Purchasing airfare is often a guessing game. You never know if you❻ getting the best deal then and there, or if the airline will launch a sale or reduce prices in the future.
If the fare drops after you book, you might assume you❻ out of luck, but that❼not always the case. Sometimes, you can cash in on the savings even after you❿ booked your ticket.
The U.S. Department of Transportation allows flights to be canceled for free within the first 24 hours of booking. This hold or penalty-free cancellation window applies to flights that originate or end in the U.S. on any airline (as long as the booking was made at least seven days before departure). This rule applies to paid and award tickets booked with miles.
Related: Ultimate guide to canceling a flight and getting a refund with major US airlines
If you purchase a ticket and find it❼on sale a few hours later, you can cancel the old ticket and receive a full refund before booking a new reservation at the lower price.
This is the easiest way to lock in a lower price on an already booked ticket unless the airline will reprice it for you, but it only applies to price changes within 24 hours of booking. However, it❼important to note that if an airline offers a free 24-hour hold, it likely won❽also offer the 24-hour cancellation window.
You❻ subject to varying individual airline policies once you❻ outside the 24-hour free cancellation window, and your next options vary depending on the airline you❻ booked with.
Here❼how major U.S. airlines handle price drops on existing tickets.
Alaska offers a limited price guarantee for tickets purchased online if you find a published price from a third-party site for at least $10 less than you paid (for the same flight) within 24 hours of booking.
In these instances, you can request a refund of the difference. However, canceling your ticket within 24 hours (per DOT requirements) and rebooking it yourself would make more sense and be much more efficient.
After 24 hours, you can still receive a credit if the fare drops, depending on the fare type purchased, because Alaska no longer charges change or cancellation fees for any fare except for saver fares.
If you book one of the more flexible fare classes and the price decreases, you can cancel and receive a travel credit to rebook.
Alaska❼travel credits expire one year from the issue date, but as long as you book within that year, you can book your travel for any time up to 11 months after the expiration date.
Additionally, flights booked solely with Alaska Airlines miles do not incur a fee if canceled. So, if your flight goes down in price, you can always cancel and rebook. However, partner award fees are nonrefundable if you❻ using your miles to book a partner airline.
American Airlines does not charge change or cancellation fees on premium cabin, premium economy or Main Cabin fares. It does charge fees for basic economy fares and some travel originating outside of North and South America.
This means if you booked a flight that falls into the “no change or cancellation fee” category, you can call American to reprice your ticket at the less expensive fare.
For paid fares, the price difference will be given to you as a trip credit that you can use toward a future flight, with the credit expiring one year from the date of issuance. If you purchased a fully refundable fare, you can cancel your flight, receive a full refund to your original form of payment and then rebook at the lower price.
If you booked your flight with AAdvantage miles, you can always get the lower fare price (since basic economy fares aren❽available when using miles). However, the type of award booked will determine the process to go through. American will reprice your fare within the same booking reservation if you purchased a regular award.
If you booked a Web Special award that doesn❽allow voluntary changes, you must cancel the reservation and rebook with the reinstated miles. In my experience, miles return to the account they came from almost instantly.
Depending on the fare type, you can have your ticket repriced within the same reservation if the ticket price decreases the day after you reserve.
There❼no change fee for most tickets originating from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean to anywhere in the world (excluding basic economy). Basic economy flights cost between $99 and $199 to cancel, while flights originating outside of those fee-free regions incur a fee of up to $400.
If your flight is eligible for a free change or cancellation, you can call Delta to reprice the ticketKanpur Investment. For flights that incur a fee, do the math to see if paying a change fee is worth the price difference. For paid fares, the difference in the price will be given to you as an eCredit, which normally expires one year from the date the original flight was purchased.
For flights booked with Delta SkyMiles, as long as your flight is cancellation-eligible (the same rules apply as above), you can reprice your flight. The difference in miles will be redeposited into your account with no fee.
You can still cancel your flight for basic economy reservations but with an associated fee in miles. For those flights, Delta will deduct between 9,900 and 19,900 miles from the amount it redeposits into your account when you cancel.
Unlike many other airlines listed, Frontier Airlines doesn❽offer an ongoing fare type that allows you to cancel for no fee.
Frontier❼fee for canceling a flight is $99 for each direction of travel, so if you find that the price decreased more than the cost to cancel, you can always cancel. You❵ receive a flight credit for the amount paid minus the cancellation fee. You can then use the flight credit to rebook at a lower price as long as you do so within 90 days of receipt (although you can still book for a future date as long as the schedule allows). Flight credits are nontransferable.Ahmedabad Investment
If you purchase the “Works” bundle as an add-on when booking your flight, one of the perks is that your flight is 100% refundable. This means if your flight drops in price, you can cancel and receive a full refund — including the price of the bundle — as a flight credit.
