Covid eliminated airline change fees — but they could return incognito, experts say

Before the novel coronavirus dealt a blow to airlines in 2020, the only type of standoff the carriers usually had was the fare war: flash sales to edge out their competition’s cheaper offers and fill flights. But with most travelers now grounded and airlines struggling for bookings, regardless of the price, a new kind of stalemate ensued this week: a race to drop change fees. Hours after United announced on Sunday that it is “permanently” dropping change fees for economy and premium tickets within the US, airlines including Delta, American and Alaska followed, and in some cases even one-upped the airline by including some international routes. Southwest, which has long had a no-change-fee policy, is suddenly not the only player offering flexible booking. Overnight, Americans gained many more options amid the current uncertainty of travel planning. But experts say the change fee could eventually return in the future — just under another name. “Historically, airlines make a lot of money on fees,” said Brian Kelly, founder of travel rewards site The Points Guy. In 2019, carriers in the US charged $2.8b in change fees alone, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. “Down the line I am confident they will figure out ways to make up for the change fee, whether that is raising fares or coming up with a ‘health fee’ or ‘fuel surcharges.' " Scott’s Cheap Flights founder Scott Keyes concurs. He believes the abrupt change was a matter of survival, given the current market, rather than benevolence. “Airlines will find other ways or gimmicks to make up for the change in their pricing structure,” he says. “Huge swaths of Americans are not comfortable booking travel right now without flexibility built in. The old airfare model that locked you into a single flight is obsolete right now.”<br/>