Booked wrong date - suggestions?

Thanks for all your suggestions. I've actually emailed Orbitz to explain the situation and they suggested to call their customer service, I guess to explain it or kiss-butt in more detail :)

And, yes to Steve - I have obviously learned my lesson to check and recheck (and recheck and recheck).

Thanks again - I'll update the post once I can get a resolution.

Does one day make a difference? It can, it depends....you have to ask yourself...Is adding an extra day in Paris worth $350?

As of now, you arrive on the 16th...that leaves you about 3 1/2 days for Paris. You can definitely see the main sights in that time. You can also spend a month there and not see everything.

To some $350 is a lot of money and could pay for meals for a long time. For others, it's nothing. You have to ask yourself how spending the extra $350 will affect your trip.

If it was me, I wouldn't change the ticket. I'd just plan too go back to Paris in the future. (And you're giving yourself a great excuse--you didn't get enough time the last trip.)

Lisa,

The analysis that Frank II provided is excellent! That seems like an exorbitant amount for a one day change of flights, but I've never dealt with Orbitz so perhaps that's normal for them (I normally book flights through a Travel Agent).

You might want to pick up a copy of either the France 2010 or Paris 2010 Guidebooks (Paris is available now, France will be available on Oct. 27th). That way you'll have all the information you need to plan your touring as efficiently as possible. A two-day Paris Museum Pass would probably be a good idea, depending on what you want to see.

Touring for the first day or so will probably be a bit of an effort, as you'll be jet lagged.

Good luck and happy travels!

Keep calling - both the ailine and orbitz - for the airline reference the ticket number and make no mention of orbitz. It's worth a try. You can also try the day before and they may waive it or just charge $75 (if there are open seats on the flight).

Well - I called Orbitz and they redirected me to the airlines as it's the 'airlines' charge'. When I spoke to American, she said she didn't know why they directed me to them as there isn't anything they can do. If I booked it directly with American, they could possibly waive it, but since I booked it with Orbitz, they can't.

I called Orbitz back (just to see what I could do) and told them that I will most likely book my next trip using the airlines directly (thinking they will loose my business) - no such luck. They repeated again that it's the airline's charge. They could waive the $30 Orbitz 'administrative' fee. That is certainly NOT going to change my mind! Then they suggested I check my email every so often to see if the airlines will change the time of my current reservation and if it's not reasonable to me, they could possibly move it to the day before or day after. Whoopie!

So - I think I've come to the conclusion that I'm not paying the exchange fee - now - out of principle and accept that I won't have that extra day. Oh well - hopefully other people will learn from my mistake, too. :) Thanks for listening!

Lisa,

Thanks for the update. If you keep "badgering" them, perhaps there's still a small chance that the airline will decide to change your flight for a more reasonable fee.

Good luck!

Sorry to hear about your problem, but grateful you posted to share your experience. What would the change fee had been had you booked directly with the airline? I don't fly all that much, but the one time I did book with Orbitz and changed my ticket, I paid a penalty to both Orbitz(a surprise) and to the carrier(not a surprise). Are there real advantages to booking with a system such as Orbitz vs booking directly with the airline? Good luck, and I'd try a few more times...you never know who you get on the other end of the phone, and how they happen to read the rule book that day.