You may have seen headlines stating that several of the main airlines were doing away with change fees for their flights yesterday - but if you still aren't sure which airlines are involved and what the change policies will now be, let me break it down for you.
Overall, this is SUPER exciting because prior to this announcement, it felt like the only airline that we could really be sure we could change our flights around on was Southwest. While they're keeping their current change policy - you can change the flight at any time and just pay the difference in the new flight, get credit if it is less, or cancel altogether and keep the credit - several airlines are joining their flight change model.
United Airlines previously announced that they would be doing away with change fees, and now Delta, American, and Alaska have jumped on board with similar policies.
For United, there will be no change fees for flights within the continental U.S. as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Your ticket also has to be one of these types: Economy, Economy Plus®, United First®, United Business®, orUnited Premium PlusSM
Basic Economy, therefore, is not included in the "no change fees" policy.
For American Airlines, a press release announced they are dropping change fees for domestic and short-haul international flights, including to Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, for premium cabin fares and most main cabin fares. Basic economy fares, however, would not be included but do have some additional new perks that you can read about here.
Starting Oct. 1, American customers will also be allowed to fly standby for free for both domestic and international flights.
Delta is also making changes and has chosen to eliminated change fees for domestic flights, including to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, for tickets in first class, premium select, Delta Comfort+, and main cabin. As with the other mentioned airlines, basic economy fares were not included.
Of course , if you're choosing to travel, don't forget we are still in a pandemic and you should choose your airline based on their social distancing policies and, as always, make sure you're wearing a mask and being as safe as possible! Happy traveling.
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