YAPTA and Airline Price Decreases

[bonniejoy03]

I input my latest trip on YAPTA and found the price had come down. Less than a year ago when this happened, I could notify the airline and receive a credit. This time, I called AA and they said the difference (or decrease) has to be at least $100 because there is a $100 penalty to redo the ticket? They were very kind and I explained that Less than a year ago my credit card was automatically credited for the decrease price a few times and all times the decrease was less than $100. They said the policy had changed. Has anyone else run across this?



AND...who would have believed my ticket went down in price!!!! (only $30 but still it decreased!)

[thepiranha]

I've had the same experience with airline tickets that I had purchased. As a matter of habit, I call the airlines once or twice after I've already purchased my tickets to see if the price has gone down, especially if I notice that the airline is having a sale on tickets. Once or twice in the past the prices had gone down and I was reimbursed, but now the airlines will reimburse you only if the decrease is more than $100, which seldom happens. This is just another way to sqeeze every last cent out of travelers. It goes along with charging for a meal or a second bag and the new surcharge on window and aisle seats. Pretty soon they'll be charging us for air to breathe.

[bonniejoy03]

OK. I think I have it figured out! I checked YAPTA again and it said that my price would have to go down over $100 to be reimbursed. That was great of Yapta to add that message. They knew before me!!! Its funny but my other two trips have price unavailable listed. (still can't figure that one out!)



Then, the issue with seats. I have all my seats picked but just for fun I looked at the seat map if I was to change my seat. They have a few different color combinations. Open, Filled, and now a premium seat which looks like the aisle seat towards the front of the plane. Isn't this crazy! I'm glad that I have all my aisle seats towards the front picked out already. Passengers are going to think we are "fancy folk" for having such great seats! (hehaha..that was sarcastic!)

[Mountie]

bonniejoy03, I still input my trips into YAPTA, but because of the increased change fees charge by most airlines, I am not really benefiting from fare reductions. Most airlines charge $75 to $100 as a change fee and I haven't seen any of my trip faresdrop enough to cover the change fees. YAPTA was a great tool and I save money on several trips before the airlines decided to increase their fee structures.

[bonniejoy03]

Hi Mountie. Same feelings here. I didn't realize that the fees increased! I have booked so many tickets in advance (up to Feb 09) in order to secure my price. (its almost like my own personal investment strategy!! As opposed to investing in stocks or gold, I am investing in airline tickets...sick isn't it!) Wouldn't you know that my Feb 09 ticket actually went down by $30 for a few days! No big deal but it still beat the odds of fares going up. On all my other tickets, I am ahead of the game. Maybe airline tickets will become a commodity traded on the exchanges!

[CMDAVILACLI]

funny comment, bonniejoy03, about "investing in airline tickets" ! Isn't that the truth! I have been trying to find a place to take my 21 year old daughter and her best friend for a brief stay somewhere fun in August. I originally thought about taking them to New Orleans. The hotels are insanely cheap during August (exactly - who want's to go to N.O. when it's super hot/muggy). I thought we'd tour in the morning while it's still cool, lounge away the afternoon, and then hit the jazz clubs in the evening. Great idea... EXCEPT, I cannnot find a plane ticket under $450.00 to save my life - and of course, no way to use my frequent flier miles unless I want to use double the amount (50,000 miles each) to secure the seats.



The price of airline tickets here in the States are going up and up and up. Normally I can pay around $280 RT to go from Seattle to Boston or Orlando (IE all the way across the country)... but my last two flights were over $400.00 each and at really crummy times and I'm sitting in the back of the plane!



I'm afraid that the days of "hopping on a plane" to take a short vacation are drawing to an end. I've been searching for anywhere sunnyand interestingin the USA to take the girls and am coming up blank because the airfares are so high! I'm wondering when the tourism industry is going to start balking over these high prices and put some pressure on the government to figure out a way to make airline travel more affordable (ie: whats up with oil prices)

cmdavilacli