You can then use that credit to book the same flight at a lesser value, and the remaining value expires one year from the issue date. Frontier❼Elite 100K status holders automatically receive the Works bundle at no additional cost on every flight.
You can cancel any Frontier Airlines flight booked with miles, but there❼a $75 redeposit fee for your miles to go back into your account. This fee is waived for Last Seat Award flights.
With the elimination of change and cancellation fees on most fares except Blue Basic fares, repricing your JetBlue flight for less is possible.
As long as you purchase an eligible fare, you can cancel your flight for no fee and rebook with the travel credit you receive. Credits are valid for one year from when the flight was purchased and, unlike some of the other airlines, can be used to book a flight for another passenger.
The same policy applies when using JetBlue TrueBlue points to book a flight, and since it doesn❽offer Blue Basic fares for points reservations, all fares are fully refundable. The taxes and fees paid are returned as a travel credit (almost instantly) but cannot be used in combination with reservations booked with points — leaving you with credits to use for a future reservation.
JetBlue also offers a Best Fare Guarantee against finding a lower fare on a third-party website, though you must find the lower fare the same day you make the reservation. Rather than offering you a refund of the fare difference, the airline provides a $50 credit toward future travel on JetBlue. Note the fare price must be at least $5 less to qualify.
Southwest makes it incredibly easy to see if your flight has gone down in price. Plus, since it has no change or cancellation fees, you can always change your flight to the exact same one you originally booked. You can do this easily online.
If you already purchased EarlyBird Check-In, that benefit will stay intact if you reprice your flight as well.
If you paid for the fare with dollars, you❵ get a credit for the difference in fare price, which you can use toward a future flight. Plus, flight credits no longer expire.
If you paid with Rapid Rewards points and reprice the fare, you❵ receive the point difference back into your account.
The process can be complicated if you have a Companion Pass and have a travel companion❼reservation attached to yours. In this case, you❵ need to cancel your companion, reprice the fare and then add your companion back on.
Spirit Airlines also allows free cancellations if you cancel the flight at least 60 days before departure. If your flight price drops two months out, you can cancel and rebook to get back the exact fare difference.
For flights within the 60-day window, there❼an associated fee, depending on when the flight is canceled. If the price drops when a fee is required, determine whether or not the price difference makes up for the fee amount.
When canceling and rebooking, you❵ receive a reservation credit for the difference in fare, valid for trips booked within 90 days of issuance on any flight available in the system. However, you can always apply credits to bag and seat fees. So if you don❽plan to use the credit for another flight, you can apply it to one of Spirit❼many extra fees.
If you booked with points, there❼always the possibility that the flight has also decreased. However, the cost to cancel an award ticket is $110, so you might not find the fee worth the savings.
Like most other major airlines, United also eliminated change fees for most fare types (except basic economy tickets), which helps if a fare goes down. This includes most economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S. (which includes Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), between the U.S. and Mexico or the Caribbean, and for international travel that originates in the U.S. However, for basic economy tickets, there❼no option to change or cancel your ticket.
United usually allows you to change your flights online, where the amount of credit you❵ receive is clearly displayed. However, the system often does not allow you to modify the trip to the exact same flight and fare online, even if the price has dropped. To take advantage of fare fluctuations, you may need to change to a different flight that day to get a future flight credit. And then, of course, you could theoretically switch back to your original flight or fare if the price is right.
There are also tales of a little-known policy that may allow for a price adjustment within 30 days of purchase, sometimes with a $50 fee attached. So, it doesn❽hurt to ask United if the above method doesn❽work for you if you❿ booked your flight within the last month.
Redeposit fees are also waived for award travel with United for the same eligible fare type and route as paid fares. If your award booking goes down, you can cancel your award reservation without a fee and rebook at the lower price.
There are other ways to get a refund if the cost of your flight decreases after booking, and these will generally work across all carriers, depending on the circumstances.
Although most airlines got rid of their change fees, depending on your route and fare bucket, there might be a high fee to cancel your flight. If your flight doesn❽qualify for free cancellation and the price difference exceeds the change fee, it could be worth making the change and eating the fee.
You might also be entitled to a free cancellation and a refund if your fare doesn❽already qualify for free cancellation. The most common situation is when there❼a significant change to the flight❼schedule. If your flight❼schedule has changed, and you can rebook your ticket for a lower price, cancel the original reservation at no cost if or when you are eligible and receive a refund.
There are a small but increasing number of ways to book your airline tickets that offer a price protection guarantee in certain cases. Google Flights is experimenting with this feature, and the Capital One travel booking site sometimes offers built-in protections.
Air travel almost always involves dynamic pricing based on supply and demand. One person may pay $200 for an economy seat, while the person in the next seat has paid three times that amount.
Sometimes, you❻ stuck with what you paid. Other times, if you❻ unlucky or mistimed the purchase of your ticket and see a significant price drop, you may be able to get some of your money (or miles) back. This all depends on the airline and timeline.
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