Are "no change fees" tickets, a handy trick to get cheaper flights? Do they have other downsides or upsides than the obvious?

Question

On many economy tickets, you can pay usually 5%-10% or so more to get a "no change fees" ticket.

This would seem to be a big advantage, because, when you're Over There, you could change your return ticket to a day which is more expensive to travel on; seemingly, you win.

I guess you could even do that outwards? Wednesday say is the cheapest outwards flight, you book that, with "no change fees", and later just change it to Friday or whatever the most expensive day is.

Is this correct, or not really?

What is the real world experience with and reason to use "no change fees" tickets?

(I often have to travel on 1ways, so, I've never really used one, I don't think.)

(BTW I notice on that one, they hit you with non-refundable on the "no change fees" ticket.)

Answer 1

When you change a ticket (provided the fare allows it), you usually have two different possible costs (which are added, it’s not an either/or):

• a change fee/penalty. This is a fixed amount you know in advance (though there may be complex rules related to when you make the change which may yield different amounts). No change fee just means this one is 0.

• the fare difference. When you rebook, they will price the new ticket (on the day you make the change, not on the original date of purchase), based on fares valid on that date and availabilities on that date, and then bill you the difference between that price and what you initially paid. Expensive flights remain expensive flights, so you will end up paying exactly the same as if you had bought the target flight directly (if you change right after buying the original ticket — if you wait it will probably be more).

Fares with no change fees are useful for passengers who need the flexibility (they may have to change their plans), but there’s no magic trick which will give you an expensive ticket for less.

Answer 2

There is no such thing as a free lunch with airline tickets. I can think of at least 2 things off the top of my head that affect your "Friday" scenario.

1. The Friday flight is more expensive because it is more popular. Thus the closer you get to Friday, the less likely it is that an empty seat is available on that flight. So by booking a different return day and then attempting to change it to Friday at a later date you are risking not being able to fly on Friday.

2. No Change Fee doesn't mean no additional cost. I bet if you read the fine print you will find that the No Change Fee refers to tickets with the same cost basis - so you can only swap like for exactly alike for free. However, if there are no seats on your Friday flight (See #1) with the same cost basis, then you will need to select a different class of seat. The airline may not charge you for changing seats, but they will charge you the difference in price between your original and new seats.

Answer 3

To give you a more straightforward answer: “no change fees” tickets are never cheaper.

The only money saved would be in case you actually do need to change plans:

• “no changes allowed” tickets: 100% lost (some airlines might refund some minor fees)
• “changes allowed” tickets: you will have to pay the difference in fare, if the new date is more expensive, plus a fee.
• “no-fee changes allowed” tickets: same as above, but no fees.

Big note: “changes” generally refers to rebooking, aka “change of date”. No other changes are allowed.

Occasionally even with “no-fee changes” tickets, a rebooking could still cost you more than just switching airlines on certain dates. The last time I booked such a flight (Turkish Airlines) I had to pay nearly 100% more anyway because the tickets prices had risen.