Travel life is good. Travel life can also be frustrating. I’m wondering if I could have done anything differently so as not to have spent $71 more than I did on an American Airlines ticket. Maybe I’m too much of a wishful thinker, and you’ll tell me to forget it and chalk it up to the airfare game, but maybe one of you will teach us all some fantastic ninja trick that will keep this from happening in the future.
I don’t have status with American, so keep that in mind as I lay out my frustration. A few months ago, I purchased a one-way ticket on American Airlines from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to San Diego (SAN). It cost me $339. I’m not sure why I purchased it so far in advance except that because I travel so much, I like to wrap-up itineraries as soon as I know my plans. Maybe this travel habit should change.
Today, I happened to notice the same ticket was $268. In my naive glass-is-half-full state, I called American Airlines thinking I could get a refund. Ya know, the way hotels will change a rate if the prices go down, or the way Southwest Airlines or Alaska Airlines will refund money into your wallet when fares go down?
The AA rep I spoke with said she’d have to charge me a ticket changing fee. She also explained that unless a fare goes down by $200 or more, it usually doesn’t work in one’s favor to change a ticket. I quickly said thanks and ended the call.
I’ve always assumed no two people on a flight are ever paying the same fare, so I don’t ask people about their fares. After all, who wants to hear that someone spent hundreds of dollars less than you did? This frustrating episode got me wondering whether or not there are any ways to keep this from happening again. Or at the very least hedging my bets it won’t happen. Are there websites I should be using to monitor prices, and are there ways to know for certain months, and certain airlines what the average airfares are so I’ll at least have a general sense of price?
It’s not that $71 breaks the bank, but it does buy a few meals while I’m in Florida, and I do feel like a bit of a sap having spent more than I needed to. Any and all ideas from you TWG readers would be helpful because I’m sure someone else out there has overpaid for a ticket and would love to know how to keep from doing that in the future!
subscribe
subscribe
If you have to ask this question you really shouldn’t be blogging about travel on the internet.
shutup troll
Wow 02nz, harsh……but certainly there are lots of other bloggers you can read. Have a great day!
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/airlines/united/today-learned-another-us-airline-airfare-price-drop-policy-roundup-airlines-give-credit-prices-drop-book/
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/how-to-get-refund-when-airfare-price-falls-1273.php
https://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/10846530/these-websites-give-you-refund-if-your-travel-booking-drops-in-price/
I like using The Hopper Tools
https://www.hopper.com/flights/tools/feecalc#.W1CvvDaotaQ
Thanks, Whitney, for the reminder! I wrote about Hopper https://travelwithgrant.boardingarea.com/2017/11/01/do-you-use-the-hopper-app-new-feature-just-added-shelli/ . I’ll look at Hopper again next time I book a fare like this. Have a great day!
Well, I will say that developing a sense for when you are getting the right price is one of the real skills of the game. I find it takes some study. One of the best study tools is Google Flights. When I am even thinking of taking a flight, no matter how far out in the future, I toggle their little switch and set a monitoring alert. Then every so often — but I do mean often — I look at what the fares are doing. It’s like checking your traps. Sometimes you see something you just know you have to jump on. At a minimum, you are harvesting info that is useful as you get toward what I find to be the best buying times (although not necessarily): 6-13 weeks in advance. Google Flights will show you when tickets move up and down, so you’ll pile up a history.
Just remember that when you see a decent fare, pounce. Low fares are often loss-leaders on the search engines — maybe only 1 or 2 per flight.
This is definitely a YMMV things, but once you start talking about tickets where there might be some real “ouch” involved, if you have an Amex Plat card (or even if you don’t), try Amex travel for whatever they call their special fares. (I leave it to you to Google around to get the right terms for this, because sometimes you have to feed them to whoever is on the other end of the phone.) Sometimes the special fares are especially ridiculous, but sometimes they are the same (or even less!) than on the general access sites. There is something like a $39 service fee, but here’s the thing: No change fees. Which means, functionally, you would be paying $39 (purchase) for the opportunity to only spend another $39 (when you make the change, ’cause this is a service fee, not a change fee)… versus the $200 domestic (and $300 international) that are otherwise standard with the airlines.
This might be a good place to remind you of something I often have to remind myself: If I am looking at a ticket at the right time for, say, Europe, I should just buy it. If plans change, sure, it would sting $300 worth, but that sting might be a whole lot less (in the unlikely event it actually occurs) than losing a good seat (factor seat selection into your thinking, especially on long hauls) and seeing the fare for the time (and seat) I want pop up $500 or more. That will happen more often than me changing my mind or plans.
In fact, if I had to name the one thing that differentiates those of us who travel a lot and reasonable net prices from our friends, relatives, and neighbors who say, “What’s the trick for …?”, it’s that these folks are really, really sensible people who know not to book a ticket until they are absolutely, positively sure that they are going, that no one needs them, etc. Consequently, they travel less; and, when they do, they sit in the middle seat next to you at 2x what you paid.
But, you might say — or these folks might say — what if [your important relative goes here] [catastrophic health event goes here]? I’m not going to be the one to say, how important is that relative and how catastrophic is that event if you can measure it on a scales of $200 or $300? No, I am going to be the one who says not to forget to buy these tickets on a Chase card with good trip cancellation insurance (or the Citi Prestige). One more good reason not to pull the trigger early.
Back to your point: You did pull the trigger early, and felt remorse. The only other specific angle I can give you works with AA flights, since they give you a free hold until a minute before midnight Eastern time the next day. In theory (and, yes, I will admit I have done this a few times with big tickets), you can book, see if the fare drops (for darn-near 48 hours, if you make the booking just after midnight), and then open one computer to book the flight again, just after you cancel it out on the other computer. I don’t think this works with other than American, but even after I buy the ticket, I check until midnight the next night to make sure the price hasn’t dropped. If it has, call in then. Not likely, but it has happened, and they just rebook you at the lower fare.
Wow, great comment, BF. Just poured myself an espresso, so let me sift through your advice to make sure I understand it all. Google flights for alerts, got it. Then study price history. I do tend to make some of the same trips each year to see family, so I need to remind myself of fares I’ve paid and fares I’ve seen when booking. Interesting idea on Amex travel. To your point about change fees, I rarely change or cancel a trip, either domestic or overseas, so pouncing on a fare makes sense. Given how much I travel, that’s an amazing stat. Chase or Prestige–my choices as well. Thanks for the reminder for AA. Those 48 hours can make a difference. I appreciate the time you took to comment and hope other people read through these tips. At the end of the day the AA ticket is to see cousins I adore and there’s no price point for that. I sound like one of those TV commercials!