American Airlines will eliminate the dreaded $200 change fees on all but the cheapest tickets after eliminating the charge during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Fort Worth-based airline said it is eliminating the charge for passengers to switch flights permanently, at least for those in first class, business and main economy. The cheapest tickets in basic economy will still be subject to change fees after Dec. 31, the company said.
American follows Chicago-based United Airlines, which eliminated change fees on Sunday, and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, which followed suit on Monday. Dallas' Southwest Airlines doesn't charge for change fees.
The change effectively lets many customers keep the full value of their ticket if they want to cancel a flight and apply it toward another ticket. If the new ticket is cheaper, American said it will issue a voucher for the difference.
"By eliminating change fees, giving customers an opportunity to get where they want to go faster with free same-day standby on earlier flights and providing access to upgrades and seats for all fare types, we're giving customers the freedom to make their own choices when traveling with American," said American Airlines Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja in a statement.
Change fees will still apply to flights outside the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Caribbean.
Monday's changes by American and Delta show the copycat nature of the commercial aviation industry, where ticket hikes and new fees are often emulated quickly by competitors.
American has dropped the change fees on all flights for several months as the COVID-19 pandemic pushed passengers to cancel flights and rebook tickets. For several weeks early in the pandemic, airlines were booking negative revenue because more passengers were canceling flights than booking new ones.
Dropping change fees originally was intended to give customers more flexibility if they wanted to cancel or reschedule flights due to the evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. United and Delta adopted similar tactics.
