Free Qantas flight and ticket changes on the day of purchase

Qantas passengers can now make free booking changes to their tickets on the day of purchase under the new "same day no mistake" offer.

Up until midnight on the day you book, the airline will waive service and change fees if you make a mistake.

Allowed changes include:

• correcting a misspelling of your name
• changing to a different flight
• changing your departure and arrival airpots
• changing fare type (booking class) or cabin class

The same day no mistake policy is valid on all bookings through Qantas' own website made within Australia, and you can make changes up until midnight local time at the place of booking, a Qantas spokeswoman confirmed to Australian Business Traveller.

Just ring up Qantas' call centre on 13 13 13 with your booking number to make changes.

You'll pay any differences in fares -- you can't, for example, book the cheapest ticket in the middle of the afternoon on a Wednesday and then swap it for a Monday morning rush hour flight.

Previously, Qantas offered to correct mistakes in certain circumstances, but it wasn't especially predictable whether your own particular ticket would fall into the right bands.

It's great to see the new policy published, given the mental auto-pilot that often comes with booking regular flights.

For more information, and the full terms and conditions, head over to Qantas' "Same day no mistake" page.

John Walton

Aviation journalist and travel columnist John took his first long-haul flight when he was eight weeks old and hasn't looked back since. Well, except when facing rearwards in business class.