I foolishly bought first class tickets (Z class, I think) from Newark for SJO early for about $1000 each. The fares have dropped to about $750 before all the taxes (please don't lecture me--I know now that it was foolish to buy so early).

Also, please note that the numbers don't add up as I am rounding.

So I've called Continental and before I call back, please let me know if this is reasonable. They will "allow" me to downgrade my fare and offer me a credit for future flights. However, this will cost $100 per ticket in change fees. We will get $179 in credit mailed back to us.

To me, this sounds a little crazy--but before I elevate to the next level, do I suck it up? Wait for another price drop?

Thanks for your insight--I'm a little irritated.

cbw...I'm a shade confused here.Usually, "downgrading" means going from Business Class (Z Class) to Economy (Y,B,M,H,V etc)....So I am not sure what you are attempting to do.If you actually want B/C, sitting in the front of the plane, and the fare simply went down,then Continental is telling you they will "refund" the difference in the cost you paid and the current cost, at a $100 cost per ticket.If you are saying that you have decided to trade in your B/C tickets for Economy,well the same procedue will apply.I think what I amsaying is just be sure what you want to do.Some airlines will offer you the credit I described above without any fee.Continental is one who choses to charge you for issuing the credit.I personally would never "suck it up" so to speak.Take the vouchers they are good for a year for future travel on CO.I would not wait for another drop in fare.A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

The fares can easily go back up.

I don't think you can just get a $179 voucher. Instead, you'll have to pay $100 more right now, and they'll give you a voucher for $279 (or whatever your "rounding" gives you).

Still, it's definitely worth it.

Thanks so much for your responses, and sorry to post this twice. I guess there is nothing I can do...they called it a "downgrade in fare"--we still want the b/c seats.

I'll call back when I am less annoyed. Or maybe I'll have my fiance do it for me!

Why annoyed?

First, Z fare is a discount non-refundable fare. If you want full-refundable, then buy a more expensive ticket.

Second, when an airline raises its prices, they don't ask for more money before letting you board. So why should they refund you when prices go down? What you're doing is basically rebooking the whole ticket, and $100 is a fee to do that.

You may not agree with fare structures of the airlines, but it's the way it is, and is pretty fair.

I agree with rkkwan's take on this. There is risk in non-refundable tickets and the fact that you are getting anything at all is more than the carrier would really have to do. Yes, it is reasonable.

Probably don't need to respond to this, but I will anyway. I'm annoyed because there are other airlines that do not charge the change fee. Also, I spent a long time with a very lazy person on the phone, which made me crazy.

Sorry to say, we are not all as savvy as you are, and I didn't know what a Z fare meant. Flying first class is a luxury for me, not something I take for granted and I guess this is just a learning experience. I think I'm allowed a slight bit of irritation--either at myself or the airline or both.

You do have to agree with the notion that once you read and sign a contract the courts will hold you responsible. Whether you have/have not actually read the contract before signing, won't excuse you from living up to it's terms. The fare rules were provided to you before you purchased the ticket. It was your responsiblity to read it and understand the rules before clicking the "purchase" button. It's very simple process and any court will recognize it as a valid acceptance of the terms and conditions of the contract.

Besides, what would you do if for example, you walked into a store, bought a TV for $1000 and month later saw an ad for the same exact TV and sold at the same exact store for $500? Would you expect the store to refund the difference?

Another way to look at this...if you had purchased the tickets from US Airways you would never have gotten to talk with that lazy person. You would have been put on hold for a half hour then cut off.

When you purchased the tickets did you consider the $1000 a fair price to you, coolbluewater? When I buy something like that I ask myself am I okay paying this much. If so, then I don't look the next week to see what's going on with the current prices. If I looked back at everything I do in life to see if I could have gotten a better deal I would be ready for the looney bin.

Not to say I would not like getting $179 back in my pocket. What I am saying is I stick with a decision and I will not make the decision in the first place if I am not happy with the price. Same thing when I shop for a car, whatever. Don't ruin your vacation over this.

I think once you buy your ticket you pretty much are stuck with that price. You are very lucky they are willing to give you a refund.

