Is it possible to get a credit for a price drop *after* 24hrs?
Aug 12, 2011, 10:30 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: IAH, BKK
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Posts: 27
Is it possible to get a credit for a price drop *after* 24hrs?
Noob question, I know, but...
I booked a flight IAH-DEN and the price went from $158 -> $210 -> $186 in the span of <24 hours. I didn't check back until earlier today (within a week of the original booking and flight is a month away) and guess what? All the flights between IAH-DEN are back to $158. Any way to get the difference?
Would an online travel agent like Orbitz have been better? Who has the best "Best Price Guarantee"?
I booked a flight IAH-DEN and the price went from $158 -> $210 -> $186 in the span of <24 hours. I didn't check back until earlier today (within a week of the original booking and flight is a month away) and guess what? All the flights between IAH-DEN are back to $158. Any way to get the difference?
Would an online travel agent like Orbitz have been better? Who has the best "Best Price Guarantee"?
Aug 12, 2011, 10:38 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: DL Diamond, UA 1K MM, SPG Plat For Life, Marriott Plat, Nexus/GlobalEntry
Posts: 9,198
Welcome to FT!
You can always request a price adjustment, however you'd have to pay the $150 service fee to get it. So in this case it's not worthwhile. Years ago UA offered free price adjustments but that perk disappeared.
You can always request a price adjustment, however you'd have to pay the $150 service fee to get it. So in this case it's not worthwhile. Years ago UA offered free price adjustments but that perk disappeared.
Aug 12, 2011, 10:41 am
#3
Moderator: United Airlines
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Welcome to FT!, kjohn
For most airlines after 24 hr will not do re-faring without fees. AS and B6 still do and UA did but changed 2 years ago (Yapta effect?)
For most airlines after 24 hr will not do re-faring without fees. AS and B6 still do and UA did but changed 2 years ago (Yapta effect?)
Aug 12, 2011, 11:13 am
#4
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Aug 12, 2011, 11:22 am
#5
Moderator: United Airlines
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Aug 12, 2011, 11:44 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: IAH, BKK
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Posts: 27
I was told it can be done anytime within 30 days for a $50 processing fee.. hence, if you're not getting more than $50 back, it's not worth it.
Aug 12, 2011, 4:16 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 36
Here's an example of how unlikely it is that this will happen. I once went to a conference where about 15 of my colleagues would also be attending. We were going to BZN, so there weren't many options, and in theory, we all had the same time constraints. 3 of us wound up on the same flight over, and 4 of us wound up on the same flight back. Nobody had the same flights as I did in both directions, and if they did, I'd only get a refund if they found a better fare, used Orbitz, and booked after I did.
Aug 12, 2011, 4:33 pm
#8
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CA
Programs: AA-EXP, National Exec. Elite, Hilton Gold, GE
Posts: 323
Because of WN's no-change-fee policy, I felt comfortable booking a year's worth of travel in advance w/o worrying about future price drops, and the policy really does come in handy. However, it does come at a price since their fares are a bit pricier than UA S/T/K/L most times.
Aug 12, 2011, 9:04 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Aug 13, 2011, 9:00 am
#10
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Aug 13, 2011, 4:01 pm
#11
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: United 1K (1 Million Miler)/ SPG Lifetime- Plat-
Posts: 281
So the obvious question is... with this benefit gone, why buy on United.com anymore?
Aug 13, 2011, 7:48 pm
#12
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Aug 13, 2011, 8:01 pm
#13
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9630/5.0.0.591 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)
The WN pricing structure is really no different than any other airline. They use random letters assigned to various numbers just like everyone else. Is there really any legitimate difference between "Wanna get away" and "Deep-discount economy" when all is said and done??
The WN pricing structure is really no different than any other airline. They use random letters assigned to various numbers just like everyone else. Is there really any legitimate difference between "Wanna get away" and "Deep-discount economy" when all is said and done??
Aug 14, 2011, 10:21 am
#15
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: IAD
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Don't know where you heard this, but it's not true. You can request a price adjustment anytime, but for a nonrefundable ticket, first you're going to pay a $150 change fee for a domestic ticket or $250 for an international one. Not usually anything left after those fees to refund.