Get a refund if your flight price drops

Good morning and welcome back to Daily Drop, the newsletter that refunds your attention if the jokes fall flat (but luckily, today’s worth full fare).

Today we’re covering:

• ☀️ Daily Drop Pro Summer Sale

• ✈️ How to get a refund if your flight price drops

• 🏨 New global Hyatt promo (16k bonus points)

• 🇴🇲 Oman Air is joining Oneworld this month

✈️ How to get a refund if your flight price drops

You book a flight. You’re feeling good. Then a week later, the price drops. 😩

But here’s the deal: price drop guarantees still exist… if you know where to look.

Only a handful of platforms offer them anymore, and each one has its own rules. Here are your best options:

Google Flights: Price monitoring you didn’t know you had

Google Flights offers one of the most impressive price protections, but only on select flights. If you see the “Price Guarantee” badge and book through Google, you’ll know you’re eligible.

If the price drops by more than $5, Google refunds the difference automatically via Google Pay.

• You can earn up to $500 back per calendar year

• You can have three active price-guaranteed bookings at once

• It only works for flights departing from the U.S. in USD and with the location set to the U.S.

Capital One Travel: Easy wins for cardholders

Capital One’s travel portal offers Price Drop Protection on certain flights booked through their platform. If the fare drops after booking, Capital One will refund you up to $50 of the difference.

And better yet? This perk is automatic for cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card.

Expedia: Optional paid price drop protection

Expedia and other sites offer paid Price Drop Protection add-ons for select flight bookings. It’s a small fee, but it unlocks automated tracking for your itinerary up until departure.

If Expedia finds a lower price for the exact same flight, they’ll automatically refund the difference after you travel.

There are a few caveats:

• Only available for eligible flights (you’ll see the option at checkout)

• Refunds are processed after travel is completed

• The lower price must be found by Expedia, not submitted by you

• Flights must be unchanged (no cancellations or modifications)

Hopper: No refunds, but you can freeze the price

Hopper no longer offers a true price drop guarantee, but it does give you a way to avoid the opposite problem: a price spike.

With Hopper’s Price Freeze feature, you can pay a small fee to lock in a flight or hotel price for a limited time (usually 1–14 days).

If the price goes up, Hopper will cover the difference up to a cap. If the price goes down, you just pay the lower rate. It’s not a refund system, but it does protect you from regret in the other direction.

What about the old-school OTAs?

Most major booking sites (like Booking.com, Priceline, and Hotels.com) used to offer price match or refund guarantees, but those quietly disappeared post-COVID.

If you’re booking a refundable flight, your best bet is still to set a reminder, check the price every week, and rebook if the rate drops.

🏨 New global Hyatt promo (16k bonus points)

I was delighted to wake up to an email from my main squeeze, Hyatt, with a special global offer to earn a bunch of bonus Hyatt points.

For the next few months, you can earn up to 16,000 bonus points on stays at Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, and Hyatt Studios brands.

Here are the refreshingly simple terms:

• You must register for the offer

• Stays must be completed between June 10 and September 7

• Both cash and award stays count 😎

Here is the breakdown of how many points you will earn:

In other words, when you stay a total of eight nights at these brands, you’ll get the full 16,000 points. But even if you only stay three nights, you’ll still end up with a nice chunk of points in your pocket.

This is great because Hyatt House and Hyatt Place are often the cheapest brands running at 3,500 points per night, and most offer free breakfast for all guests, regardless of status.

Eight nights at a Category 1 hotel would cost 28,000 points, but you’d get the full 16,000 points from the promo.

That’s like paying just 1,500 points per night. 🤯

And don’t forget that you can transfer Ultimate Rewards points or Bilt Rewards to Hyatt instantly, making it easier than pie to take advantage of this!

🇴🇲 Oman Air is joining Oneworld this month

If you’ve ever dreamed of flying through the deserts of Oman in a gorgeous business-class seat with a cardamom-scented hot towel in your hand… good news. 👀

Oman Air is officially joining the oneworld alliance on June 30.

Here’s what that means for your future travels:

• You’ll be able to earn and redeem miles on Oman Air using programs like AAdvantage, Alaska Mileage Plan, and Avios.

• Oneworld elite perks will kick in — folks with Sapphire status will get lounge access, priority check-in, extra baggage, and all the usual goodies.

• You’ll be able to book mixed itineraries, like flying American or British Airways to Europe or the Gulf, and continuing onward with Oman Air.

And if you haven’t flown Oman Air before, its business class Apex Suites (available on its wide-body planes) are one of the most underrated in the sky.

For now, you won’t see Oman Air award flights available through most partner sites just yet, but once the alliance kicks in on June 30, expect those updates to roll out fast.

That’s all for today! May your flight prices fall after you book, your Hyatt stays come with free breakfast, and your business-class seat always come with a cardamom towel.

Now go in peace, my friends. ✌️

37.5503° N, 126.9971° E

With contributions by Tiffany Eastham, McKay Moffitt, and Benji Stawski