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How FareDropped helped Shaun save $700 during his trip to Europe.

We love a dramatic customer-service story—when it has a happy ending.

Shaun’s adventure to Europe—a long-awaited trip to see one of his very favorite singers, Ryan McMullan, in Belfast, Ireland—was going perfectly. Until, it wasn’t.

Shaun had just seen an amazing concert and even had a chance to chat with Ryan McMullan—one of his favorite musicians of all time—back stage after the show.

Backstage: Ryan McMullan and Shaun, a longtime fan, at peak happiness during his trip.

Covid disrupted Shaun’s plans

Shaun was flying high, until a couple of days later, when his trip began to go sideways.

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 was just starting to sweep across Europe. And Denmark, the next country on Shaun’s itinerary, had implemented tight travel restrictions.

Shaun wanted to come home to the United States ahead of schedule.

Good news: Shaun was booked to fly home on Icelandair, which, like many airlines around the world, was—and still is—waiving change and cancellation fees. This meant that Shaun should have been able to simply change the date of his flight, with no fee.

More good news: the price of the new flights Shaun wanted was exactly the same as his original flights. So it should have been very easy to simply switch to the new itinerary.

But then, the friendly Icelandair reservations agent noticed a problem.

Shaun had booked his ticket through an online travel agency.

And then came—you knew it was coming—the bad news.

“Oh, I see you booked your ticket through an online travel agency. You need to contact them directly to make any changes.”

Icelandair customer service representative

Shaun called GoToGate, the online travel agency where he had booked his Icelandair ticket. Shaun was placed on an extremely long hold. He waited. And waited. And, waited.

Surprising no one, waiting on hold and listening to subpar stock music was not how Shaun had intended to spend the final days of his vacation.

Still on vacation, Shaun was trying to enjoy the last few days of his abbreviated trip. Waiting on hold for over an hour with his online travel agency wasn’t helping. On the contrary, it was causing a lot of stress.

Shaun mentioned his travel troubles to FareDropped, where we are developing a new travel-advocacy service for our members. (This is an invitation-only trial at the moment; you can join the waitlist here.)

FareDropped took over the time-consuming project of trying to get in touch with GoToGate via email and phone.

We kept Shaun in the loop—and on carbon copy. And we documented our efforts to reach the online travel agency on Shaun’s behalf.

When we could not get through to GoToGate after several attempts, and hours on hold, FareDropped drafted a dispute for Shaun to file with his credit card company.

Shaun’s credit card company researched the transaction, reviewed the dispute and ruled in Shaun’s favor, reversing the $700 charge.

Shaun booked a new ticket home. This time, he booked directly with the airline.

Shaun’s stressful travel experience underscores one of FareDropped’s most important tips: Whenever possible, book directly with the airline.

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How Patrick and Fran saved $330— after they booked their flights.

Patrick and Fran’s savings on their trip to Guatemala is a perfect example of how FareDropped works. (FareDropped works great for domestic and international itineraries!)

In 2021, Patrick and Fran booked roundtrip flights from Washington, DC to Guatemala City, Guatemala for early 2022. 

Pat signed up for a free trial of FareDropped and we began monitoring the price of Pat and Fran’s round-trip flights.

Weeks after they’d booked the tickets, FareDropped alerted Pat and Fran that the same exact flights and seats had dropped by $165 a piece—$330 for their two tickets.

Pat and Fran asked us to take care of making the changes with Delta Air Lines.

Fran and Pat’s flights, dates of travel and seats remained exactly the same as the original booking. The only thing that changed—for the better—was the price.

Fran and Pat received a $330 credit—$165 a piece—to their original form of payment. (Usually, based on airline rules, FareDropped helps obtain vouchers, but in this case Fran and Pat were eligible for a refund!)

Hours after we secured Pat and Fran’s refund for them, the price of the tickets increased to even more than their original ticket price. That’s why it’s important to act fast when we let you that your fare has dropped.

We’d like to show you how easy it is to stop overpaying for flights. Sign up for a free trial and, when you’re ready, email us your upcoming flights.

Let’s start saving on airfare together!

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See how Jenna (and BUG, her cat) saved $170 on their flight from LA to Boston.

Jenna, a working actor and actor-advocate who lives in Los Angeles, booked a one-way ticket from Los Angeles to Boston to go home for the holidays in 2021.

Jenna heard about FareDropped from a friend and signed up for a free trial shortly after booking her flight.

She forwarded her confirmation email from the airline and completely forgot that FareDropped was working on her behalf in the background.

Until one week later—when she got an email from us telling her that the price of her flight had dropped by $170, nearly 30 percent of the original price of her ticket.

“I booked so close to the day I was traveling that I really didn’t think there was any chance I was going to save money. But, this was a free trial and there was no risk.”

FareDropped let Jenna know about the price change and how to get her credit.

As a busy actor and entrepreneur, Jenna asked FareDropped to help claim her credit for her flight, which she had booked using a combination of cash and credit-card-rewards points.

Also traveling with Jenna was her adorable cat BUG.

BUG, in an undated photo, strikes a sultry pose. Look at those eyes. 😍

Anyone who has a pet will understand Jenna’s most important priority when it came to her reservation:

“It was really important to me that I kept my original seat assignment so that my partner and I were seated together so we could both take care of Bug on our cross-country trek.”

The good news? That’s exactly what FareDropped does.

