Today's Edition
SADEQ ALKHOORI (ABU DHABI)
Travellers are increasingly resisting the appeal of restricted fares, opting instead for flexibility as airlines and travel providers make clear that changes, refunds and rebooking depend heavily on fare type and booking conditions.
A restricted fare may still look attractive at the time of booking but can quickly prove misleading when plans change and fees, refund limits or no-show penalties come into play.
“A flexible booking is essentially a small insurance policy on your plans,” Mohamed Jassim Al Rais, Executive Director of Al Rais Travel Group, told Aletihad. “When life changes, and it often does, a traveller with a flexible ticket can adjust or recover their money without significant loss.”
Al Rais said the risk is not only in the fare paid upfront, but in what a traveller stands to lose once circumstances change. The issue becomes more serious when the flight is only one part of a wider trip that includes hotels, transport, activities or fixed dates that do not move as easily.
That same caution is showing up among travellers. Rosa Lyn, a Filipino resident, said price still matters first, but she now pays closer attention to whether a booking can be changed or partly recovered if plans move. “I still look at the price first, but now I also check if I can change the booking or get some money back if something shifts,” Lyn told Aletihad.
She said flexibility matters more when a trip is tied to family plans, fixed leave dates and other expenses beyond the ticket itself, because one change can affect the rest of the journey.
Mohamed Khan, a Pakistani resident, said he has also become more careful about what sits behind the headline fare.
“Before, I look only at price. Now I check if I can change the ticket. If something happens, cheap can become expensive,” Khan told Aletihad.
He said he still compares fares closely, but now pays more attention to restrictive conditions, especially when travel dates are fixed and there is little room for disruption.
That matters because the ticket is often only one part of the commitment. Once a trip includes hotel reservations, airport transfers, activities or onward flights, one delay or change can ripple across the itinerary and turn a small saving into a larger loss.
Airline policy pages reflect that distinction clearly. Emirates says changes and refunds depend on the fare conditions attached to the ticket. Etihad says flexibility varies by fare type, while flydubai also separates fares based on changeability and traveller needs.
Booking Value
Al Rais said many travellers still focus on the first price they see without checking what that fare actually allows. “A fare that looks like a saving can quickly become the most expensive option the moment something changes,” he added.
The trade-off becomes sharper when schedules are tight. Families travelling during school breaks, business travellers with fixed meetings, and passengers on more complex itineraries often have less room to absorb rescheduling, delays or missed connections. In those cases, paying slightly more at the start can mean losing less later.
Booking channel matters as well. Etihad says travellers who booked through an agent must return to that agent to make changes, while dnata Travel, a travel service provider in the region, says many products are subject to supplier-specific cancellation and refund conditions, and that failing to cancel in advance can lead to no-show fees. The value of a booking is shaped not only by the fare, but by how easily it can be managed once circumstances change.
