Price went down after purchase
 

I booked to tickets from MSP to Vail last week through the NWA website for $277 each, which seemed like a good deal at the time. I check prices today for a friend that is also going to vail and the price was down to $250 on the website ($316 if you call reservations). Is there any chance that I can call NWA and receive a credit for the drop in price since I booked my tickets.
Thanks

Gary

You'll be able to get the difference given to you as an MCO (Misc. Charge Order) you can use this on future NW travel. To the best of my knowledge there is no way to receive a refund per se.

You can e-mail nwa.com online support to address this issue. They normally respond within 24hrs. They will check the change of the fare. If the fare really came down, you will get a voucher worth the difference.

Last time they gave me a $7 voucher, which I think is going to be waste. Becasue it can't be redeemed online.

Good luck!

I have gotten MCOs for lowered fares before, but note that the old as well as the new fares need to be standard published fares for the exact same routing/time/flights. If either of the fares involve some web-sale or e-certificate, you won't receive the difference credit.

Could the pros on this process with NW elaborate for those of us who have not gone through a refaring of a NW webonly fare?

For example, United webfares can be refared to a lower United webfare only through calling the United webfare support line, not the normal rez line. AA webfares apparently contain a provision preventing refaring. (Not addressing published fares here. Published fares can be refared by regular rez phone agents on all the airlines.)

Does the NW website have a support line to call to refare? Do you call customer relations? All this has to happen pretty promptly because the refaring requires the seat to be available on the exact flights and dates. Advice appreciated.

The sale you are talking about is definately a webfare. Reference code PE433, "Fly to premier ski destinations". NW with it's Minnesota Monopoly decided to jack the prices by $50 - JFK-ASE is cheaper then originating in MSP!

[This message has been edited by TimCLE (edited 12-21-2001).]

IME, any NW web fare that shows the yellow star indicating a sale/deal/e-cert is not fair game for refaring. Is this what you refer to as a web-only fare, Warrenlm? If so, then you won't be able to recoup the difference.

I called NW and the changed my fare to the lower fare. However, I do not get a refund, only vouchers for future travel.

Gary Rupp

That's good to hear. 27 bucks is 27 bucks, and the last I heard, that's what a burger and beer will set you back at Vail. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

You can get a refund for the difference of the fair though there is a 100 USD processing fee.

This really surprises me! As Northwest is my primary airline I've had many an occasion to have my ticket re-issued at the lower fare. Every time they've re-issued the ticket and credited the difference back to my Amex as long as I didn't change anything about the ticket. They've not re-issued the same purchase more than once! They'll only give you one re-issue per ticket, then your out of luck.

There is a web technical assistance 800 number that you can get from the WP reservation agent. Call them and ask them to adjust your fare. Works for me!

Let us know the results. I'm really curious.

Tom

Having been living in Western Romania for the past 7 or 8 years, buying a ticket from the the U.S. is a new experience for me. My tickets have always been purchased in Budapest on KL stock. There, we are allowed to make a reservation 11 monthes in advance to get the low fares, then KL will hold the reservation up to 48hrs before the flight. This would give the pax incredible flexability, but no experience with fares going down after the ticket was issued. I would always wait until the 48hrs before to commit and thus have my ticket issued. Now I'm back in the States and I need to purchase some tickets for Feb. and March. If I purchase now, and the fares go down before I fly, will nw send me the difference in travel vouchers??????? This seems almost as incredible as the game we played in Bud (having KL hold our reservations up intil the very end without any commitment from us). Also, I have two unrelated questions, so being quite new to this, I hope I'm not blowing it by not starting a new post. First, is there somewhere where I can find all the airport codes listed? Second, can I somehow see on my computer the booking classes available for a particular flight, or is this info only for the travel agents and airlines??? Thanks Craig

Craig,

I'll give it a shot. Nowhere near as sweet as your old KL deal, but the MCO voucher for the difference when a fare drops is a fine thing. Some things I have learned:

1. If you buy tickets at a published fare from phone, web or City Ticket Office, and the published fare drops, you can recieve a Misc Change Order good for future travel. Original route, date, flight numbers must be identical to the new lower fare's ones.

2. If your fare was a special deal, such as web-only special or electronic certificate you aren't eligible for the refund if the published regular fare drops lower.

3. Conversely, if your original fare was a regular published fare, and the new fare is a web-only deal or e-cert (on NW site, these get a gold star degination), you aren't eligible for the refund.

4. IME, NW won't automatically refund the difference if the fare goes down. (I don't work through travel agents, so don't know if this is a service they offer to their clients.) I have had to check the site daily and act quickly to secure the MCOs, as sometimes a fare will dip only for one day or part of a day. Call the customer service number and confirm the reduced fare for your ticket. They will then either credit your CCard or mail the MCO if you have an e-ticket. Holding a paper ticket requires it to be reissued at a CTO or airport.

5. Unfortunately I don't know of any way to use an MCO against a future online reservation to earn online booking bonuses. You need to deal with the phone rez agent, and either mail in the MCO or take it to the CTO to complete the ticket purchase.

Hope this helps.

For airport codes, I like:

http://www.airportcitycodes.com/aaa/CCDBFrame.html

And for booking class codes for a particular flight, I look at

http://www.itn.com

Where you need to sign up, then change your preferences to 'Expert'. Then, when you make a flight inquiry the classes and availability will show up, using a 0-9 designation, where 9 means 9 or more.

Also search for 'ITN' for more info on its uses and limitations.

T2

Believe it or not, the price dropped by another $25 today to $227 round trip. So I called NWA and they refared my tickets and will be issuing me another $25 voucher. I have not looked closely at the fine print on the MCO voucher, but does anyone know if they can be used by another person. My mother is going to Seattle this winter and I thought I might let her use them to pay for part of her trip.

Thanks
Gary Rupp

Cool. You can upgrade to a cheeseburger and imported beer. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

MCOs may be transferred once to another person. And unlike most vouchers given for bumping/voluntary denied boarding, the MCOs can be pooled and used against one ticket.