But on the other hand I dont think the way airlines price there seats out is fare. I just dont see how they can sell you a seat at a certain price and then the person in the seat next to you a different price sometimes the price difference being hundreds of dollars more.

I think everyone would be furious if they went to the movie theater and everyone had to pay different prices to see the same movie. So why should the airlines get away with it. But the airlines has us at there mercy and if we want to fly that is the price we have to pay.

As far as the tv scenario goes yes I would expect a refund and it would be my right by law to do so. In the state where I live it is a law if something goes on sale within 30 days of purchased the customer is due a refund of the difference amount.

jiffer - Business people or last-minute travelers are subsidizing those who are more flexible and can buy their tickets earlier.

It's true that the fare structure is highly complicated. But why is it "unfair". If airlines can only sell one type of tickets at one price all the time, fully refundable, first, most of the leisure travelers will be paying a lot more than they are now. And how can the airline deal with no-shows?

Actually at our local movie theater there are different prices for most movies. Senior prices, children prices etc. I agree with the thought if you can afford and agree with the airfare and buy the ticket(s) don't drive yourself crazy checking and rechecking to see if the prices go down. And if that happens and the airline will make an adjustment of some kind consider yourself fortunate.

Maybe it doesn't seem fair, but what in life is?

Last year we used a travel agent to book a flight - booked well in advance. Hubby & I got refunds in the form of vouchers for future flights (value $250 each). When I asked the travel agent why we had gotten them, she told me the price of our tickets had dropped. Don't ask me - the travel agent had handled everything. I don't know how that worked but we sure were glad to use the vouchers toward a trip to Belize this spring.

To jiffer - what state is that that gives a refund if something goes on sale after purchase - never heard of that and there has to be some sort of catch - just doesn't make retail sense.

To OP - Bargain shoppers of the world would not like it if everything (not just air) had a fixed price that everyone paid. The trade-off is that while you feel rotten if the guy sitting next to you got a better deal, but great if you know you were able to get a cheaper fare than him. I figure my husband's employer is indirectly subsidizing my cheap vacation fares - husband always flies on short notice and usually full fare - that allows airline to offer cheaper fares to others.

Gail,
Some of the retailers in our state have a policy where they will give a refund of the price difference if the item bought goes on sale within a certain period (usually 2 weeks). It's usually the larger department stores. I assume they do this throughout the US. It is not a state law.

I can understand stores having that policy - it sounds like good marketing - I am still questioning it being a law anywhere.

We're are going little OT here. I used the TV analogy as an example. I used 30 days, and even if there is a law (I doubt it), then I will change my anlogy of a TV purchase to 45 days.....

Besides, airlines do offer, on every flight, every day, a <b>fully refundable</b> first, business and economy class tickets, so if you want to have the security of getting your money back at any time, buy a fully refundable ticket.

Airlines allow you to save some money when they offer lower priced tickets but with restrictions. When purchasing one of these tickets, don't expect to be treated the same as a full fare passenger when and if you decide not to fly or change the ticket, or....etc.etc.

What is confusing is that some airlines apparently give a refund if they lower prices, some don't, and some do but only if you whine enough, and none of them is really upfront about their policy, and I expect it changes from time to time, which makes it hard to comparison show with respect to this issue.

Incidentally, Continental is one of those that says they don't give a refund. I think that what the OP is doing (and I give the Continental agent full credit for coming up with it) is cancelling a nonrefundable ticket, paying the listed fee, and purchasing a new ticket at a lower price. The risk I see to this is that the new ticket (Z fares are, I believe, capacity controlled) could become nonavailable during the transaction, but I think that would be very unlikely to happen if you were doing business by phone; more likely to happen if you tried to do this yourself via the web site.

Also, when you buy tickets online at Continental, there comes a point in the process when you must x a block saying that you accept the rules with respect to this fare (with a link to the rules). If you don't x the block, you cannot complete your purchase, so you are in a legally untenable position if you try to argue later that you didn't know about those rules, unless you are an elected politician.

I live in Maryland and it is a law and myself along with many other people I know have gotten refunds. I am looking for the law and when I do I will post it.

