Airline Change Fees are On the Rise

United Airlines quietly increased their change fees for tickets issued on or after April 17, 2013 by $50. Change fees for domestic itineraries are now $200, up from $150. Change fees on flights to South America increased to $300 from $250. This 25% and 20% increase (respectively) will have a significant impact on business travel budgets because, as we all know, rescheduled meetings and appointments are commonplace in business travel.

United’s official comment is, “United carefully manages seat inventory and incurs costs when a traveler elects not to fly in a reserved seat. This fee has been adjusted to better compensate for those costs.” Historically, one airline floats out a new or increased ancillary fee to see how well it is accepted by consumers. If the market bears the increase, the other airlines adopt it. With only four airlines now carrying 85% of domestic passengers, it doesn’t take long for the fee to become pervasive and permanent. At press time, US Airways has matched United’s change fees, leaving only Delta and American of the legacy carriers to answer.

If your business travel itinerary needs to remain fluid, consider purchasing full fare or business class tickets that do not have change fees. Full fare tickets offer much more flexibility, many include a free baggage allowance, and often the fare difference is less than the additional cost incurred for one or two changes. Covington advisors are happy to explain the options so you can make an informed choice.

It goes without saying that you should attempt to minimize changes to ticketed reservations, although it’s understood that you don’t always have control over the need to reschedule. We don’t recommend waiting until the last minute to book your tickets because in today’s typically full-capacity flights, availability may hinder your scheduled appointments.

We can’t control the airline fee structures, but Covington advisors are there to help you navigate them to your advantage.  Contact Covington’s Business Travel Services for more ways your company can control business travel expenses.