A change in dates offered as an alternative (7)
I believe the answer is:
instead
'as an alternative' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'a change in dates' is the wordplay.
'a change' is an anagram indicator.
'in'+'dates'='indates'
'indates' anagrammed gives 'INSTEAD'.
'offered' is the link.
(Other definitions for instead that I've seen before include "Stained (anag)" , "As a substitute" , "use this as a replacement" , "Rather - detains (anag)" , "for a change" .)