Airlines will usually stop at nothing to squeeze every penny from you when you book to fly with them. But there’s one person who can force their hand and encourage them to scrap change fees for passengers: Ms. Taylor Alison Swift.
The “New Romantics” singer has been in Argentina this weekend kicking off the international leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour. However, after playing one show at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Swift was forced to reschedule her second show in the city following “truly chaotic” weather that meant the stadium was “unsafe,” Swift said on social media.
As a result, she pushed Friday’s show back to Sunday (November 12) leaving many fans scrambling for new flights and hotels to ensure they could still make the hottest ticket in town. Fans that were frantically looking for new flights then learned that Chilean carrier LATAM Airlines had decided to waive its change fees for anyone affected by the rescheduled show, according to CNBC News.
The airline announced on Saturday (November 11) that it was waiving both ticket-change fees and differences in fare charges for anyone hoping to rebook their flights for departures up until November 17th. The move came after Swift rescheduled the show, which would have seen as many as 80,000 Swifties descend on the Argentine capital. As CNBC reports:
The Chile account of LATAM Airlines, the largest carrier in South America, reached out to customers on X: “#AttentionSwifties: we know your planes changed so starting today we are updating our flexibility policy for those with flights from Buenos Aires” for Saturday or Sunday.
Some customers complained to LATAM on social media, however, that they were having trouble finding seats and that the carrier told them about the waiver too late. The airline didn’t immediately comment on whether it is adding additional flights.
While the move was welcomed by some, it doesn’t appear to be a permanent change to the airline’s policy. What’s more, it also didn’t apply to every flight operated by every airline this weekend. Maybe after Swift kicked off the idea of change, lawmakers and people in power could actually step in and help travelers out?
Until that happens, we’ll just be watching to see what mass transit Swift can revolutionize next. After boosting train ridership in America with the Eras Tour, maybe she’ll give ferries a boost when she plays in Sydney, or will bike riding be saved when she hits the Netherlands next year?
Oh wait, bike riding in the Netherlands is already as perfect as 1989 (Taylor’s Version).