Review the policies and restrictions text that accompanies the airline passenger ticket. Making changes before the first flight may help you avoid incurring steep penalties, and may even reduce overall flight costs. Many airlines charge a standard fee of around one hundred dollars for making changes after the first flight, and often restrict how close to the return flight time this can be done.
Call the airline to submit the airline passenger ticket change request directly to a ticketing agent. Explain your situation in detail so the airline employee can help you avoid extra fees or find you a cheaper ticket on the same route to offsets the penalty charges. Be as flexible with your new travel dates and times as possible to be available for the low price flights.
Provide credit card information to the airline ticketing agent to pay any new charges and secure the new tickets. Give the agent frequent flyer member information or a mailing address if they intend to issue a credit voucher for finding a cheaper flight.
