As tickets to Europe drop in price, fliers consider exchanges

— -- Travelers who've already bought their tickets for summer or fall flights to Europe could be eligible for big refunds now that carriers, worried about weak business travel demand and sagging revenue, are cutting prices dramatically.

There are a couple of catches.

The refunds are paid in vouchers for future travel, not in cash. And the amount will be reduced by exchange fees of $200 to $250 that the airlines charge for redoing the tickets.

Still, the potential savings are big for travelers who exchange higher-price tickets for the cheaper ones now being offered.

For example: If you bought a summer round-trip ticket for San Francisco to London on Jan. 5 for $1,418, that same ticket today would cost you $818, a difference of $600. Even after deducting the $250 fee for exchanging the ticket, you would get a voucher for $350 in future travel.

"You'd be a fool not to go back to the airline and (exchange) your ticket for the same flight on the same day," says Tom Parsons, CEO of BestFares.com. "If you don't, you're leaving hundreds of dollars on the table."

The only reason not to do it, Parsons says, would be to gamble that the airlines lower their prices even further in the weeks ahead.

Parsons strongly suggests consumers hold off buying tickets for flights to Europe after Oct. 26 because, he says, "We expect these airfares will be cut by another 25% to 40% sometime in the very near future."

In most cases, the decline in traffic inside the USA was even larger in the first three months. But the airlines lose more money from a reduction in international travel because it's comprised of more business passengers, who traditionally pay more for seats.