Negotiating a change of airline ticket (spec. Lufthansa)

I’m soliciting feedback from people who have some experience negotiating with airlines. In February, I bought a plane ticket from Ottawa to Bologna with Lufthansa, with return trip on June 20. (I’ve since come back to Canada on a different ticket, but the June 20 date was because I knew I’d attend a conference in Italy from June 16 to June 19. So I will be there on June 20.)

Since then, I’ve heard of a conference in Münster, Germany, from June 21 to 26 which it would be a good idea for my to attend. I’ve called Lufthansa to check how much it would cost to postpone my trip. They’ve told me that they charge $250 (Canadian) just to change the reservation, plus whatever the difference between the old and new ticket is. I guess I expected that it would be expensive.

This said, I’ve looked at one-way trips from Europe to Canada, and I’ve found a ticket from Rome to Montreal on Air Transat for only $217. This is actually not as out of my way as it seems, as I didn’t get to visit Rome when I last was in Italy so taking a few days to see it is a good idea. So I’m thinking of calling Lufthansa again, asking for a change of ticket from Rome to Ottawa or Montreal at the end of June, and making the following points:
[ul]
[li]I can buy a whole new ticket for less than their change of reservation fee;[/li][li]if I am to go to this conference in Münster and then fly back from Rome, I will need to buy transportation from Bologna to Münster and then Münster to Rome. For this, Lufthansa is actually one of my possible choices; I’ve checked Ryanair and similar companies but I haven’t found a flight with them that fits my schedule.[/li][/ul]

So in other words, if Lufthansa agrees to waive or at least severely reduce the change of reservation fee (I’m quite sure I’d have to speak to a supervisor for this), they will actually get me to buy an extra plane ticket. For those of you who have experience with these sorts of things, do you think I have a case? And if so, what would you suggest I say? Or is it hopeless and should I just buy the Air Transat ticket and thank God that I was able to find a relatively cheap transatlantic ticket?

Just so I’m clear, in February you flew from Ottawa to Bologna on the first haalf of this ticket, and then flew back from Bologna on a separate ticket. Now, you’re going to Bologna for a second time; the original plan was to use the remaining half of this ticket to fly back on June 20, but now you want to attend the Munster conference.

How are you getting to Bologna this time?

I bought a two-way ticket while in Bologna to get back here in April and fly back to Bologna for the conference in June. I did this because return tickets are usually much cheaper than one-way. That’s also why, back in February, I scheduled the return trip for June 20 even though I knew I’d be back earlier: I didn’t know the exact date of my first return at the time, but I did know the end date of the (first) conference.

This is also why I was surprised to find a one-way Rome-Montreal flight for so cheap.

I just wanted to jump in and say that I have never heard of anyone successfully negotiating away airline change fees. If you are successful, I am very interested in hearing about it.

I might be worth registering with the Flyer Talk Forums (sort of an SDMB for people who fly a lot). Trust me, if anyone would know all the ins and outs of doing this, the people on that board will!

Thanks DMark, will do that tomorrow. Icarus, if I decide to try negotiating with them, I’ll post my results.