I do not understand why it cost you that much to change the return date on your ticket, I'd be rather peeved if that was me, you could have literally bought a new ticket for that money. I would be asking for a full explanation if I was you, maybe there is something in the small print.
There is the fixed change fee quoted in the terms and then there is new price on the new date, if you want to travel on a bad date it will cost you. Otherwise people would just buy the cheapest ticket possible when it was available and change it to a more expensive date for a small fee.
I think when i booked direct with CP a few weeks ago it was £200 for a change on economy. Thar was the charge for the change but as stated availability of the change then comes into effect.
You will find that most airline's calendar is either a year long or a wee bit shorter Mike, for instance Sky Scanner can't go beyond March 2017 just now. For flights that far out they have no incentive to sell them cheap to you, they will probably be selling rights to cheaper seats to the travel agencies both online and offline, who will be offering cheaper deals than the official airline site at that point in time, but closer to the date I think tranches of options on the flights come back to the airlines, just guessing. I watch flight prices a lot, only between here and the Phils, certainly if you want to travel at a peak time you might get a better deal far in advance but it won't be a huge gain. Also if you think about it, although they hedge a lot on fuel price, that far in advance they are just guessing so they probably don't want to make too many bad bets, the price for long dated seats is likely already constrained by the hedge deals they have already made that far out.
I have just had an upgrade to Business class on my long haul flight from AMS to Mexico City. It was nice.
Thanks for the reply, Jim. Guess I'll look during the summer because the aposharks are going to Cebu in the summer of 2017.
One year in advance is too long, I tend to start looking seriously about three months before I want to fly. Watch out for special offers, and be flexible with dates and destination. Avoid flying in peak seasons if you can, a few days can make a big difference.
Nice Well I see you are a bit further west than Mexico city just now, my uncle used to work in Mexico city for Babcock Engineering back in the late 1960's early 1970's he loved the place.
Yes, I am having a two month break in Tlaquepaque again this year. Good to be back in Mehico. This year I aim to learn a bit more Spanish as my vocabularly is still limited to half a dozen basic words, not very good considering that I have previously spent over four months in Latin America.
Checked my paperwork the breakdown of the £550.00 cost of flight change is made up of £150.00 airline change fee, £30.00 Omega fee, and £370.00 fare difference! We live and learn as they say!
Slightly steep airline change fee but around about what one might have expected, the fare difference is just sadly the different flight date being more expensive Interesting that the agent (Omega) charges a fee too, I think the policy of many of the old hands here that you should always book direct with the airline is a probably a good policy.
There is a trick you can do with Virgin Atlantic - buy a Flexifare ticket for a day that is NOT the day you want but which is no more than 1 week after the day you want or no less than 3 weeks for the day you want. You need to choose the day with the cheap fare and then swap the ticket (24 hours later) for the dates you actually want! Similarly, if the you find a cheaper price after purchasing you can get back the difference as a credit voucher but only if you book direct with Virgin Atlantic.
I find momondo the best as you can mess around with dates, times , airlines, stopover times. This way you can find really cheap deals if your prepared to have a stopover for quite a few hours. Cheapest £375. return. Plus try different airports . Manchester , Gatwick, well worth a look if not hell bent on Heathrow. Always try to book in advance.