Being asked to pay for a 'free' change

Basnclr

I booked a trip to Ireland for this weekend (17th-20th Dec) with AerLingus but wanted to change my flights due to the revised restrictions. 
When I clicked change and selected new flights (in May 2022) it asked me to pay! I called AerLingus and they have fobbed me off with 3 different excuses - needing to pay taxes and charges (not on the change booking), no cheaper flights available (not according to your own website) and it's only the change fee that's waived (again, not according to your website!)  They hung up on me and promised to call me back but haven't.  So not happy with them right now...
I have taken screenshots of the guidance their website on "Book with Confidence.  Change for free." and it says nothing about paying for the revised flights (unless more than the original flight costs, which they're not.)  And screenshots of my revised booking just in case.
Anyone else had this? How did you resolve it?

CKhalvashi

The change may be free, but any fare difference is not unless EI cancel one of your flights.

This is to stop someone booking a cheap date and changing for free to a premium date and is within the airline terms and conditions.

As with another Irish airline, the fare for a re-booking may not be the same as a new booking making the new booking cheaper. Again, this will be detailed within the terms and conditions.

[Deleted User]

If you want to go just pay it, and then look at recovering it later.

Caz3121

Basnclr said:

 it's only the change fee that's waived (again, not according to your website!)  

there are mentions of it on their site

 https://www.aerlingus.com/support/covid19-information/flexible-flights/

"*Change fees are waived but a fare difference may apply."
"A fare difference may apply"

lisyloo

I would go ahead, then make a formal complaint.

Grumpy_chap

Caz3121 said:

there are mentions of it on their site

 https://www.aerlingus.com/support/covid19-information/flexible-flights/

"*Change fees are waived but a fare difference may apply."
"A fare difference may apply"

No change fee, but fare difference does apply (which is reasonable enough).

Does the fare difference vary, though, with dynamic pricing?

The OP booked for the week before Christmas, so will have paid a higher fare, say £100.
Because of Omicron restrictions, demand for that week is probably now low, so the same flight might now be cheaper, say £40.
The OP now wants to change for May holiday dates, likely to be popular, so fare will be high, say £100.

I would say the OP paid £100, so gets £100 towards the cost of the new flight, so nothing to pay as that is also £100.

Does the airline try to apply the fare change from today's price (£40) to the future price £100?

Sandtree

Grumpy_chap said:
Does the airline try to apply the fare change from today's price (£40) to the future price £100?

How would that work if you have a voucher instead of an immediate new booking? The voucher is worth an indeterminate amount until such time as its redeemed? If the original flight has flown by the point of redemption then what rate would be used?

I suspect what is more likely is that the £100 paid is being applied as a £100 against the new flight assuming what was paid was all flight costs (ie none is for seat selection, luggage etc as most promises only cover the core flight costs not the optional extras). What the OP seems to be saying is that they see some options available online that the airline are saying arent available. It'd help if they could be a little more specific about it all but it could be the differential pricing from online to telephone but then the OP seems to be suggesting whole flights rather than just the cost on the flight.

onashoestring

@basmclr does your original booking include any extras ? 

Basnclr

@CKhalvashi - Helpful context - thank you.  (But I'm happy to forfeit the difference)
@[Deleted User] @lisyloo - Nope!  Not falling for that one!
@Caz3121 - Yep, I would be happy to pay the difference but the new flights are cheaper.  I'm also happy for them to keep the difference.  I just refuse to effectively pay them again for new flights.
@Grumpy_chap The new flights are cheaper but I'm happy to forfeit the difference so they still get the full amount I originally paid.  I just refuse to pay them again for new flights when they say it's free to change. 
@onashoestring - No, neither booking included any extras. 
@Sandtree - I'd be happy if they even offered a voucher but they're not.  They're just giving excuse after excuse.