Service and Change an Order

Change flights on a live order with no change mode — delete segments, reshop with the airline for real differentials, roll back with IR, and split orders.

There is no change mode

NDCTerm has no exchange entry, no reissue transaction, no mode to enter and exit. The whole model is: retrieve, modify, commit.

*ABC123            # Retrieve the order
X1                 # Delete the segment you're changing
22NOVJFKLAX        # Search the new date
1                  # Select the replacement
WP                 # The airline quotes the change
1ER                # Accept the exchange on hold, where supported

The search and WP calls ask the airline for alternatives and prices, but they do not alter the booking. The selected change remains uncommitted until ER or ETR.

Deleting segments

X1                 # Delete segment 1
X1/2/3             # Delete segments 1, 2, and 3
X1-3               # Delete segments 1 through 3
XA                 # Delete all segments

A bare X is rejected — the parser refuses it so a stray keystroke can't touch the itinerary. Name what you're deleting, every time.

The exchange: a real reshop

On a ticketed order, delete-and-research is not a new booking next to an old ticket — it's an exchange, priced by the carrier against the ticket you hold. Search the new date after deleting the segment and the results are the airline's exchange offers, each carrying a true differential: an add-collect if the new fare is higher, a residual if it's lower. What you see is what the reissue costs — not a fresh fare you'd have to reconcile yourself.

Exchange offers after deleting a segment and searching a new date, each row showing the carrier's real add-collect differential for the reissue — Exchange offers from the carrier: each row is a reissue quote with its real differential.

The shape of your search picks how the reshop runs. A carrier-qualified search (15NOVJFKLAX/AA) hands the airline the OD and date and lets it propose flights — results are exchange offers directly. A bare nonstop search (22NOVJFKLAX) shows the schedule timetable first: pick the exact flight, then WP, and the exchange quote is pinned to that flight number. Use the second shape when the traveler wants a specific flight, not the carrier's suggestion. Journeys your search doesn't cover survive on their original dates.

Exchange on hold vs exchange and ticket

The commit verb states whether you intend to stop before settlement:

1ER                # Hold exchange, where supported
1ETR               # Exchange + ticket + retrieve

With 1ER, the airline accepts the new itinerary while the replacement documents remain pending. Run ISSUE to review the exchange row and amount due, then ISSUE/ALL to settle and issue the replacement tickets. A bare ISSUE before you accept an exchange offer cannot guess which priced row you intend to buy, so it changes nothing and directs you back to ER or ETR.

With 1ETR, acceptance and ticketing are one workflow and require a usable form of payment. If payment is missing, the terminal opens the exchange-payment prompt and resumes the same ETR intent after payment is entered.

Some airlines do not support holding an exchange. On those bookings ER refuses the hold rather than silently charging a card, and directs you to the payment-backed ETR flow. Whichever path you use, verify completion from the new ticket numbers on the retrieved order.

Forcing the booking class

The carrier's exchange ladder typically offers only the cheapest brand in each cabin — the fare you actually need may never surface. WP/RBD* names the booking class the reshop must reprice against, one class per bound in bound order:

WP/RBD*J           # Force class J on the exchange quote
WP/RBD*T+R         # Round trip: T outbound, R inbound

This reaches brands the default ladder never shows. When an exchange quote comes back without the fare you know exists — or the change is rejected on availability — try pinning the class before you start shifting dates.

Rolling back

IR                 # Ignore queued changes, re-retrieve the original order

IR is the undo for everything uncommitted: deleted segments, a selected reshop offer, queued seats. It abandons the lot and re-retrieves the order as the airline holds it. There is no partial rollback — IR clears the whole queue, so commit related changes together and unrelated ones separately.

Splitting an order

When one passenger's plans diverge from the rest — one traveler exchanges, the others keep their dates — split them into their own order first:

D1                 # Split passenger 1 into a new order
D                  # Or open the divide picker and check who moves

The split produces a second order with its own ID; each order is then serviced independently. Some airlines accept only one passenger per split operation — split twice rather than once with two.

What varies by carrier

Whether an exchange is offered at all, which brands come back on the ladder, and how residuals are handled all depend on the carrier and on the ticket you hold — its fare rules, and what's already been flown or exchanged. NDCTerm shows you what the airline returns; it doesn't paper over what the airline won't do. Per-carrier servicing status is on Airlines.

Exchange settlement and document verification are covered in Issue and Verify Tickets. To unwind a booking rather than change it, see Cancel, Void, or Refund.