How To Freeze A Flight Price: What You Need To Know (2023)
Can you freeze a flight price? One of the most exasperating things when booking travel is seeing the prices change in real time. Planning a trip in 2023 is much easier than 50 years ago when you would have to physically go to a travel agency (maybe more than once) to finish all the arrangements. The internet and online travel agents made things much easier and way more overwhelming. Companies use lots of tricks to make you feel that everything is urgent and you MUST BOOK NOW *ugh*. And there are even AI tools to help you book flights and hotels, things can get pretty complex.
But hey, things are changing for the better, and every day, more ways are available to protect yourself against sudden price changes. In this post, I revisit all the ways you can freeze a flight price if you are not ready to book just yet.
To the point
- First, try booking through the airline directly. You can often pay a small fee to hold your reservation for up to several days and get free 24-hour cancellation.
- If that doesn’t work, try services like Kayak, Kiwi, or Hopper that offer a price freeze service for a few days.
How To Freeze A Flight Price in 2023
Let’s keep it short, here are the different ways you can lock the flight fare.
Free 24-Hour Flight Cancellation: How Does It Work?
The 24h free cancellation rules are not an “official” way to freeze a flight price, but can be used for that. I took advantage of that many times and it works great. If I see an option that convinces me, I just purchase it, and I keep looking for alternatives. If I find a better one within a day, I just cancel it.
How does it work?
Several countries have consumer protection laws in place that protect passengers that made a mistake or regret from making a purchase during the first 24 hours since the booking is placed. This varies across continents, but the conditions are more or less similar.
We don’t have that in Argentina for example, legislation is being developed as I write this post. In other countries, there are no applicable laws, but the airlines still respect that to attract more customer and be more competitive.
In the US, the rule is set by the Department of Transportation (DOT). It says that airlines must allow customers to hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment. In addition, airlines must allow a purchased reservation to be canceled within 24 hours without penalty, providing a full refund to the original form of payment. The rule applies to every airline that operates to, from, and within the U.S. but not if you make a reservation less than 7 days before the flight’s departure date.
In the European Union, there isn’t a blanket 24-hour cancellation rule for all airline tickets like there is in the United States. However, some airlines do offer their own cancellation policies, so it’s always best to check with the specific airline before booking. It’s also worth noting that if you purchase a ticket online or over the phone directly from an airline operating in the EU, you generally have the right to a full refund if you cancel within 7 days, as long as the departure date is at least 7 days away. This is due to the EU’s Distance Selling Regulations, which protect consumers in remote sales situations.
Here’s a quick table summarizing some of these countries and conditions.
| Country | Applies to | 24h cancellation period | Refund percentage | Other conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Flights to or from the US | Within 24 hours of booking | 100% | Must be booked directly with the airline at least 7 days in advance of the flight. |
| Canada | Flights to or from Canada | Within 24 hours of booking | 100% | Must be booked directly with the airline at least 7 days in advance of the flight. |
| European Union | Flights within the EU | Within 7 days of booking | 100% | Must be booked directly with the airline and canceled at least 7 days before of the flight. |
| Australia | Flights to or from Australia | Within 24 hours of booking | 100% | Must be booked directly with the airline at least 7 days in advance of the flight. |
| New Zealand | Flights to or from New Zealand | Within 24 hours of booking | 100% | Must be booked directly with the airline at least 7 days in advance of the flight. |
Airline Hold Policies (Updated June 2023)
Here’s the full list of the different airlines’ hold policies when it comes to periods and fees. Note that the restrictions might change depending on the type of ticket you are trying to book, and the cabin class. For example, some airlines have shorter periods on more premium cabins (e.g. Air New Zealand), or they might not allow holding the flight price for basic economy fares.
Remember to check the airline’s specific conditions before actually confirming and paying the hold fee.
| Airline | Hold Period* | Hold Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | 24 hours | €10 |
| Aeroflot | 72 hours | RUB2000 |
| Air Asia | 48 hours | RM10 |
| Air Arabia | 24 hours | AED20 |
| Air Baltic | 72 hours | €10 |
| Air Canada | 7 days | CAD10 |
| Air China | 72 hours | ¥100 |
| Air France | 14 days | €10 |
| Air India | 7 days | INR500 |
| Alitalia | 48 hours | €10 |
| American Airlines | 7 days | $10 |
| Austrian Airlines | 7 days | €10 |
| Avianca | 72 hours | COP100 |
| British Airways | 72 hours | £5-10 |
| Bulgarian Air | 24 hours | BGN10 |
| Cathay Pacific | 7 days | HK$100 |
| China Eastern Airlines | 72 hours | ¥100 |
| China Southern Airlines | 72 hours | ¥100 |
| Delta Air Lines | 7 days | $10 |
| Emirates | 72 hours | AED50 |
| Etihad Airways | 72 hours | AED50 |
| Finnair | 3 days | €10 |
| Garuda Indonesia | 72 hours | IDR100,000 |
| Hawaiian Airlines | 3-7 days | $4.99-15 |
| Icelandair | 24 hours | ISK500 |
| Indigo | 72 hours | INR500 |
| Japan Airlines | 7 days | JPY1000 |
| JetBlue | 24 hours | Free |
| KLM | 14 days | €10-15 |
| Korean Air | 72 hours | KRW10,000 |
| Lufthansa | 7 days | €10 |
| Malaysia Airlines | 72 hours | MYR50 |
| Qantas | 7 days | AUD10 |
| Royal Air Maroc | 72 hours | MAD100 |
| SAS | 7 days | SEK100 |
| Singapore Airlines | 72 hours | SGD10 |
| Southwest Airlines | 24 hours | Free |
| TAP Air Portugal | 24 hours | €10 |
| Turkish Airlines | 72 hours | TRY100 |
| United Airlines | 3-14 days | $10-20 |
| Virgin Atlantic | 7 days | £10 |
| Wizz Air | 48 hours | €4-9 |
| Viva Air | 24 hours | COP100 |
| Vueling | 24 hours | €10 |
| WestJet | 24 hours | CAD10 |
| Yeti Airlines | 24 hours | NPR200 |
| Zipair | 24 hours | JPY1000 |
| Zest Airways | 24 hours | PHP100 |
| Wow Air | 24 hours | ISK500 |
| Vueling | 24 hours | €10 |
| Spirit Airlines | 24 hours | $10 |
| Turkish Airlines | 72 hours | TRY100 |
| Turkish Airlines | 24 hours | TRY50 |
| Qatar Airways | 24 hours | QAR100 |
| Etihad Airways | 24 hours | AED100 |
*up to.
Wrap up
It’s great to see more options to freeze a flight price, and observe how this space evolve to accomodate what travelers want. The market is changing quicker than ever before, with more options and products for flyers. In the pandemic, we saw that airlines were losing so much money that they offered plenty of flexibility for rescheduling, changing and cancelling tickets. Fast-forward until today, things are tighter are more strict again.
Luckily, there are ways to work around it and buy a bit of extra time to decide and plan for accessible fees. Personally, I use Kayak, Kiwi, or Google Flights to find the flights I want, then I book directly with the airline and purchase and extended hold period, as I feel more safe. I’ve also used the 24h cancellation period many, many times. It works great and never had an issue with that.
But I also find the price freeze options useful, I gave them a show 2 times, but I ended up wasting $38 and $48 in fees, because the prices didn’t go up. I guess it is convenient if you are using Hopper’s carrot rewards as you can pay for the fees using your accumulated cashback.
What has your experience been? Would love to hear your throughts, drop comments below! BTW I will keep this list updated every month.
