Award Ticket Change Fees Are Getting Ridiculous: This Is Just The Beginning - Travel Tools

Award Ticket Change Fees Are Getting Ridiculous: This Is Just The Beginning

Ben Schlappig — Wed, 15 Jul 2026 23:53:38 +0000

I hate to make negative predictions, but I cant help but feel like this is only the start of a trend that were going to see a lot more of in the coming years

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STEFFL — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:06:46 +0000

Lufthansa-Group . . . just today (1.6.2026) realized, they were going TOO FAR. ... and then again, who would want to fly one of the biggest gangster airline group at all, unless it's dirt cheap? ;-) Service, pricing, professionalism in head of the management, ALL a thing from the past, today, more like corruptness all over, Ryanair philosophy, bad supervision! Here the changes to fares AGAIN: die Airlines der Lufthansa Group stellen auf ausgewählten interkontinentalen Strecken die gewohnte Flexibilität in allen Tarifen (mit Ausnahme der First Class) wieder her und reduzieren in diesem Zuge auch die Erstattungsgebühren. Grundlage ist die Stabilisierung der operativen Rahmenbedingungen nach den im Frühjahr 2026 vorgenommenen kurzfristigen Gebührenanpassungen. Die Änderungen im Überblick: Ab 3. Juni 2026 (Datum der Ticketausstellung): Economy, Premium Economy und Business Class Flex-Tarife: kostenfrei erstattbar First Class Flex-Tarife: weiterhin gegen Gebühr erstattbar; die Erstattungsgebühr wird reduziert Ab 10. Juni 2026 (Datum der Ticketausstellung): Basic Plus und Green Fares in allen Reiseklassen: reduzierte Erstattungsgebühr Die Änderungen betreffen Flüge zwischen Europa und Asien-Pazifik, Südafrika, Mauritius und den Seychellen sowie Flüge von Asien-Pazifik nach Brasilien. Auf diesen Strecken werden die im Frühjahr 2026 vorgenommenen temporären Anpassungen damit weitgehend wieder zurückgenommen; alle übrigen Strecken waren von Änderungen nicht betroffen.

Throwawayname — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:20:50 +0000

The 'no change fees' approach is unsound precisely because it incentivises speculative bookings resulting in unsold inventory and people missing out on flights they want to take even if they depart with empty seats. This is a cost to the industry which is passed on to the consumer- this is a very simple construct and there's no need to go into RASM, CASM, lost bags or whatever to confirm it happens. The question when it comes to awards is whether there should just be a small fee as a deterrent or a set of options like with cash fares. Dynamic pricing and fare families seem to clearly align with the latter approach and, once again, I think that they'd help optimise revenue management which, in a functioning market, should ultimately benefit the travelling public (of course that won't happen if airline cartels are permitted to artificially restrict supply and hike prices, but that's exactly what happens with cash fares- some markets are genuinely competitive, some aren't). Asking for your flexibility to be subsidised by fellow pax isn't quite the consumer-friendly move you seem to think it is.

JP — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:38:44 +0000

Delta already does - of the big 3 they are the only one to sell Basic Economy award tickets and they have a cancelation fee.

Jeremy — Sun, 31 May 2026 21:42:48 +0000

I don't think I buy this theory of future doom. Unless these same airlines are also making unsold inventory available for award booking within ~7 days (the other side of the coin), then THEY are not doing everything they can to avoid empty seats. So many airlines have plenty of empty seats but no availability.

Sue — Sun, 31 May 2026 21:09:54 +0000

This would be a sucky development. To me the primary benefit of using points is the flexibility of being able to cancel. And not just if you have to cancel your trip completely. But the ability to jump on something quickly when it appears, without knowing for sure it's going to work out. Then you start looking seriously at hotels and connections, and looking for a return flight.

frrp — Sun, 31 May 2026 19:53:50 +0000

This is what happens when things go mass market, they get destroyed to the point theyre useless. Every normie now knows about airline points, so airlines points become less value and more alligned to basically being alternative cash.

Gene — Sun, 31 May 2026 19:28:36 +0000

They high number of miles is what makes the fee so egregious.

Watson — Sun, 31 May 2026 19:16:11 +0000

Isn't AC like 150 CAD to cancel? I mean that's annoying but hardly the end of the world, and probably prevents squatters. AC's far greater crime is the absolutely bonkers number of miles they want on their own metal.

Andy — Sun, 31 May 2026 19:10:41 +0000

What LH does is definitely ridiculous. We (corporate) decided to longer fly with them, since our flex tickets need to be flexible. Period.