Get A Refund On Airfare Price Drops With Yapta
I just saw a blurb on TV about a new site called Yapta, or Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant. On the surface, it’s just another airfare price tracker that can be found on sites like Travelocity.
But, if you’ve already purchased your ticket, you can enter your confirmation code and Yapta will then track prices on that flight and alert you if the price drops. Why is this good?
Did you know you could get a refund or travel credit when prices drop after you.ve bought a ticket? Most people don’t. The airlines offer this policy only if you buy on the airline website (and they want you to have the confidence to buy early). Yapta alerts people when prices drop so they can get these refunds and credits from the airlines.
This is a good reminder not to buy on sites like Orbitz unless they truly have the best price after fees. It’s usually cheaper or the same price to buy directly on the airline website, and you might even get this price drop protection.
I think the refund is often in the form of a voucher good on a future flight on the same airline, but it’s still worth a shot. Currently, it works on Alaska, America West, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, Southwest, and US Airways.
Find more in Frugal Living | 5/22/07, 1:55pm | Trackback
May 22nd, 2007 at 2:48 pm
YAPTA must have just started a big marketing blitz — there’s a story on it in today’s Wall Street Journal, Personal Journal section. I gave YAPTA a try just now — want to make sure I’m not overpaying for a flight to the East Coast!
May 22nd, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I just saw this on northwest cable news, kinda related, Yapta’s building catches on fire, 1.1 million damage
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.....115632.asp
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:00 pm
If these airlines truly have this policy of refunding the price difference, they sure don’t advertise it. Has anyone actually read about this policy anywhere on the airlines’ websites? Thanks for posting a link.
May 22nd, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Got a refund of the price difference in the form of a voucher from Northwest about a year ago. However, it is issued as a Northwest e-certificate IN THE PASSENGER’S NAME only. We purchased a ticket for my brother in-law. A week later the price dropped $75, so we got a voucher for $75 off future travel, but it can only be used for a ticket for my brother-in-law since he was the original passenger.
May 22nd, 2007 at 9:08 pm
I tried to get a refund for a $50 drop in price the day after I purchased a ticket on delta.com. They wouldn’t give it to me.
Anyways, I ended up canceling my ticket for a full refund for free, and just re-purchased it at the lower fare. Delta does have a 24 hour cancellation policy with full refund when you buy the ticket directly through them (website / phone).
May 23rd, 2007 at 7:12 am
Thank you for the post. Price drop is happened to me all the time, but I never realized that this policy exist!!!
May 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Thanks for the head’s up! My wife and I just bought airline tickets to Barcelona for a fall cruise! (it’s our belated Honeymoon
… )
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:11 am
Got $85 travel voucher back after seeing this! Thank you!
May 23rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
It works on Southwest. Actually, what I have done in the past is cancel my flight, then rebook with the new price. You then get a credit for the difference, and it doesn’t have to be used on the same passenger.
May 27th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Just got a $32 credit by doing this with my southwest flight – I love this site!!
June 2nd, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Please let me know if the airfare from ewr to aua on November5-10 goes down on continental.
July 2nd, 2007 at 7:46 am
I remembered reading about this somewhere and so when I Googled it, I found your blog. I just purchased airfare on Southwest and I’m using the tracking feature to have them alert me of a price drop. I’m also watching potential airfare that I’d like to purchase. What a great service! Thanks for info. – it might save me some moolah!
November 6th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I purchased a ticket on AA less than 18 hrs. ago. The ticket price went down $40. I called American and ask for a voucher, refund or anything. The ticketing lady refused, said I would have to pay a $150 change fee or if I booked on the wrong day they would change with no charge, but I could not re-book the ticket on the same flying dates on at least one of the legs of the flight!
Thats American Airlines for you!!!
November 13th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
[...] My Money Blog just discovered a new site, Yapta, that helps you get a refund if there’s a price drop after you purchased your airline tickets. [...]
February 19th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
i tried using yapta but it doesnt list southwest as an option
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:33 am
two years ago the price dropped on some NWA tickets and they issued me vouchers for over $500.00 good for a year.
Today the price on my tickets also dropped BUT now NWA makes you cancel and rebook the old reservation on the same flight and you incur a $150.00 “administrative fee” for cancelling the old reservation. They will not jus issue you the vouchers as in the past.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
From Yapta: “If the price of a ticket continues to drop you may be eligible for an additional voucher or credit. Keep in mind that the drop in airfare must be greater than the airlines re-booking fee”. The problem is that most airline re-booking fees are $150-200 so unless the ticket price drops more than that, no refund!
November 10th, 2011 at 11:10 am
Just called delta about flight being lower and avail. and ran into the same situation as someone else that yes you can rebuy at the lower price but you are paying a $150 rebooking fee for downgrading the fair. Urgggggggggh! It would have only given me $102 back because it was 3 tickets, so could not do it.