Do these airline companies offer any refund policies for when the ticket price decreases after I've made my reservation?

I spend about 500 euros a month on airline tickets from the following companies:
- Star Alliance: SAS/Estonian Air (the majority)
- Air Baltic
- Ryanair (rarely)
I have an active account in TripIt and Yapta so I'm notified of any price changes. I have noticed that the price fluctuations are huge between different times and days for tickets. However, neither of these systems have alerted me about possible refunds.
Do the given airline companies offer any refund policies for when the ticket price decreases after I've made my reservation?
Best Answer
You should probably check with the companies themselves about specific refunds if the price drops after you book, since I can't answer for every single airline. That being said, here are a few general things to keep in mind with refunds such as these.
From experience, I can almost guarantee that Ryanair doesn't offer such a program. Ryanair rarely offers any frills like this. Whether or not you consider it a frill, rest assured, Ryanair does, and in keeping with their no-frills policy, they likely won't offer it.
Many airlines will treat such a refund like a reservation/booking change and will charge you a fee for it. Depending on this fee, you might be better off simply ignoring the price change. I recall one airline in Europe (Al Italia, perhaps?) that offered to refund me the price difference of €25 if I paid a change fee of €75. Obviously, this wasn't worth it. In the US, these fees can sometimes run over $100-$150, so the price differential needs to be fairly large to make the refund beneficial.
I don't know why Yapta/TripIt hasn't notified you of these changes. Once again, check with them; they may have policies where they don't notify you unless the price change is above a certain amount, or it could be a bug in their system, or it could be a hundred different things.
Also, many airlines won't allow you to claim these refunds if you booked your ticket through a third-party site like Skyscanner. Some of these third-party sites will offer their own discount programs, but others won't. It's safe to assume that if you buy your ticket through Skyscanner or another similar site, registering your reservation details through Yapta/TripIt won't help since the airline won't refund the difference regardless.
Some airlines will only refund the difference in the form of a time-limited travel voucher for future flights with the same airline. This isn't a problem if you fly frequently, but if you don't, the voucher may expire before you fly again.
Source: I mostly know the above from time I spent living in Europe, but I managed to find a two articles (1 and 2 that speak to points 2 and 5. They're specific to the US, but I've experienced similar situations with many European airlines.
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Can you get money back if your flight is cheaper?
Most airlines will not refund you if the fare goes down on your ticket. However, many times if you contact the airline or booking agent and advise them the fare decreased and express your frustration, they will either offer you a refund or travel voucher. They might even just offer to waive your baggage fees.Do airlines honor price changes?
Nerdy tip: If you change your flight within 24 hours of booking, American Airlines will only give you a trip credit for the price difference. But, by canceling the original booking, you'll get a full refund back on your card.What happens to an unused airline ticket?
An unused airline ticket is usually a non-refundable ticket that the traveler who purchased it is not able to use due to a change in plans. In most cases, \u201cunused\u201d doesn't mean \u201clost cause\u201d; you can generally get a flight credit or even a refund, depending on the scenario.Can you get full refund from airlines?
If you are booking a ticket for travel within, from, or to the United States, U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations state that you are entitled to a full refund on non-refundable tickets within 24 hours of booking as long as your flight is at least 7 days away\u2014with no cancellation fee.Airline Refunds - Flight Cancelled? Know Your Rights!
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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