Airlines relaxing cancellation, change fees

Airlines are relaxing cancellation and reservation change policies because of the terrorist plot that has snarled travel.

Several major carriers said they would not charge passengers who want to change their flight plans because of the threats, even if those passengers have non refundable tickets, which usually carry change fees of $100 or more.

United Airlines, which operates 38 daily flights from Logan International Airport, is waiving all cancellation and change fees for passengers holding non refundable tickets. United usually charges $100 if passengers want to change their flights after buying a no-refund ticket, but the airline is allowing such changes with no penalty as long as passengers notify it between now and Sept. 1.

If passengers want to cancel their flights without rebooking, they can keep the full value of their tickets for a year to apply to future travel, but there will not be cash refunds offered on non refundable tickets. The policy applies to all flights.

``We're just trying to be sensitive to our customer's feelings during this time," said United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski, who added the carrier had not seen a significant increase in cancellations over the past two days.

Airlines have long assessed at least minimal fees for passengers who change their plans at the last minute, but those fees have multiplied since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks plunged the industry into financial turmoil. Raising change fees was one way to increase revenue.

Still, airlines have more to gain than lose by scuttling the fees in this situation, said Henry H. Harteveldt, a principal analyst at Forrester Research in San Francisco.

``They've got bigger fish to worry about on the revenue side than change fees. If people are canceling their flights to London, they're losing the whole ticket," he said. ``Waiving the change fees is the right thing to do. It's a goodwill measure."

American Airlines spokesman Tim Wagner said the airline has seen hundreds of cancellations, but called that a ``statistically minuscule" number compared with the number of passengers with flights scheduled between now and Sept. 1, the date that its cancellation fee waiver expires.

American is waiving fees for passengers with non refundable tickets between the United States and the United Kingdom, and on all domestic flights. Normal fees range from $50 to $100.

Virgin Atlantic Airways, which has one daily flight between Logan and London, is waiving change fees for people who were traveling on Aug. 9 and decided not to continue their journey. As long those passengers fly by Sept. 30, they won't be charged a penalty.

US Airways is dropping change fees for people who bought tickets on or before Aug. 9 and are traveling between Aug. 10 and Sept. 1 to and within the United Kingdom.

Delta Air Lines said on its website that it was waiving same-day change fees for passengers whose domestic flights were canceled on Thursday and yesterday as a result of the chaos that ensued at US airports after the terrorist plot was made public.

Even if your flight wasn't canceled, you can make a free one-time change if you bought your ticket on or before Aug. 10, and were slated to travel between Aug. 10 and Sept. 1, to, from or through the following cities: Aberdeen, Scotland; Edinburgh, Scotland; London; Manchester, England; Newcastle, England; or Southampton, England. Delta is offering refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights during the same period involving those destinations, and will allow passengers to rebook without penalty if the ticket is reissued by Sunday and new travel starts by Sept. 1.

A spokeswoman for JetBlue Airways said the airline hasn't waived change fees but is allowing passengers to check three bags without paying the $50 or $100 per-bag fee for exceeding the normal limit of two per customer.

Keith Reed can be reached at reed@globe.com.