accompanied by a girlfriend who was having an asthma crisis and was tearful after we ran to try and catch the flight. That got us an extra day in Amsterdam. I guess we looked like we needed a break and the check-in girl was feeling generous (maybe having a tearful travelling companion is useful in some situations :)).

The BA flight I had changed after a connecting helicopter flight was cancelled due to weather. This was in a small airport in Scotland where everyone knows eachother and things work differently - I'm sure I'd have had to pay the extra anywhere else.

In general, I suspect that this sort of thing depends totallyon who you speak to , how you speak to them and what kind of mood they're in. Good luck :)
posted by jonesor at 4:27 AM on March 2, 2006