Originally Posted by otralot

Airline tickets are different than all examples above. In these examples you have actually used the product or completed the transaction. WIth airline tickets pricing is all over the place. A person buying an X ticket 3 months in advance is assumed to get a better deal then buying a ticket 4 weeksi n advance. That is the hedge (or supposedely). The fact is that airlines really don't work that way anymore and pricing rarely has anything to do with how much it actually costs to get that butt in the seat from point A to B. That's why I could buy a $240 RT BWI/LAX today for a trip 6 days out. I am sure I have paid less the people who bought 3 months out.

If you reward the airlines with your advanced purchase ( yes reward, you have given them cash to operate for a service that actually takes place in the future. How many businesses have that operating model) that is non-refundable if you can't take a flight. The least they can do is give you a refund if the fare goes down because they mispriced demand and fare levels.

I would consider going for the $2.50 refund on prinicple becuase it probably actually costs them more to refund the money. Maybe if enough people do this they'll get the idea.