A flight price tracker that works after you book is the one tool most travelers don’t know exists. I’m always looking for tools that do the annoying work for me. But there’s been a gap in my travel stack: nobody was watching my bookings after I hit purchase.
Until now.
I stumbled onto this platform recently and immediately started testing it with my own reservations. The concept is straightforward: you add your flights and hotels, and Autopilot continuously monitors the prices after you book. If the fare drops, they work directly with the airline or hotel to secure the lower price on your behalf. You keep the savings from the airline, and Autopilot takes a percentage as their fee. If nothing drops, you pay nothing. They only make money when you save money.
That’s interesting on its own. But the features that actually got me excited are the upgrade tools and (of course) award alerts.
Why I’m Paying Attention to the Upgrade Bidding
Here’s how it works. You set a maximum budget per person for an upgrade. Autopilot watches the upgrade pricing from the airline, and if it drops below your max bid, they process it automatically. You pay the airline’s upgrade price plus a 25% service fee, but never more than your maximum.
The math on this is what sold me. Say you set a $500 max bid and the airline drops the upgrade price to $100. Autopilot processes it and charges you $125 total: $100 to the airline, $25 to Autopilot. You just got a first class upgrade for $125 that would have cost you who-knows-what if you’d tried to buy up at booking. And if the upgrade never drops below your budget… you guessed it: you pay nothing.
I love that the worst-case scenario is literally “nothing happens and you fly in the seat you already booked.” There’s no risk here beyond the few minutes it takes to set up.
For Pro subscribers ($9.99/month or $99.99/year), there’s also an upgrade offer alert feature. Rather than auto-bidding, this just pings you when upgrade prices drop below your threshold and lets you decide. Think of it as a price alert, but specifically for cabin upgrades. I like having both options depending on the route. For a transcon where I’d happily pay $200 for a lie-flat seat? Auto-bid all day. For a short hop where I’m just curious? Alert me and I’ll decide in the moment.
The Fare Drop Side Is Solid Too
The core product, what they call Lowest Fare Guarantee, works on all U.S. airlines, except Southwest. The key requirement is that you booked directly with the airline (not through a third party or OTA). All cabins are supported except basic economy.
One detail worth highlighting: codeshare flights count. If you book an Air France flight through Delta’s website, that reservation is eligible for all the same price drop monitoring and upgrade alerts. The key is which airline you booked through, not which airline operates the flight. So any partner airline flight booked via American, Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, or United qualifies.
What I appreciate about the implementation: your reservation stays completely intact. Same seat, same confirmation number, same itinerary. Nothing changes except the price.
The minimum thresholds that trigger the price change are reasonable: $20 for flights, $5 for hotels. The platform only charges when it actually saves you money.
*NEW* Hotel Price Drop After Booking: Autopilot Now Covers Hotels Too
Autopilot just rolled out hotel repricing to every user, which means the same flight price tracker logic that’s been saving travelers money on airfare now works on hotel stays.
The concept is identical to the flight side. You add a hotel reservation, Autopilot monitors the rate, and if it drops by more than $5, they rebook you at the lower price, and only after confirming, they cancel your existing reservation. Same dates, same room type – you just pay less.
Launch coverage includes three of the largest chains in the world: Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG. Hilton is coming soon. Any flexible (refundable) rate booked directly with the hotel is eligible, as long as it’s still outside the cancellation window. Third-party bookings through Expedia, Amex Travel, and the like aren’t supported yet, but that’s on the roadmap.
The detail that matters most for anyone reading this blog: your loyalty benefits stay completely intact. Every rebooking is made directly with the hotel, never through a third party. That means elite qualifying nights still count, hotel points still post, suite upgrades and late checkout and free breakfast all carry over. This was the first thing I checked, and it’s the only reason I’d trust an automated tool to touch a Marriott or Hyatt reservation. If rebooking cost me elite nights toward status, I’d pass. It doesn’t, so I’m in.
There’s one mechanical difference from flight repricing worth flagging. Flights get updated in place with the same confirmation number. Hotels get a new confirmation number because the system cancels the original and books a new one at the lower rate. In nearly all cases your rate type stays identical, though occasionally it may shift to a similar rate code. Autopilot handles the sequencing so you always have a live reservation.
How to Track Hotel Price Drops Automatically
There are three ways to get your reservations into Autopilot, and the new one is the most useful. Starting with this launch, linked Gmail accounts automatically pull in new hotel reservations as they hit your inbox. Existing upcoming reservations already sitting in your Gmail will also be imported automatically. You can toggle tracking off any reservation at any time inside the app.
