WS

Hi,

We want to book tickets soon to go to Australia for a couple of weeks at Christmas. But if we get out there earlier would want to transfer the tickets to other family members.

Has anyone got any suggestions or done this with airline tickets? (We're not too fussy who we fly with!)

Thanks for any help .

grahampaula

Although we have not done it ourselves, I enquired when we booked our flights about the flexibility and cost of changing the dates. I was informed that it could be done (same sort of procedure as with a name change) but they would charge an administration fee which could be quite expensive, approx £150 per person.
It might be wise for you to ring around a few different companies for flight prices and also enquire how much it is for a name change.
Good luck.

Pollyana

Depends totally on the rules for the fare that you book. For each flight there are different fare classes, and each class has its own rules. To buy a ticket which allows you to change the name will be more expensive, and for an international flight there are very few classes that will allow it. There will also be restrictions as to how soon before the flight you can change it - eg a 28 day before flight limit. You'd need to discuss it with a travel agent or the airline to make sure that the rules of the ticket you book allow it, don't risk booking on the net. Dates are far easier to change than names, but even then many fare classes won't allow it.

WS

Thanks for that... have just been looking at different ticket classes and think we will forget name changes!!!

Anyone know about cancellation surcharges?! Emirates seems to let you cancel for £200 which seems good.

Pollyana

You won't want to hear this, but again it depends on the fare class and the airline. If you seriously think you may need to cancel check it when you book. Why don't you look instead for tickets that you cn bring forward if you need to? May be cheaper to book a return ticket, bring the date forward and not use the return portion. So you book for Christmas, but in a class that allow date changes, and this is usually a lot cheaper than cancellation, then if you get the visas you just ring the airline and change the date.
Again, not all classes allow date changes, but its a cheaper option than cancellation in the majority of cases.

WS

Thanks Pollyana, really appreciate your advice.