Change Fees Fact Sheet
The airline carriers charge a change fee to travel agents that do not reissue a ticket when a traveler makes a voluntary change to a ticketed transaction. This is a policy between the airlines and travel agents and not under the purview of the airfares (city pair program) contract, but applies to all the respective air carriers' business.
If a travel agent does not change the record, the carrier won’t be able to determine if a flight is overbooked or if additional monies should be collected or refunded as a result of the change. When the traveler checks in, that person’s record will not show the most recent changes which may impact his/her ability to board that flight.
The airlines are not charging the government this change fee; rather, the airlines are charging this fee to the travel agent IF AND ONLY IF the travel agent does not reissue the ticket when a change was made after the ticket was issued. The charge is not imposed when the travel agent reissues tickets to reflect voluntary changes.
Last Reviewed 4/21/2009