If you ever had a flight canceled, been rerouted, dealt with massive delays, or simply found a better deal on a ticket hours after you purchased it, you may have experienced the difficulty of getting a refund from an airline. Well, were here to take you step by step through the refund process and to point out which airlines are the easiest and the most difficult to deal with when asking for money back.

FareCompare’s CEO and Chief Travel-Advocate tested numerous airlines same-day low ticket price guarantees to see who was good and who wasnt so good at giving out refunds.

You can find the details of the airlines guarantees here:

American Airlines Lowest Fare Guarantee
Continental Airlines Low Airfare Guarantee
Northwest Airlines Low Airfare Guarantee
United Airlines Low Airfare Guarantee
Delta Airlines Low Airfare Guarantee

Background

Rick went through the step-by-step process of purchasing a ticket from each of the airlines listed above; then, when alerted to a lower-priced ticket that same day (thanks to FareCompare.coms Email Alerts), he applied for a refund. Rick called his experiment a bake-off; you can click here to see how he conducted his experiment, and read on for the results.

Conclusions

The Details Good, Bad and Ugly

Delta Airlines Pleasant Surprise

• Delta Air Lines cancellation process was very simple and a very pleasant surprise. Their efficient process makes it easy for the busy air traveler to cancel a high priced airfare ticket and rebook at a lower price without the extra work of proving a claim. The down side of Delta Air Lines process is no bonus certificates are rewarded. However, the benefit of a seamless experience is refreshing and saves valuable time.

Continental Airlines Top of the Pack

• Continental’s Low Fare Guarantee claims process was the only claim done via the phone. Speaking to a knowledgeable representative on the phone was oddly comforting after going through the online process provided by other airlines. I did have a wait before receiving my refund via snail-mail (a wait that required a follow-up call from me); otherwise, Continental would have easily won the bake-off hands down. The combination of a responsive phone agent and the highest bonus certificate amount definitely puts Continental at the top of the pack.

America Airlines One of the Best

• The claim process for American Airlines Lowest Airfare Guarantee was seamless and they deserve credit as one of the best of all airlines tested in the bake-off. American would have won the Grand Prize altogether, except for their refusal to honor price drops on their own website (you could only file a claim on a price drop found on a competitors website).

Northwest Airlines Confusing and Disappointing

• The Northwest Airlines Best Fare Guarantee claims process was seamless and they deserve credit as one of the better airlines tested in the bake-off except for their dual criteria requiring the new lower-price to show up on a competitors site while at the same time not on their website. This was both confusing and disappointing. Northwest Airlines’ policy is the most restrictive of all airlines in the bake-off and their interpretation of these restrictions made it impossible to receive the bonus $50 E-Certificate that we thought was merited.

United The Worst

• United Airlines Low Airfare Guarantee claims process was far and away the worst of all the airlines in the bake off. The process was completely flawed from the beginning when they did not provide a tracking-number upon the claim receipt, and no other information was available on how to follow-up on the claim after acknowledging receipt.

One would hope that same-day guarantee claims would be processed the same day after all, that is what is required by the guarantees fine print. And, the actual refund provided was a highly restricted E-certificate for a future purchase, instead of a credit card refund.