I want to travel to Europe. What happens if I must return immediately? Can I change my flight quickly?

Question

I want to travel to Europe. What happens if I must return immediately? Can I change my flight quickly?

Answer 1

It generally will cost a great deal more money and depending on the original flight arrangements, you may lose your return ticket and be starting from scratch.

Answer 2

You can do it, but you will have to pay a penalty of maybe as high as $200.

Answer 3

usually yes (depending on the type of ticket you bought) but you will have to pay 1) change fee and 2) fare differential, if the cheap fare class you bought isn't available on your return flight and you have to upgrade to higher fare.

There are fares without change fees...but they are higher to begin with.  If you feel like there is a very good chance your plans will change, you might want to investigate a fare that allows changes easy/cheap/free