Have you heard of Yapta.com? It’s an information service that exists to save people who travel serious money by making sure they do not overpay for airline tickets.
If the price of your airline ticket drops below what you originally paid, Yapta alerts you when you’re eligible for a refund from the airline. Yapta.com also alerts travelers when a frequent-flier award seat becomes available on the flight they want. Just do a normal online search for airfare on the site and click ‘include award tickets’ to begin tracking the flight. So far, award-seat alerts are offered for five major airlines: Alaska, Continental, Delta, United and US Airways.
Yapta links travelers directly to the awards section of an airline’s Web site to redeem miles and book tickets, according to The Seattle Times.
Airlines typically release award seats 11 months in advance but can release more at any time based on cancellations, changes or demand. Carriers often release seats a few days before a flight’s scheduled departure.
“One of the biggest frustrations for frequent travelers is not knowing when they can actually redeem their miles to book an award seat,” said Tom Romary, a former Alaska Airlines executive and president & CEO of Seattle-based Yapta.