Does 24-hour grace period apply after paid changes to airline reservations?

Upvote:3

The 'regulations' are on page 23129 and despite the useful context as to how they became what they are, there is nothing specific there about paid changes. However I believe the intent is clear enough and yes, there is a further 24-hour grace period (provided the reservation is still for at least one week ahead).

Accordingly, we are modifying this provision to require carriers to hold the reservation for twenty-four hours only if a consumer makes the reservation one week (168 hours) or more prior to a flight’s scheduled departure. After that time, a carrier is no longer required to hold a reservation without payment for any period of time. The Department believes that this modification strikes the right balance between a consumer’s desire to make travel plans and shop for a fare that meets his or her needs, and the carrier’s need for adequate time to sell seats on its flights.

Is the revised booking a 'reservation'? IMO it is.
Is the new reservation the same as the old one? IMO it is not.
It is just as much a 'new' reservation as the example for PAX B below.

What is the intent? - a balance between consumer interests and airline economics. A revised booking by PAX A has exactly the same effect on airline economics as the same booking by PAX B (who makes it 'first time around' at the same time as PAX A's revised booking). At that time PAX B is allowed the grace period and there is nothing I can see that disallows it to PAX A.

In so far as PAX A has already made some payment (showing more sign of intent to travel than PAX B, if PAX B has not paid anything) PAX A has less adverse impact on airline economics than PAX B.

Regarding 'custom and practice' please see CONSUMERIST.

Upvote:3

The DOT legislation that requires the airline to give a 24 hour grace period does NOT apply to flight changes or change fees, only to new reservations. If you need to change your flight again within a 24 hour period of a prior change, then a new change fee will need to be paid.

Officially United Airlines does enforce a second change fee in cases like this, however if the change made was incorrect then I would suggest calling and asking for an exception - they are certainly allowed to waive the change fee. If you do not have any success, ask for a supervisor and see an if exception can be made.

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