Neff Zone Column

Print Edition: June 9, 2007

MAKING SENSE OF AIRFARE NONSENSE

I’ve been known to rant about the current state of air travel in this country. Just when I think the airlines have done about everything imaginable to make air travel more mind boggling, they seem to find another way to make me take the palm of my hand and "thud" it into my forehead.

One such occurrence happened over the Memorial Day weekend as I traveled from Grand Rapids to Seattle. The first leg of the flight was from GR to Minneapolis. I watched as they loaded my flight with luggage and then waited for the inevitable announcement that I was sure would somehow delay the flight. I’m fairly certain they have my name on some watch list and whenever I book a flight they alert all their workers to drive me crazy at any opportunity.

So, when the announcement was made that there would be a slight delay I was not surprised. We were told that the plane could not be boarded because a mechanic had to sign off on a "minor inspection issue" and that the only way he could get to the area to be inspected was through the main cabin and thus the plane could not be boarded until he made his way to and from the area in question.

A half-hour went by and the next announcement came. "Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to do a ‘flip-flop’ (their technical term)." Basically, our plane scheduled to go to Minneapolis hadn’t cleared inspection, so they were going to "flip" us over to the plane at the next gate (originally destined for Detroit) and send us on our way. Then when the plane (originally destined for Minneapolis) did clear inspection the Detroit passengers were to be "flopped" onto that one.

A half-hour went by as they removed the luggage from our original plane and loaded it onto the other plane. As it turned out, both planes became ready for boarding at the exact same time.

Ah, but there was one more announcement that the airline apparently thought was information passengers needed. "Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to begin boarding flights now. "Detroit passengers, thank you for your patience. We had to make this switch because the plane you’re going to be on can’t go to Minneapolis because it would have to fly at too high of an altitude. It has been cleared to fly to Detroit because it is safe enough to fly at low altitudes."

As you might surmise, the people on my flight responded to this last bit of information with a collective "whew!" The people on the Detroit fight, however, had facial expressions not unlike those you see on criminals captured by Dog the Bounty Hunter, sort of a mix of disbelief and impending regurgitation of a breakfast burrito.

I eventually got to Seattle. I assume the Detroit people eventually touched down in the Motor City where they undoubtedly received nitro pills to restart their hearts.

While we’re on the subject of airlines, perhaps the most ridiculous part of air travel is purchasing your ticket in the first place. Prices fluctuate (literally) by the hour -- $500 to $200 and back to $450 in a single day. Buying an airline ticket is like trying to shoot darts in a tornado. Frustrating does not even begin to describe it.

If you’re like me, when you’re shopping for an airline ticket you check the ticket websites every day in hopes of being at the right place at the instant the ticket price drops. This is time consuming and mostly futile.

Now let me add this. Did you know that if you buy a ticket and the price goes down you can get a refund for the difference between what you paid and the new lower price? The refund varies by airline, some offer vouchers instead of cash refunds and some charge a small processing fee, but most of them offer this service.

The key is that they don’t tell you about this option. It’s buried in something called their "Contract of Carriage," a cumbersome document in written in legalese. (Northwest’s, for example, is 145 pages long and has no index, which makes finding anything nearly impossible.) Plus, in order to invoke the hidden clause, you have to call the airline and ask for the refund; good luck getting past the operator in a third world country who speaks broken English.

Do not despair, though, because help has arrived. A new website, www.Yapta.com , cuts though all the red tape and does two things at once.

First, Yapta tracks the flight you choose and alerts you when the price goes down, meaning you won’t have to waste time checking prices several times a day because Yapta will do it for you. You can then go to the airline’s website and buy the ticket.

Second, once you do purchase a ticket Yapta will keep tracking that flight and if the price drops (after you’ve made your purchase) Yapta will alert you and tell you how to claim your refund or voucher.

Yapta (short for Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant) is free. The site does not sell tickets, you buy those from the airlines themselves. To sign up all you need is a first name and an e-mail address (to which they send the alerts).

You do need to go to www.Yapta.com and download a small piece of software that takes about a minute to install onto your computer. Then whenever you go on an airline website and choose a flight a Yapta button will appear and clicking it will automatically add the ticket (and price) to your watch list. I’ve found this incredibly easy to use.

Yapta is brand new, launched just last month, so what its future holds is anyone’s guess. However, it has gotten great press and technical reviews, like an endorsement from travel expert Scott McCartney of the Wall Street Journal. My take is that anything that evens the playing field between me and the airlines is worth a try.

Jim Neff is a local columnist. Comments to neffzone@gmail.com. Read Neff Zone columns online at www.neffzone.com/cadillacnews.