We look for the same exact class of service, the same seat assignment, and the same airline “extras”—like pet fees and pre-purchased seat upgrades or meals that you’ve paid in advance —to make sure that the only thing that ever changes is the price.

FareDropped stepped in on Jenna’s behalf and her airline issued a credit via email for $170.

“I was really surprised that my ticket price went down in the first place and even more pleased that FareDropped took care of everything for me. It was completely seamless.”

Jenna and her partner, Matt, have already used their travel credit to book round-trip tickets to one of our favorite beach destinations: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

And, after using the voucher Jenna obtained through FareDropped—and a voucher that Matt had from a previous trip—Jenna and Matt ended up paying only $30.64 for their two tickets. Now, that’s a FareDropped win! 🙌🏽

Are you ready to try FareDropped for free?

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Are you an actor? Check out Jenna’s advocacy work at her awesome organization Actors Rise, where you can sign up for her weekly newsletter for those in the business.

Quick travel tip: Book directly with the airline.

The Covid-19 pandemic has upended a lot of things about the travel industry. And airlines, in particular, are still working out how to entice travelers to book seats on their planes.

One of the most consumer-friendly developments is that major airlines have eliminated change and cancellation fees.

After all, who wants to pay for a flight only to find that it’s completely worthless if you need to change your travel dates because a global pandemic upended your plans.

That’s great news for consumers. It means we can book travel today and, if our plans change next week or next month, we can:

  • change our travel dates, or
  • cancel our flights and get a voucher that we can use when we’re ready to fly

But a lot of online travel agencies have not waived fees.

This is all great news—unless you booked your flight through one of many online travel agencies who have not waived their fees.

Take the example of FareDropped member Shaun, who had booked a one-way flight home from Europe to Chicago on IcelandAir through the online travel agency GoToGate.

(You’ve probably seen this online travel agency show up in your results if you’ve ever searched for flights through a travel search engine like Kayak or Google Flights.)

Long story medium, Shaun had to cut his trip short because of the Covid outbreak—and subsequent travel restrictions—in northern Europe.

The good news: IcelandAir had waived all change and cancellation fees (which used to start at $250).

The bad news: Since he had booked through an online travel agency, he had to make all changes through GoToGate. And they were not waiving their change fees or their ticket cancellation policies. (They also weren’t picking up the phone.)

The online travel agency was charging:

  • A $50 fee just to get access to a customer service agent who could make a change
  • Another $250 change fee to actually make a change

Outrageous? Absolutely.

There are a number of other benefits that come with booking directly through your airline, including priority re-booking if your flight is delayed or canceled.

These days, airlines almost always offer the same exact price that you would pay through the most common and reputable online travel agencies, ultimately saving you money, hassle and time.

In summary: when you can, book directly with the airline.

We suggest using a travel search engine—like Kayak or Google Flights—which compare different fares for you. And then book directly with the airline that has the best flights that suit your needs.

And be sure to sign up for a free trial of FareDropped, so if the price of your ticket falls after you book your ticket, we can help you get a voucher from your airline.

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The rules of air fare have changed — in your favor.

Did you know you can save money after you’ve booked a flight?

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused airlines around the world to rethink their approach to their long-standard “change and cancellation fees.”

You know, those pesky, arbitrary fees that airlines used to charge you every time you wanted to make a change to your ticket.

In the past, if airfare prices dropped after you’d paid for your ticket, it didn’t matter much. If you tried to get the better price, airlines would impose a hefty change fee (often hundreds of dollars), which would reduce or wipe out any savings.

Beginning in 2020, as a result of Covid, airlines dramatically revised their change and cancellation policies, largely eliminating these once-onerous fees that limited or eliminated flexibility.

Why such a major change to benefit customers?

Don’t worry–it’s not some mind-blowing altruistic shift over at the airlines. It’s because the new relaxed policies benefit them, too.

There is a lot of uncertainty these days when it comes to booking travel, including government travel restrictions that can change overnight–even while you are in the middle of a trip.

In the “before” times, prior to Covid, demand for travel was steady and airlines could get away with either outright refusing to offer refunds to passengers or charging hefty “change” fees that cost hundreds of dollars.

But airlines have seats to fill. And they’ve had to find ways to encourage customers to book flights when travelers know that their plans could change unexpectedly and for reasons beyond their own control.

Uncertainty is not good for business.

So, one way many airlines have shored up consumer confidence is by eliminating change and cancellation fees.

So what happens now when fares drop after I’ve booked?

In most cases these days, you are entitled to a credit from the airline for the full difference in the old vs. new cost of the ticket–in the form of a travel credit for future travel.

Of course, every airline has a slightly different process for obtaining a refund and different rules based on the type of fare that you’ve purchased.

For example, starting in 2022, a “main cabin” ticket on Delta Air Lines will be eligible for a credit, but a “basic economy” ticket will no longer qualify. Last year, even tickets booked in basic economy are eligible for fee-free changes.

Did your eyes just glaze over? If so, please keep reading.

It’s a lot to keep up with. The good news is that you don’t have to do the work.

Our free service, FareDropped, keeps track of airline policies for you, tracks your flights, alerts you when your flight has decreased in price and then helps you get a credit for the difference.

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Our blog here at FareDropped aims to educate you about how to make smarter decisions that can ultimately save you money–and sanity–when it comes to booking air travel.

And our FareDropped service–free for new users–works to get you money back if the price of your flight drops after you’ve booked.

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