Want to trade up after you’ve bought your ticket? There’s plenty of upsides as options explode with the elimination of change fees.
There are so many ways to improve your flying experience after you’ve bought your ticket.
Most people think of just one: “I got an upgrade!” But to me, “upgrade,” like love, is a many-splendored thing.
And right now, given post-lockdown travel reality, your many splendors just increased. That’s good news.
Take a Dip, the Temperature’s Perfect
Ever heard of the term, “buy the dips”? It refers to buying stocks when their price drops on the presumption they will subsequently rise much higher. Makes sense, right? Now think about travel.
What if you have a stock (let’s call it a plane ticket), and you spot it now pricing for a lot less? You want that lower price, right? So you offload that first ticket with no penalty, and get the cheaper one. The airline will give you a credit.
You can’t do that in the stock market, but now you can in travel.
That’s because airlines have, for the most part, abandoned cancellation and change fees.
But a cheaper fare is just one of the ways to fly better.
The After-Life:
There’s Plenty of Upside Even After You’ve Bought Your Ticket.
Of course anyone can pay more to fly better–you just get a more expensive ticket, cabin, airline… But now you can do it after you’ve bought the ticket, paying no more, or even less.
You trade up your flying experience thanks to taking advantage of fare volatility or dips.
You could, for example, “trade up” your cabin… Find a new sale fare in Premium Economy to exchange your coach ticket; a new Business fare that’s little more than the Premium Economy ticket you bought; or a First Class fare war surfaces to trade up from that no-deal Business Class fare you bought.
“Up” your destination. You wanted to go to Nice in France but found a much better price to Paris, and you’re happy to take the train down to Nice. Trains are fun. But after some “dipping” now you find that Nice is about the same price as Paris. So scratch the otherwise fun train and go straight to Nice because fares dropped and there are no change fees.
“Up” your dates. You booked to fly in August but then spotted a drop in September options, which, as it turned out, suited you better anyway.
“Up” your routing. You spot a better airport option, closer to home or your destination. Think Munich or Zurich over Heathrow.
“Up” your stopover situation. You score a nonstop after a price drop instead of a one-stop or a one-stop instead of a two-stop.
Trade up. Trade up. Trade up. All these “ups” are enabled by the downs–AKA, fare dips.
All of these better options can become available after you purchase because fares are volatile and there’s no fee to make changes in most cases.
Don’t think of your ticket as the ending. Think of it as the beginning — the beginning of a beautiful “upgrade.”
In Travel, Risk Is Effectively Eliminated.
So Make Hay and Find the Golden Needles
Canceling or changing your ticket for free gives you a new tool in your travel bag because it opens up the possibility of free or low-cost upgrades more easily.
Above, we talked about ways to upgrade that didn’t involve fares. Now let’s get down and dirty with the dollars in familiar scenarios.
What if you bought a Business Class ticket for $2,200, because First Class was $3,000 at the time of purchase, but now First Class is $2,400? That means you can upgrade your ticket to First Class for $200 instead of $800.
Or let’s say you bought an economy ticket for $1,000 because other people in your travel party were anxious to have their ticket in hand so they could book their cruise or hotel. Then you spot a premium economy fare sale that happens weeks later, and premium economy is now $900. You can upgrade for what we affectionately call, in this case, “cheaper than free” — MORE value for LESS money.
Because there’s no change fee now, you don’t have to figure in fees which run $200 to $600+ depending on the type of ticket you originally bought. Oftentimes, you could get a better ticket for less money. Cheaper plus better. Those are my favorite kinds of upgrades.
Fare Dip Examples
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Awareness. Your New Favorite Mantra.
If you can change for no fee, just be aware of what your dream ticket would be, and monitor your dream ticket cost from time to time. Maybe you settled for Premium Economy or Business Class one-way only, or Business Class rather than First.
You won’t get that dream ticket if you’re not looking out for it.
Fares are volatile, but there are times that people book when fares aren’t the lowest. That’s OK because by practicing that awareness you can flip your trip and buy on the dip.
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Airport
I’ll leave you with this thought: comedy writers say you’ve got to write a thousand jokes to get a few good ones. No good writer can just reel off a stack of top-quality gags. They work really hard at it, penning a bunch of stinkers to get a few stunners.
Opal miners dig out tons of rock just to find those few precious iridescent discoveries.
Astronomers stare into the sky for endless hours hoping for that once-in-a-lifetime find.
See where I’m going? You have to go wide to score the treasure. How wide? Last year I exchanged one ticket 7 times or more.
Put all this intel to work for you, be flexible — and fly high.
