American Eliminates International Change Fees

American Airlines is eliminating change fees on international flights. The move takes effect immediately and applies to nearly all fare classes and tickets.

Domestic Change Fees Already Gone

This happy news mirrors a wave of announcements about domestic change fees earlier this year. In late August, United stunned the industry when it eliminated change fees on nearly all domestic tickets. But they made an exception for Basic Economy tickets, which would remain non-changeable and non-refundable. (Due to the pandemic, the airline is allowing changes and waiving fees for Economy Plus tickets through 12/31/2020).

Several airlines then joined United and eliminated domestic change fees, including American and Delta. Alaska and Hawaiian went even further and eliminated change fees on all routes — domestic and international.

Of course, Southwest has never charged its customers for changes and cancellations. That leaves JetBlue as the only airline not in the ultra-low-cost category (Frontier, Spirit) to keep its domestic change fees. Due to the pandemic, JetBlue is waiving change fees on bookings made through February 28, 2021. And I fully expect JetBlue to eliminate change fees altogether, as well.

AA Still Has Some Change Fees

Now that American is eliminating most international change fees, they will have just two categories of travel to which change fees apply:

• Basic Economy tickets — No changes are normally permitted on domestic and short-haul international flights, but exceptions apply in the pandemic. Change fees apply on long-haul international routes.
• Itineraries that do NOT originate in the Americas — AA will eliminate change fees only for travel originating in North or South America. If your trip originates in London, you’re subject to change fees. If it originates in New York, not so much.

How AA Will Benefit

American has made several customer-friendly moves lately. They recently eliminated change and redeposit fees for AAdvantage award tickets, and now this.

Customers love these new policies, of course, but American Airlines itself will benefit from eliminating international change fees. As I’ve written previously, airlines that eliminate change fees should see incremental revenue growth. AA now offers a stark choice between Basic Economy and Main Cabin fares. Customers can choose a cheaper Basic Economy fare that offers virtually no flexibility. Or they can spend a few extra dollars for the flexibility that a Main Cabin fare offers.

Given these choices, I believe a LOT more customers will spring for a Main Cabin fare. American will generate more revenue on the original ticket purchase, and thus not miss the revenue produced by expensive change fees.

Plus, these pesky fees have long annoyed airline travelers. American is gradually eliminating them, and that can only give their customer service image a boost.

Final Thoughts

American is eliminating change and cancellation fees on nearly all of its international routes. As a result, Main Cabin customers can book travel with a lot more confidence going forward. They no longer need to worry about getting hit with a big fat fee if their plans change.

Basic Economy passengers still need to worry about changing plans, because they won’t see this benefit. Thus, I believe many more customers will decide to purchase a somewhat more expensive Main Cabin fare.

Don’t be surprised if Delta and United also drop their international change fees, and soon. The industry tends to operate as a pack; and when one airline changes policy, the others often follow.

Plus, I believe the airlines see revenue benefits in eliminating change fees. American must certainly like what they see. Because shortly after dropping domestic change fees, AA followed up by dropping nearly all international change fees. In a year filled with bad news, this is a positive trend that should make travel better in the coming years.

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