On Sunday, August 30, 2020, United Airlines said that it was “permanently getting rid of change fees” on standard economy and premium tickets for travel within the United States. The fee had been $200. Its chief executive, Scott Kirby, said that getting rid of it was “often the top request” from customers. Delta and American Airlines did the same the next day. Delta excluded its Basic Economy tickets.
Rain Check
A rain check was first a ticket. If a baseball game was rained out, it was good for a later game. Around 1889 teams began to use a stub on the original ticket instead. The term was in use by 1877. Today it means a promise to accept an offer at a later time: “Can I take a rain check?”
Baseball still works this way. A rained-out game is played on another date, sometimes as one game of a doubleheader. The Detroit Tigers tell their fans: “If a game is postponed due to a rainout, PLEASE HOLD ON TO YOUR TICKET!”
Can We Push This?
Can we push this to next week? — Can we move the meeting to a later date?
Something came up. — A more pressing matter needs my time. No details are expected.
I need to bump our call. — I have to move our call.
Does Thursday work instead? — The new date is offered together with the cancellation.
Sorry for the late notice. — The apology is for the short notice, not for the change.
No worries! — The usual answer. No offense was taken.