Airline changing your departure date [closed]

May an airline change your departure date to a different day after you bought your ticket?

(Edit) This was with Frontier Airlines from Portland, OR to Denver, CO, USA. I called and they told me my original flight was canceled (even though it was still listed on their website as an option). They did agree to change it to a slightly more convenient time. But I will most likely not fly with them again.

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Best Answer

Yes they can.

While terms and conditions vary, it's pretty much universal that an airline can make changes like that, or even cancel the flight. The only issue is what they have to do when it happens.

Virtually always for a change of departure by a day or more, the airline is obliged to give you a full refund. They may be reluctant to talk about this, (since they want your money) but if you ask them for a refund you should always be able to get one. Of course this may not help you if they make the change so late that alternative flights are not available, but it should be an option.

You have a few options if the new date doesn't work for you. One is claim the refund and find another flight. The other is to use the threat of a full refund to negotiate a partial refund. They might be prepared to refund you some of the money in order to keep your business.

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Can airlines change your departure date?

When you book a flight, you agree on its schedule. However, all airlines reserve themselves the right to change the time (and sometimes even the date) of the flight, as per their terms and conditions. Specifically, airlines do not guarantee flight times and stress that those are not part of the contract of carriage.

Am I entitled to a refund if my flight time is changed?

If there's been a significant schedule change to your itinerary and you no longer want to take your flight, you're entitled to a refund.

What can I do if my flight is rescheduled?

In case your domestic flight is delayed over 6 hours, the rescheduled time will be informed to you before your original scheduled departure time. Also, the airline is entitled to offer you an alternative flight within that time or a full refund of your ticket.

Explained: How to Rebook a Flight For Free When an Airline Changes Its Schedule

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Answer 2

Yes, they can, and occasionally they do. You may be able to demand a refund, but that won't help make your trip work. This is a very good reason to buy travel insurance. When (post Cyclone Pam) Air Vanuatu changed our trip by 2 or 3 days, I was able to get them to only change it by one day (no charge of course) and the travel insurance covered the extra night in the Vanuatu hotel. I was lucky that the next hotel I was going to just agreed to a later arrival date, even though that brought me under their minimum stay, but if, for example, they had insisted on being paid for the original night I booked and didn't use, the travel insurance would have covered that too.

If changing the date makes the trip just not work - for example you won't arrive in time for the event you are going to - then talk to your insurance company about whether you can book a different flight that does work, and claim for the cost. This wasn't an option for us because Air Vanuatu was the only airline flying between Vanuatu and Fiji and they were not running any flights on the day we had originally booked (they do 2-3 flights a week between those points.)

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Josh Sorenson, Bibhash (knapsnack.life) Banerjee, Pixabay, Ahmed Muntasir