Charged for return date change??

shypop

Hello to all

Basically I live 6 months of the year in asia, I usually travel with Thai air, and buy a 6 month return ticket knowing that I just call the airline a few days before I want to return and make a booking. Thai air lists this as being free and as such it always has been.
The last time I flew it was with Cathay pacific because they were cheaper even though in there terms and conditions there was a £50 charge to alter the return date it was still cheaper. So imagine my surprise when I phoned to make a booking for my return, thinking that they would charge me the said £50, when they asked for £400+, I tried to tell them about the £50 charge but they kept saying it was due to the time of year etc, So i asked for a cheaper day to return on knowing I'm flexible expecting them to find a £50 seat, all they could find was a flight 2 days earlier than the £400 one, and they still wanted £360 from me. I paid thinking I could take it up with Cathay on my return. After many emails showing them there terms and conditions they wasnt interested, so I contacted my credit card company explaining the situation and they come back a few days later saying there is nothing they can do either.
My question is, can airlines say one thing in there terms and conditions, then charge something completely different. I've flown 5 times with Thai air and never been charged once as they state its free to change return date, yet Cathay state £50 and charge me £360. If I had known this before, I'd of booked with Thai as before as I'm frequent flier member. Whats left that I could do

HXDave

Very little, i'm afraid you can do - in my opinion. What happens is that you book a fare in what is called a certain 'fare class'. in order to get the return flight booked for the same 'ticket price', you need to book in the same fare class (not to be confused with class of travel - this is totally different). the below gives an example, all based in economy class travel:

Z class = £500.00 return
X class = £650.00 return
T class = £800.00 return
N class = £950.00 return
Y class = £1200.00 return.

If your ticket was in the cheapest Z class fare at £500.00 (bearing in mind this is only an example, and not exact), you would need a seat in Z class on the new flight you was re-booking in order for that ticket to be available. And considering that Z class is the cheapest, this will fill up quicker than the other class's. So if Z class is not available, they will look at the next cheapest fare class (in my example - X class at an additional £150.00 - which they may only charge half of, as you are only travelling one way in X class), however as this is the next cheapest fare, trying to get at last minute can again be difficult, and they may have to work on the fares going up & up in price until the find a seat available in the cheapest fare class, which could well be N or Y class at late stage, hence having to pay higher supplements.

What i would do in future is when you buy your 6 month return ticket, get one with a return date in the class applicable to the ticket for when you roughly expect to come back - or even the last day of the validity of the 6 month ticket - but one which will allow you to change either free of charge or for a small fee (subject to class availability). then, when you come to changing, if there are no lower fare class's available for you to change to, you still have your original date to travel back without having to pay more.

I hope this explains the system for you, however it can be a bit daunting for people who do not know how it works.

HXDave



if it is one of the cheaper 'fare classes' then leaving it until last minute to