One of the incredible side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was airlines loosening their flight cancellation policies. Nowadays, unless you’ve booked the cheapest basic economy fares, you can cancel a flight and get a trip credit for future travel. That has opened up some really fun ways to ensure you get the best possible deal on your flights.
Related: Ultimate guide to canceling a flight and getting a refund with major US airlines
It’s also unleashed a slew of startups that will track prices for you and even issue a refund if the price of your flight drops.
We’ve mentioned a few in previous reporting on our favorite ways to help you get money back on flights, but I wanted to try a few of the services for myself to report on what it’s like to use them in practice.
Here are two I’ve been playing around with.
PAiback
I’ve been experimenting with a fun new tool called pAiback. This flight-refund tool uses artificial intelligence to monitor your flights and automatically issue refunds when prices drop.
Related: The best time to book flights for the cheapest airfare
You’ll need to book directly with the airline for the tool to work. You forward your confirmation email to pAiback, and then it lets you know if the price drops. You can also connect your Gmail or Outlook account to allow it to check for confirmations. The website will display a full list of all your tracked flights.
Right now, the site works for four airlines — American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines — but it hopes to add more in the future.
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If the price of your itinerary drops, the pAiback team works with the airline to get an eCredit deposited directly into your airline account. You’ll have to pay a 20% commission on your savings, but there are no other membership or subscription fees.
PAiback is already paying dividends. As you can see in this screenshot, the company sent me an email recently when it found a better price on an upcoming United flight.
I got a refund of nearly $25 on a trip I had booked just the day before — and the company will continue to issue more credits if the price drops further.
I highly recommend trying out this new service. Use this TPG link to sign up.
Junova
Related: Apps and websites that make award redemptions easier to find
I’ve also been experimenting with a similar service called Junova.
Just as with pAiback, you forward your confirmation from the airline, and it automatically tracks your flights and then requests a refund in the form of a trip credit.
Junova has also saved me some money, finding that a flight I had booked from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) had dropped in price by $17. I first noticed because I got an email from United Airlines saying I’d received a few random trip credits.
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United email showing a new trip credit for a fare difference. JUNOVA
“We charge a 20% success fee, but only when you save,” Junova says on its website. “No up-front costs.” You can also refer people to the site for $25 in free credits (so if you refer someone, you get a $25 credit — then when you pay that 20% commission, it comes out of your $25 “bank”).
There are many other cool features, too. For example, the site can show you how flight costs change over time.
You can try out Junova via this link if you are curious.
One note: You can’t double-dip. Whichever company finds the better flight price first wins (I have both companies tracking all my same flights).
Bottom line
With the conflict in the Middle East raging on and oil and gas prices on the rise, The Points Guy is recommending travelers lock in any and all airline tickets they can for the year before prices go up. The fact that you can potentially get a trip credit if the price of your tickets drops should give you a lot of peace of mind when it comes to booking tickets now.
There are a few other services out there, including the new JetBack app, Autopilot — and don’t sleep on the incredible power of Google Flights. While Google Flights doesn’t get you credits, it can alert you when airfare changes with preset alerts.
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