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Dirty Little Secrets: the airlines

USA - CIRCA 1947 Skymaster

You just grabbed the bump, and you’ve got your palms around that voucher for $300. You stuff it into your handbag, knowing that the flight they switched you too will get you in only 15 minutes after you were scheduled to arrive anyway (and with airport delays, you could even get in SOONER). You feel like you’ve SCORED!

What the airlines DON’T want you to know is that you could have gotten a hell of a lot more than the equivalent of a RT flight from NY to MIA in the middle of the summer. Here are five dirty little secrets the airlines don’t want you to know.

1. Hand over the CASH $$$$

Money in the jeans pocket

 

You may have thought you’ve scored a free trip, but did you know that by law you’re entitled to the CASH (along with the zero fare ticket to your destination) and not just a voucher if the airline has overbooked your trip? That’s right….agree to be bumped and you could walk away with up to $1300. According to Airconsumer, passengers who are bumped from overbooked flights are entitled to $650/$1,300 or 200%/400% of the one-way fare, whichever happens to be smaller. Oh, and if you’ve booked your flight with frequent flier miles, you’re STILL entitled to the money and a zero fare ticket to your destination.

2. Cancel a nonrefundable flight

boarding card

You may THINK that you’re locked in, but you can get a FULL refund if you cancel your booking within 24 hours of making it as long as you book DIRECTLY with that airline and not a third party booking site. There are some exceptions to this rule, for example American Airlines allows you to HOLD a ticket without booking in lieu of that 24 hr cancellation, and some of the LARGE third party sites (like Expedia) will allow you to cancel within the 24 hr period.

3. Tues/Whensday – booking a cheap flight

Book airplane tickets

While I’ve read LOTS of articles stating that Tuesday & Wednesday are the BEST days to book flights, it’s actually NOT always the case. You WILL find that those days may be the cheapest days to FLY (as well as Saturday), but not necessarily the best days to book.

4. Toss your cookies

heart shaped shortbread valentine cookies

Have you ever noticed that the flights go UP rather than DOWN the more you look? Many of the sites for booking travel track your cookies as you shop. Clear your cookies and do a reboot before searching again. You may find an even CHEAPER flight than you did from the SAME site just an hour earlier.

5. One Way Charlie

Close-up of One way sign

You’d THINK that plugging in the words “round trip” would make your flight less expensive, but that’s not always the case. I’ve often found that flying on two one-way tickets can actually reduce the cost of the trip. Most of the time I find that it’s by flying to my destination via airline A, and home via airline B. Use an aggregator site like Kayak.com that compares both RT and one-way flights as options.

Comments

  1. I fly often enough that I should have known more of these. I use the incognito search feature in Google Chrome when searching for flights. Do you know if that is good enough to avoid the “cookies” problem?

  2. I’m not sure Suzanne. I use Kayak and Kayak/explore (for when I just want to go someplace and don’t care where). I still delete the cookies and reboot just in case, if I can’t find a lower flight. Sometimes I wait a day….

  3. :-). fun read, Zippy.

    These are all clearly written; fliers just don’t read what’s called the contract of carriage :-).

    For #4, as you search you hold inventory on the flights you are searching so you are your worst enemy :-). Also, there are tons of people searching for your itinerary as well.

    And in terms of #2; ensure you read the rules of any ticket before clicking that buy button.

  4. No Suzanne. You are still holding inventory when you search. When you hold inventory, you take the seats at the current offering, so if the cheaper seats are exhausted, then the seats at the next price are then offered.

    If you book just after midnight LA time or just after midnight your local time you may get cheaper fares as that’s when the held tickets that have not been paid for usually get cancelled. At least for some U.S. carriers anyways

  5. Using a web browser feature, like a “Private Window” or “Private Browsing Session” for all your plane fare searches is the same as deleting all your “cookies” in between – and easier for the “technically challenged”…

  10. Not sure if “Whensday” is intentionally, but I like it! I have disproven that myth (lower airfares on certain days) and other travel myths. I have never actually experienced the so-called cookie phenomenon nor spoken to anyone who can prove it. I have received “bump” compensation on an award ticket and can confirm that is true!

  12. Thanks for these tips. I will definitely remember to clear my cookies. I did well last year in using FF miles from one airline one-way to NYC a different airline FF miles one-way back.

  14. Yes…Whensday is intentional, and I got the information directly from someone who works in the airline industry.

  15. It’s amazing how such a little thing like clearing cookies can save you money.

  16. Wendy, that was so smart. I’m going to suggest it to my son, who doesn’t have enough for a round trip on any one program

  17. Thanks for the info – I didn’t know we were entitled to cash in the case of overbooking. I’ve had the price bump disappear when tossing my cookies (lol), so it has worked for me.

  21. Great tips! Something I always check when booking flights is if I can save a lot by using split fares. I’ve saved literally thousands of dollars on airfare by flying to a hub city and then purchasing a separate flight to my final destination from the hub.

  22. Now these are some great tips! I had no idea about clearing cookies before searching for a flight and haven’t even attempted trying to book 2 one-way flights instead of a round trip! Learn something new everyday- thank you for sharing! 🙂

  25. Great tips! I’ve noticed that more and more these tips seem to apply. I’ve booked quite a few one way tickets lately because it just makes more sense than purchasing the round-trip. Thanks for sharing!

  27. Thanks for the great tips. I’d heard a couple before but your explanations were very helpful. I especially liked the info of checking out two one-way tickets since I’d always assumed that round-trip was cheaper. I’ll be looking into that next time I book and tossing the cookies too!

  28. Wow, wow, WOW is this good information! Flying has changed so much in the last few years, feeling that as customers we no longer have any choices. Tucking this in my pocket and emailing it to all my friends too. Thank you!

  29. You are so welcome Toni. As a frequent flier, I’m constantly learning and happy to pass the info along.

  31. I loved this post! Having just booked a three-city trip, I wished I had read it a week ago. I’ve always suspected the cookies thing. I’ve grown to despise making air reservations–it is very stressful for me–and once I’ve booked I never look at sales because it can be so irritating.

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