BootsnAll Travel Community

Hey i still don't quite understand how i change my RTW flights.. I booked with my local youth Travel Agent who booked the package through One World ( or simalar) And they said i just ring up and the airline and change (for a small fee)

Thing is i'm goin to USA then flying into mexico and on down to panama overland.. and then fly into S.America from Panama and then overland - chile
Travel Agent siad i'd have to book my onward flight from santiago - NZ 90 days after i land in Mexico ( which we did)

So according to my ticket i have 90 days for Central & South Ameica
But i plan on stayin in Central America for 3 months and South America for 6 months .. so do i just land in Mexico and and then change my flight or do i have to wait untill just before the 90 days ? Or Do it when i land in South America..

Please help i'm so confused.
Different people said different things in the Tavel Agents.

Anyone on a similar ticket now that could help me out??

I had a Star Alliance RTW ticket a few years go.

The process for making changes was super-simple.

You could just call the airline that the flight was booked on (LAN Chile for you maybe?) or go to their office in a town or airport any old time. (I ended up having some great conversations with airline staff in interesting places while doing this. I spent a looong time gabbing with the Lufthansa folks in Delhi the night of my flight to Amsterdam and they ended up upgrading me to business class for the flight )

Can't guarantee that things work the same with OneWorld, but I imagine it's likely similar.

I travlled on a rtw ticket with Oneworld so hopefully this wil put your mind at ease..

When to Change it

Changing travel dates is as east as pie. You do it whenever yyou feel comfortable doing it. No need to change it straight away, just wait until you have a better idea of when it is you want to leave. Dont worry either if you change it and then decide you need to change it again, all really easy. The airlines obviously prefer a bit of notice so they can resell teh ticket but if you do decide to change it a day or 2 before then thats your call (although they are more likely to charge you the admin fee).

Where To Change It

Its more flexible than you think. Two main choices are to call up the airline or go into one of their offices. Calling up will normally mean you dont pay the admin fee (which is minimal anyway - The most I payed was NZ$10 to change 3 flights). Its also worth noting taht you can go into any Oneworld alliance airline office to change any of your tickets. So, if you have a flight with Lan followed by a flight with Quantas you can change both of those at a Lan office, a Quantas office or even an American Airlines office.

How much?

Normally depends on exactly what your ticket is as different ticket types have different rules. If you're on a OneWorld continent ticket (over a miles based ticket) then you'll be paying a very minimal amount to change. As I said, I was neer charged for making changes over the phone and charged only a nominal fee for changing in the offices.

Watch Out For

If you're on a FF programme for your rtw or already in one of the OW Alliance ones then just watchthat when they change your flights they give you a qualifying ticket. It happened to me on my flighthome and I lost out on some 8000 miles in total.

Hope that all makes sense..Any more questions just fire away.

Thanks for the replies.. Good to hear it is easy..
It's just a guy in the TA said you can;t change flights from Santiago - Auckland and if you do you most give at least 6 months notice..
Stuff like that is really off-putting.. was he telling lies?
I think i'm on Quantas/LAN for that flight..

The Santiago - Auckland flight is an awkward one as its infrequent and gets booked up, its probably one of a very few where I'd advise changing the date with time to spare... Basically everything out of SA to Australiasia goes through Santiago so things can get chocca... It doesnt mean you cant change your flight date from here but I'd be aiming to hit my flight out of here.

thats just the thing tho i can;t!
As i said it was booked 90 days after i land in Mexico but i plan on sticking around for 9 months...

Could i ring say 30 days before hand and change it to 7 months down the line?

From what LC says, and from my experiences with Star Alliance, it's not an issue of whether they'll LET you change your flight (they will) but whether there are any seats available on the one you want to change to.

From what LC says, and from my experience flying Auckland-Buenos Aires (the other Australasia-South America flight) these flights are often very full, so it may be tricky to find a seat.

Though if you're flexible with the exact date of travel and you make the change well in advance, I'm sure you'll be able to find something roughly in the time frame you want.

My advice would be to call the airline now (or as soon as you can manage)and ask them to make the change.