I tried to change a flight through booking.com and they want to charge me an extra $600 to $800 in order to get this done. They say it is the airline that's doing it, but I found other flights cheaper than what I paid originally.
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As this has been rehashed many a times on this site, a plane ticket is not like some old bus or theatre ticket where you rent a seat for a specific route or time.
It's a contract, a rather complex one at that, however, most airlines put the most important terms in the reservation email: that being the change and cancellation conditions. More likely than not you bought a ticket which is neither changeable nor refundable and now you are forfeiting that ticket and paying for a new one.
And while this might feel unfair to you, this is what makes yield management possible -- in other words, an entire lifetime of cheap airfares stems from the iron tight control airlines have over the conditions of your ticket.
3
Yes, most airlines take significant fees for changes. This can well be a flat 600$ for changing any flight, be it a 49$ hopper flight or a 17-hour business class ride.
Nobody knows for your specific case, but I am not surprised, this is normal / usual.
Aganju
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