I'm looking for a return flight from Dublin to Shanghai departing around Thursday 1st February and returning around Sunday 31st March. Usually I'm not interested in the T&Cs - but on this occasion I may want some amount of flexibility.
First over to Skyscanner ... and British Airways has the cheapest fares for the exact dates - starting from 497 euro (travel agent) ... and 504 euro directly from BA without hold luggage ... or 573 euro with one hold bag
Excluding BA the next cheapest prices are KLM and Air France
And excluding BA, KLM and Air France - the next options are with Virgin Atlantic
Looking one day either side of the original dates on Skyscanner doesn't result in any cheaper flights
Now moving to Kayak - their date matrix shows that by chance, the original dates are actually the cheapest
Looking at these flights on the British Airways website and the fare conditions ... it appears there is no penalty to change the ticket (but of course the fare difference can be significant) especially close to departure. No refunds are permitted on this fare - which is not ideal.
Taking the "Economy Flexible" option on the BA website - the price becomes a jaw dropping 4,436 euro
Looking at these flights in BA Premium Economy - they are still non refundable
Even in BA business class - the tickets are non refundable
So what about the KLM flights - the cheapest including hold luggage is 756 euro - considerably more expensive than British Airways. This ticket can be changed (subject to fare difference) but is not refundable
There is a refundable option on these flights (cancel before first flight) - which costs a total of 906 euro including baggage fees.
With the refundable option being so much more expensive - it's then worth checking other airlines / online travel agents
Looking at Expedia - the original British Airways flights are available for a "no cancel fee" price of 745 euro (including baggage). But if you go through to the booking T&Cs - it says there's a 204 euro cancellation fee - which doesn't give me great confidence in Expedia.
Usually we could try BA Holidays or Virgin Holidays to see what sort of flexible package was available - but sadly neither of them offer "holidays" to Shanghai
Looking at other airlines as well:
British Airways - cheapest including luggage 573 euro; refundable 4,436 euro
Virgin Atlantic - cheapest including luggage 592 euro; refundable fare 1,720 euro
KLM/AF - cheapest including luggage 756 euro; refundable 906 euro
SAS - cheapest including luggage 787 euro; refundable fare 987 euro
Etihad - cheapest including luggage 846 euro; mostly refundable fare 1,243 euro
Qatar - cheapest including luggage 863 euro; refundable 1,843 euro
Lufthansa - cheapest including luggage 894 euro; mostly refundable fare 1,143 euro
Turkish - cheapest including luggage 999 euro; mostly refundable fare 1,129 euro
Emirates - cheapest including luggage 1,129 euro - but this is actually mostly refundable
So the current best price for a refundable ticket is KLM/AirFrance for 906 euro
The next step is to phone up travel agents such as Trailfinders to see what sort of flexible fare types they have available. And whether they are able to hold flights until after a visa application result is received.
Another option is to book a reward flight and cancel it for a 42 euro fee once the result of the visa application has been received - and book a cheap cash fare.
