We are planning a trip this fall, and I remember Continental had a big discount last summer, so I've beeh holding out. I can't find the thread, but it seems like some people have received refunds from Continental when the price dropped, but in the older threads I found, Continental was not giving any refunds. If anyone has received a refund, was it actually a refund or a coupon for another flight, and was there a change ticket fee?

you can buy now and Yapta your flights http://yapta.com

I should have said - sorry I don't know the answer to your actual question, but yapta will help.

Hi, Ed! I actually received an almost $400 refund credited back to my Visa that I used to purchase the tickets with.

I think other folks have received the actual monies, as well, and not just a "credit" or voucher or discounted refund.

Yapta.com is the way I did it. Used Yapta after I purchased my tickets last fall and last month the largest savings notification was sent to me by Yapta and I called Continental regarding the drop in fare....I never mentioned Yaptc to them....just that I was aware the fare had dropped quite a bit. No questions, no hassles....full credit to my Visa immediately.

So, Yapta was the service that notified me (after I registered on their site) of the rate changes. they still do notify me now, as well, and will continue to do so until/when I delete my trip I have up for alerts.

I bought my tickets directly from ContinentaL, by the way. I don't think this will work if you purchase air tickets via Orbitz or those other types of low fare services out there.

Good luck!

PS You can use the Yapta service BEFORE you purchase the tickets, too. Just need to have times, dates, flight numbers, etc. for them and they will notify you by email. Carole

Thanks. I think I'll go ahead and buy my tickets and hope for a drop in price. It will make my fall trip a lot more real too!

I purchased tickets through Continental 3 weeks ago.
After the purchase I signed up for Yapta to track the flights and I was just notified that the tickets went down by $80.00. BUT-Continental has a change fee of $100.00 so I won't qualify for a refund unless the price drops by over $100.00.

Tom, I"m curious...did CON actually tell you they would impose the "change" fee? They did not mention it to me when I called them. Maybe the type of tickets were different, tho. Not certain.

I received a email from yapta with the price drop and additional amount that the price needed to go down for a refund. I did not check with the airline. My only information is from the yapta site under "refunds" there is a list of the different airlines refund policies. If you find that it is different than I found please notify me.

www.yapta.com/faq/content/5/37/en/what-are-the-airlines_-rules-for-obtaining-a-refund-voucher-credit-or-cash.html

Carole, I just re read your previous message. I see that you did get a refund. I am going to call CON tomorrow and report back my findings.

Tom, I never mentioned Yapta to CON...I only advised CON that I had checked and noticed the rate for our airfare had gone down to $$$$. The agent advised me she would credit my VISA and she did. No word of Yapta at all on my part...might be best to let them know you went to the CON web site and found the rate drop. You might want to do that just prior to calling CON anyway, to be certain it did not change "again"! Keep us posted. cb

I called CON today, I did not mention yapta, only that I noticed that the price went down and asked about a refund of a credit. They told me that there is a $1oo.oo charge per ticket to change. We must have purchased types of tickets. The fare class on my tickets is Economy V.

Tom, Sorry it didn't work out well for you. We purchased first class seats so that might have held a different code regarding refunds, etc.

I think now that I have received the credit that they probably changed the coding on our tickets and would apply the $100 fee if I were to ask for an additional price reduction credit.

Airlines are funny that way....they control the show and they know it.

Enjoy Bonaire!! I know we are almost counting the days until our return. Oh, boy....do we ever need this trip, too! LOL. Carole

I'm watching the Houston redeye for 10/2008. Just got a Yapta email! It went down $79 per person. I haven't bought the tickets yet. Think will ues the ones for may, with AA, first. Yapta, is on the ball! Ron

I've been waiting for that October price to go down for over a month now Ron...all it's done so far is go up $100....maybe depends on where we're flying from?? What week are you going?

We will be going back to Bonaire Oct 10th - 25th... Ron

I'll be seeing you sometime then Ron-well if you'd like a mini meet!

Babs, for sure! We would love to have a MEET!

We'll miss seeing you this year Barbara! John and I are going the last two weeks of November - 1st time we're taking Continental from Newark. "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when."

Ink Spots! Great stuff, Sue! cb

You're smart Carole B!! I had no idea the Ink Spots made that popular. I do remember the song from Dr. Strangelove though I don't mean to convey the same sentiments of the movie - that was wierd!

Does anyone know what time the Houston redeye departs for Bonaire on Friday evenings?

The flight leaves Houston at 11:30 PM and arrives at 5:56 AM in Bonaire.