Flying To Europe? You Could Be Entitled To Air Vouchers Worth Hundreds Of Dollars.
Travelers who purchased tickets earlier this year for
summer and fall travel to Europe may discover that they are entitled to hundreds of
dollars, maybe even thousands of dollars in refunds in the form of airline
voucher credits.
Air travelers who bought their airline tickets to Europe prior to February 17, 2009, less than 60 days ago, for travel to Europe between May 27 through August 31, 2009, may be entitled to refund vouchers.
Also, air travelers who purchased airfares prior to April 2, 2009 for travel departing Europe from September 1 through October 25, 2009 could also have valuable airline credits coming to them.
The reason air travelers are entitled to such hefty refunds is a little hidden rule in the airline Contract of Carriage and the international tariff that's called downgrading your ticket.
For those travelers who bought tickets to Europe prior to February 17, 2009 for the peak summer season (May 26 - August 31, 2009), we have seen airfares to Europe drop by hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the past few weeks.
In the Tariff Rules, for the top U.S. and international airlines that offer service from the United States to Europe, it states in the penalty rules that if you make a change to your airline ticket, you could face a penalty of $200 - $250, plus be required to pay any difference in the price if the airfare is higher.
However, if a lower airfare is introduced, or made available, on the exact same flights and exact same dates to your international destination, after the traveler deducts the $200 - $250 change fee penalty, the residual value of the airfare difference, if any, will be returned to the traveler in the form of a non-refundable airline voucher. All provisions of the new fare must be met Before departure with No change to original destination, dates, or flights. The voucher is valid for future travel on that specific airline, usually for one year from the date of issuance of the airline voucher.
The fee on United Airlines and Lufthansa is $200 per change. On American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, US Airways, Air France and British Airways the fee is $250 per change.
For example, the cheapest midweek airfare, today, from Dallas to Paris departing in June, July, or August 2009, with all taxes and fuel surcharges, is approximately $839 roundtrip on American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Air France, Lufthansa, Northwest Airlines, US Airways and KLM.
The cheapest airfare from Dallas to Paris prior to February 17, 2009 with all taxes and fuel surcharges was approximately $1,621 roundtrip on February 15, 2009. If purchased on January 5, 2009, the roundtrip airfare was approximately $1,701 on the same eight U.S. and international airlines
Air travelers would be April foolish not to go back and rebook their same flights, same dates, to the same destination to see if the cheaper airfare is now available. In this example, if the air traveler can qualify for the new lower airfare after deducting the $250 change fee from the difference, each traveler would be entitled to $532 to $612 in airline voucher refunds, per ticket, depending on the dates they previously purchase their airline tickets. That could be one huge fall for air travelers and a lot of free travel that they did no know was due to them.
For the past 30 days, Bestfares.com, on our website and via Hot Deals By Email, has been advising its readers NOT to purchase airfares to Europe for travel in September through March 2010, because we had projected that there was a 99.9% chance that the airfares to Europe in fall and winter could be slashed by another 25 to 40% or more.
This past weekend, our crystal ball was correct and we saw all the major U.S. and international airlines slash airfares for departures to Europe between August 31, 2009 and October 25, 2009 by 25 to 50%.
We continue to strongly suggest NOT to purchase an airline ticket to Europe for flights departing after October 26, 2009. We expect these airfares will also be cut by another 25 to 40% sometime in the very near future. Again, we project that there is a 99.9% chance these airfares will be reduced much further.
Listed below are some example airfare comparisons departing to Europe May 26, 2009 through August 30, 2009.
If you are able to downgrade your flights to the next
new lower airfare level, it's like putting money in the bank.
| Sample European Destinations From Select U.S. Departure Cities | Airfare If Purchased On January 5, 2009 For June, July, Or August Travel |
Airfare If Purchased On February 15, 2009 For June, July, Or August Travel |
Airfare If Purchased On April 7, 2009 For June, July, Or August Travel |
Approximate Airline Travel Dollar Credits Per Ticket |
| Dallas to Paris | $1,701 | $1,621 | $839 | $532 to $612 |
| New York City to Barcelona | $1,203 | $1,120 | $729 | $151 to $232 |
| Miami to Athens | $1,464 | $1,464 | $710 | $504 |
| Los Angeles to Dublin | $1,396 | $1,396 | $622 | $524 |
| San Francisco to London | $1,418 | $1,368 | $818 | $300 to $350 |
| Chicago to Amsterdam | $1,699 | $1,659 | $796 | $613 to $653 |
| Houston to Shannon | $1,297 | $1,297 | $572 | $475 |
| Boston to Zurich | $1,295 | $1,197 | $572 | $375 to $473 |
