Fare-drop playbooks
When the price of your exact flights drops after you book, many airlines let you reprice to the current fare and keep the difference — usually as credit toward future travel, not cash. The rules differ enough by airline and booking channel that generic advice gets people burned. These playbooks are specific.
Delta Air Lines
Same flights, difference back as eCredit — a phone-agent action, with a free web verifier.
OTA bookings
Booked via Capital One Travel, Expedia, or another portal? Different rules entirely — read before you click.
The rules that apply almost everywhere
Reprice eligibility varies. Whether you can capture a fare drop — and in what form — depends on the airline, the fare you bought, and how you bought it. Some airlines reprice to the same flights on request; others only offer it through a change flow; some don't offer it at all.
Award tickets and Basic Economy are excluded. If you paid with miles, or bought a Basic Economy fare, fare-drop repricing is off the table. Don't spend time on hold for these.
Credit is the normal outcome, not cash. Unless you're inside a 24-hour purchase window or holding a refundable fare, expect the difference back as airline eCredit or travel credit for future trips.
Always confirm the number on the airline's own review screen before accepting anything. Whatever a phone agent quotes, whatever an email or portal implies — the binding figure is the one on the airline's final review/confirm screen. If the number there isn't what you expected, stop before confirming.
Gadabout watches so you don't have to
Forward your confirmation email and we monitor your exact flights, cabin, and fare brand — then send you the right playbook, with your numbers, when a drop worth acting on appears. Free during beta.
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