Changing business flight date [closed]

I'm in a fellowship that pays for airfare for a weekend event (fly in Friday, fly out Sunday). Since I'm flying across the country, I thought it might be nice to extend the stay, book another hotel after the event, and take a couple days for myself.

Is it rude to ask the organization paying for the flights and my stay if I could instead fly out a few days later? They haven't booked anything yet or asked for travel details.

business-travel

Best Answer

Any organization that regularly books flights has probably encountered this question before and may well have a policy to address it. Rudeness is a cultural question, and you haven't specified where you are, but it wouldn't generally be rude to ask this in the United States.

One key thing to keep in mind is that travel prices vary, often significantly, depending on the travel dates. The organization likely doesn't want to incur any additional costs for your vacation, so they may only be willing to pay for flights as if you're traveling Friday-Sunday, if the weekday flights are more expensive, with you paying the difference. That, in turn, may create accounting headaches they don't want to deal with.

Some companies do have policies against doing this (insurance/liability reasons are sometimes mentioned, or just a policy to simplify the planning and accounting). But I don't think it would be at all rude to ask as long as you are clear that you'll make it cost-neutral for them and would understand if this isn't possible.

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How close to a flight can you reschedule?

Yes. You can change or cancel your flight up until 10 minutes before your scheduled departure time. For example, if you had a flight scheduled to depart at 8 a.m., you'd have until 7:50 a.m. to make changes or cancel the flight.

What happens if I change my flight date?

You'll just pay the fare difference if your new flight is more expensive. For award tickets not originating in the U.S., there won't be a change fee as long as the ticket is changed more than 30 days before departure, but there may be a difference in the fare.

Are airlines allow you to change dates?

Generally, basic economy tickets can't be changed at all, but airlines have suspended those rules during the pandemic. Basic economy ticket holders have been allowed to change dates without penalty through Dec 31, 2020 on Alaska, American Airlines, Delta and United.

How to change flight ticket date ? How much does it cost to change my flight is cancelled ?

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