American Air scraps change fees for some overseas trips

American Airlines is stepping back from fees of as much as $750 to change tickets for international travel, largely abandoning a widely loathed charge as the company rushes to lure passengers back to its long-distance flights. Change fees will cease on flights originating in North or South America for all but the cheapest “basic economy” fares, American said Thursday. The new policy, which covers most of American’s long-haul international passengers, follows a decision by US carriers earlier this year to end change fees on domestic service even after the coronavirus pandemic abates. Giving up the lucrative charges on overseas trips signals the urgency of American’s push to revive international travel, which has all but vanished since March. American got $800m from ticket changes last year, part of a $2.8b pie from all fees collected by the top 10 US airlines, according to the DoT. Domestic passenger traffic today is at just 35% of 2019 levels and international flying is down even more. “We are committed to making travel easier for our customers who fly on American,” Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja said. “By eliminating change fees, we’re giving customers more flexibility no matter when or where they plan to travel.”<br/>