Track Prices and Save on Travel
Yapta (short for “Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant”) is a price tracker that enables travelers to follow low airfares and cheap hotel rates right from their home computer. This capability is essential for ensuring you don’t overpay for your travel accommodations.
Imagine booking a flight and subsequently discovering that the fare has dropped significantly just days later. This scenario illustrates the frustration of being uninformed and potentially wasting money.
What It Is
Initially, Yapta focused on tracking airfare for specific purchases. Over time, its services expanded to include hotel rates, making it a versatile tool for budget-conscious travelers.
How It Works
Yapta does not automatically process refunds for overcharges, nor does it book flights or hotels for users. Instead, it allows users to track travel prices effectively.
The service is compatible with popular travel sites including Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity. By downloading a software component called a “tagger,” users can tag products they are interested in while browsing these sites. This simple action activates Yapta’s tracking capabilities.
Yapta continuously monitors prices, providing timely email alerts about fare changes. Users can set specific price targets and will receive notifications when those thresholds are met. Additionally, Yapta issues airfare alerts through Twitter.
Users have the flexibility to track prices both before and after making a purchase, ensuring that they are always informed of potential savings.
Watching Airfares
If airfare prices decrease before you purchase, you save money immediately. If prices drop post-purchase, Yapta can assist in negotiating a “rollover” with the airline, where you may receive a refund or travel voucher for the difference in fare. However, note that this is typically not available on non-refundable tickets due to applicable change fees.
Jeff Pecor, director of communications for Yapta, notes that travelers appreciate being informed of price changes and potential airline rebates. This feature is particularly valuable for business travelers who have tight schedules or families traveling with small children.
Regrettably, not many travelers are aware of these options, and airlines often do not publicize them.
Watching Hotel Rates
The process for tracking hotel rates is similarly straightforward. Thousands of hotels can be monitored through the Yapta database.
You can either track the price of a specific hotel or set up a comparative watch for multiple hotels simultaneously. This approach can help you understand what constitutes a “good rate” for your desired destination.
Similar to airfare alerts, hotel rate notifications can be customized. For instance, you might only want alerts for price changes above $15 to avoid excessive emails for minimal savings.
Yapta’s filters allow you to refine your searches based on price, star rating, amenities, and brand, catering especially to business travelers who need specific facilities.
A Few Warnings
Yapta can be a valuable tool for discovering minimum redemption opportunities, but there are important considerations to keep in mind. The software is designed to launch when conducting airfare searches, which might feel intrusive to some users. Yapta assures that it does not compromise user privacy.
Currently, it is supported only on Internet Explorer, with a Firefox version expected soon. While the system is continuously being improved, it is still in beta testing.
Additionally, not all airlines offer refunds or vouchers automatically, and to take advantage of fare drops, users must act quickly. If you’re interested in using the service, be prepared to contact the airline immediately if you spot a lower fare, as these opportunities can be fleeting.
