Last month I discussed how I purchase airline tickets and how I select my seats. That newsletter generated a lot of questions, the 2 most common were:
1) "What if I want to cancel my flight after I paid for my ticket?"
If you want cancel your flight within 24 hours of making a reservation the United States Department of Transportation requires airlines operating flights within or to the United States to refund your payment. This only applies if you made your reservation more than seven days in advance of your departure directly with the airline. That’s the good news.
If you want to cancel or change your flight after the 24 hour “grace period” you will be subject to the rules and fees of the ticket you purchased, which may differ from carrier to carrier. It’s all in the fine print.
2) "What if the price goes down after I have purchased my ticket, can I get a refund?"
The short answer is “maybe” and will also be subject to the rules and fees of the ticket purchased, which may differ from carrier to carrier.
Additionally, checking prices manually can be time consuming and frustrating, but don’t worry, “there is an app for that”. I use a website to track my trips called Yapta.
After purchasing my ticket I enter my flight details on Yapta (
https://my.yapta.com
). It is easy to set up an account following the prompts on the home page and then you just need to enter your flight details. Yapta will alert you, through text and email, if the price of your flight drops below what you have paid, including any airline change fees.
Until next time,
Dr G
