Opens window to 24 hours on restricted tickets

Continental Airlines has revised its policies for flight changes, so that passengers can change flights within 24 hours of their scheduled departure for a reduced fee. “Within the 24-hour ‘same day’ period, customers with restricted tickets may change to another flight departing within 12 hours for the discounted fee,” Continental said. Previously, the newly selected flight had to be within three hours of the originally scheduled departure. Continental’s fee for same-day changes will be $50, or $25 for passengers who are Gold or Platinum-level elite members of its OnePass frequent flyer program. Otherwise, restricted tickets incur a $150 change fee. “If there are no seats available to be confirmed, customers may still standby. In these cases, the fee is still applicable, but will only be charged if a seat is cleared on the earlier flight,” Continental said. The same-day option is available 24 hours before the scheduled original departure. “Inside of this timeframe, customers may select another flight that departs earlier, later, or even on a different day, so long as it departs no more than 12 hours from when the request is made,” the airline said. For full details, go to www.continental.com and click on “Important Notices.”