AA.COM/FLIGHTCHANGE - CHANGE THE TICKET AT THE AMERICAN AIRLINES AIRPORT

You can also makes changes ( aa.com/flightchange ) to your flight reservations at the airport. In fact, you might actually pay a much smaller change fee – about half the usual fee – if you're changing to another flight that leaves on the same day. Each airline's policy varies, but as a general rule, they require your new flight to have exactly the same itinerary (and be on the same airline, of course) to qualify for that reduced fee.

If you accidentally booked the wrong ticket and noticed within 24 hours of the purchase, or decided you wanted a longer stay within that 24-hour window, you're in luck : The U.S. Department of Transportation requires that all airlines allow no-fee changes within 24 hours of your ticket purchase. And in very rare cases, an airline will buck the industry trend and not collect change fees at all – Southwest Airlines is the most notable example.

But for most flyers, there are two ways to get out of paying additional change fees. The first is to purchase a more expensive ticket class, like first class or business class, in which case change fees are usually waived. The second is to hold elite status with your airline's frequent flyer program; often, having your change fees waived is a perk of that elite status.