Why did changing my ticket cost a lot less than buying a new one for the same dates?
I have a ticket purchased from Seattle to Central Europe and I've decided to swap my flight dates to an earlier date. Before trying to use the change function on British Airways' website, I've decided to look up the same flight on Google Flights:
Given that my original ticket for April cost $1360, I've expected to be asked to pay $2000+ to change this flight. But lo and behold, the BA website actually let me change it for less than $300:
Why is this the case?
Best Answer
Just speculating: you might got lucky here. Typically you pay the change fee and the difference in ticket price. Your flight is only 2 days out, so for a new ticket your are only eligible for fare classes that don't have a "must be booked XXX days in advance" condition.
It's possible that your earlier booking date enabled you to maintain the initial lower fare class and you only need to pay the change fee.
The new tickets seems to book into an "H" class for Economy, which appears to be a flex ticket with 100% point accrual, so it's an expensive one. I don't know what fare the class of the original ticket is, but since OP has to pay a change fee, it's unlikely to be a flex ticket.
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How much does changing a ticket cost?
Change might be inevitable, but try telling that to the airlines. Switching up an itinerary can be a costly affair, with all major U.S. carriers charging at least a $75 fee for domestic flight changes. For the three biggies \u2014 Delta, American and United \u2014 it's a flat-out $200 penalty.Can you rebook the same flight at a cheaper price?
Caveat: Changes within 24 hours of booking Then, you can simply rebook at the cheaper price. Airlines are required by law to allow full refunds on flight cancellations made within 24 hours of booking \u2014 as long as you booked the flight at least seven days before departure.Why is there an instance where the fare amount changes?
If a flight is not selling well, suddenly more seats may appear at fare levels that were previously \u201csold out\u201d. This is why fares change all the time.Why do women run when men have financial problems? || STEVE HARVEY
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Answer 2
Your ticket appears to be a Basic Economy fare (endorsed BELH which stands for "Basic Economy Long Haul").
Google Flights generally doesn't search Basic Economy fares, plus it's likely that they won't be offered these fares for a new last-minute booking (as opposed to a change) even if you tried via the BA website directly.
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