I found this interesting post on another website and it a good compairson on how airlines do buisness.

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First a reminder of how ordinary hardware stores sell paint:

Customer: Hi. How much is your paint?
Clerk: We have regular quality paint for $18 a litre and premium paint for $25. How many litres would you like?

Customer: Five litres of regular paint please.
Clerk: Great. That will be $90 please.

Now, imagine you are buying paint from an airline:

Customer: Hi. How much is your paint?
Clerk: Well, sir, that all depends on quite a lot of things.

Customer: Can you give me a guess? Is there an average price?
Clerk: Our lowest price is $12 a litre, and we have up to 60 different prices.

Customer: What's the difference in the paint?
Clerk: Oh, there isn't any difference; it's all the same paint.

Customer: Well, then I'd like some of that $12 paint.
Clerk: When do you intend to use the paint?

Customer: I want to paint tomorrow. It's my day off.
Clerk: Sir, the paint for tomorrow is the $200 paint.

Customer: When would I have to paint to get the $12 paint?
Clerk: You would have to start very late at night in about 3 weeks. But you will have to agree to start painting before Friday of that week and continue painting until at least Sunday.

Customer: You've got to be kidding!
Clerk: I'll check and see if we have any paint available.

Customer: You have shelves FULL of paint! I can see it!
Clerk: But it doesn't mean that we have paint available. We sell only a certain number of litres on any given weekend. Oh, and by the way, the price per litre just went to $16. We don't have any more $12 paint.

Customer: The price went up as we were talking?
Clerk: Yes, sir. We change the prices and rules hundreds of times a day and since you haven't actually walked out of the store with your paint yet, we just decided to change. I suggest you purchase your paint as soon as possible. How many litres do you want?

Customer: Well, maybe five litres. Make that six, so I'll have enough.
Clerk: Oh no, sir, you can't do that. If you buy paint and don't use it, there are penalties and possible confiscation of the paint you already have.

Customer: WHAT?
Clerk: We can sell enough paint to do your kitchen, bathroom, hall and north bedroom, but if you stop painting before you do the bedroom, you will lose your remaining litres of paint.

Customer: What does it matter whether I use all the paint? I already paid you for it!
Clerk: We make plans based upon the idea that all our paint is used, every drop. If you don't, it causes us all sorts of problems.

Customer: This is crazy!! I suppose something terrible happens if I don't keep painting until after Saturday night!
Clerk: Oh yes! Every litre you bought automatically becomes the $200 paint.

Customer: But what are all these &quot;Paint on sale from $10 a litre&quot; signs?
Clerk: Well, that's for our budget paint. It only comes in half-litres. One $5 half-litre will do half a room. The second half-litre to complete the room is $20. None of the cans have labels, some are empty and there are no refunds, even on the empty cans.

Customer: To hell with this! I'll buy what I need somewhere else!
Clerk: I don't think so, sir. You may be able to buy paint for your bathroom and bedrooms, and your kitchen and dining room from someone else, but you won't be able to paint your connecting hall and stairway from anyone but us. And I should point out sir, that if you paint in only one direction, it will be $300 a litre.

Customer: I thought your most expensive paint was $200!
Clerk: That's if you paint around the room to the point at which you started. A hallway is different.

Customer: And if I buy $200 paint for the hall, but only paint in one direction, you'll confiscate the remaining paint.
Clerk: No, we'll charge you an extra use fee plus the difference on your next litre of paint. But I believe you're getting it now, sir.

Customer: You're insane!

Clerk: But we're the only paint supplier in the area! Thanks for painting with Scam Air.
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jiffer - are you really, really sure this is a Maryland law? Have spoken to several people in my area with relatives in Maryland - none have heard of this law. Just spent 30 minutes googling and on various Sate of Maryland websites - no indication of the law.

Perhaps it is a store policy, or perhaps some variation on if price is mismarked you get it free.

While doing my research I found lots and lots of sale items at stores in Maryland - why would any retailer in Maryland every have a sale if it did not mater and they had to give refunds for the difference. Something is missing here.