Recently, the fare drop refund policy launched by China Eastern Airlines has faced significant abuse in practice.
According to official regulations, passengers are only eligible for a free refund and rebooking within 24 hours of purchase if the ticket price drops. However, multiple travelers have reported that they were still able to refund higher-priced tickets and repurchase cheaper ones even well beyond the 24-hour window by following guidance from customer service agents.
While China Eastern Airlines’ policy stipulates that passengers can get a free refund on the original ticket if they rebook a new one at a lower price within 24 hours through the same channel, real-world experiences deviate significantly from this standard. Investigations into passenger workflows reveal that as long as the passenger name, flight time, and route remain identical, most requests to "buy low, refund high" are processed successfully, even when exceeding the 24-hour limit or involving third-party channels.
The entire process relies on manual customer service intervention; the system fails to automatically block out-of-window or cross-channel applications. Inconsistent handling standards among agents have severely weakened the effectiveness of the rules.
Currently, only Air China, China Southern, and China Eastern have similar fare drop refund policies, all with time restrictions, while airlines like Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Spring Airlines, and Juneyao Air have not officially announced such free refund policies and still follow standard voluntary refund rules, charging fees based on cabin class and timing.
For passengers, the ability to buy low and refund high at any time undoubtedly helps reduce travel costs. However, for airlines, allowing passengers to cancel higher-priced tickets and rebook cheaper ones at no cost could prompt more frequent price adjustments, creating a vicious cycle of price cuts, refund, and further price cuts."
While the original intent of flexible refund policies is to improve travel services, loopholes in the rules can undermine market fairness. Airlines should refine their ticketing system controls, standardize customer service protocols, and clearly define operational boundaries to protect both passenger rights and reasonable airline revenue.