If you’d rather not connect Gmail, you can forward your confirmation email to them, or add the reservation manually in the app with your confirmation number. I connected Gmail because the whole point of a tool like this is to stop thinking about it, but the manual options are there if you want tighter control.
The pricing model is the same as flights. Pay-As-You-Go members pay 25% of the savings, Pro members pay 15%. You only pay when Autopilot actually saves you money, so there’s no downside to adding every hotel reservation you have on the books. If no rate drop happens, you pay nothing.
One more benefit for Pro members that ties everything together: Pro now includes award (points) price tracking on Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG reservations. Book a hotel with points, and if the redemption cost drops, Autopilot will flag it so you can rebook and get points back. This is the same feature that makes Pro worth it on the flight side, now doubled in coverage. Add a hotel reservation to Autopilot →
Why I Went Straight to Pro
There are three tiers: free (track reservations only), Pay-As-You-Go (25% of savings), and Pro at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. I signed up for Pro immediately, and here’s why.
First, the math. Pro drops the repricing fee from 25% to 15% on the first $500 in savings per calendar month. A single fare drop of $200 saves you $20 in fees compared to Pay-As-You-Go. Two good fare drops and the monthly subscription has paid for itself. If you’re adding multiple flights and hotels throughout the year, this is not close.
Second, and this is the big one for the points-and-miles crowd: Pro includes Lowest Fare Guarantee tracking on award tickets. If you booked an award flight on a supported airline and the mileage price drops, Autopilot will send you exact instructions on how to get your miles back, and for anyone who books award tickets weeks or months in advance (which is most of us), the potential value is significant.
Third, Pro unlocks upgrade offer alerts. The auto-bidding feature is available on all paid plans, but the alerts that notify you when upgrade prices drop below your threshold are Pro-only. I want both tools in my kit depending on the situation.
Pay-As-You-Go makes sense if you fly once or twice a year and just want to set it and forget it. But if you’re reading this blog, you’re probably booking enough travel that Pro is the obvious play.
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How I’m Using It
I added my upcoming flights as soon as I signed up. The easiest method is connecting your Gmail account, which lets Autopilot pull in confirmation emails automatically. You can also add reservations manually with your confirmation number or forward your booking emails to their import address.
I’m particularly interested in testing the upgrade bidding on a couple of domestic flights I have coming up. I set a max bid that I’d be happy paying for an upgrade, and now I just… wait. Either I get a great deal on an upgrade or I fly in the seat I already booked.
I’ll report back on how the monitoring performs and whether the upgrade bids actually hit. In the meantime, if you want to try it yourself, you can sign up through my link: withautopilot.com.
The platform is free to use for reservation tracking, and you only pay if it actually saves you money. That’s a hard deal to argue with.
Best Flight Price Trackers Compared
Best Flight Price Trackers Compared (2026)
Google Flights — Best Free Pre-Booking Tracker
Google Flights is the default starting point and for good reason. You can track specific routes and dates, see price history graphs showing whether the current fare is high or low, and get email alerts when prices change. The flexible date search and calendar view make it easy to find the cheapest day to fly.
The limitation: Google Flights only works before you book. Once you’ve purchased your ticket, Google Flights has no way to help you. If the price drops the day after you buy, you’d never know unless you manually checked. Best for: finding the right fare before you book.
Hopper — Best for Price Predictions
Hopper’s main selling point is its price prediction engine, which claims 95% accuracy on whether fares will go up or down. The app color-codes results (green for buy now, red for wait) and sends push notifications when it thinks you should book. Hopper also offers a “Price Freeze” feature that lets you lock in a fare for a fee while you decide. But like Google Flights, Hopper’s tracking stops once you’ve booked. It doesn’t monitor your purchased flights for price drops and won’t help you get money back after the fact. Best for: deciding when to buy if you’re on the fence.
Skyscanner — Best for International Routes
Skyscanner searches over 1,200 airlines and is particularly strong on European and international routes that Google Flights sometimes misses. The “Everywhere” search feature is great for flexible travelers who want to find the cheapest destination from their home airport. Price alerts work similarly to Google Flights. Same limitation: pre-booking only. No post-purchase monitoring or refund assistance. Best for: international fare shopping and discovering destinations.
Autopilot — Best Post-Booking Tracker (Gets Your Money Back)
This is where it gets interesting. Autopilot is the only tool I’ve found that monitors flights you’ve already purchased and actually does something about price drops.
If the fare drops after you book, Autopilot works directly with the airline to secure the lower price on your behalf. The key differences from every other tracker on this list: Works after you book, not just before.
You add your existing reservations (connect Gmail or forward confirmation emails) and Autopilot monitors them continuously until your travel date.
Handles the refund process for you. You don’t need to call the airline, navigate their website, or figure out the rebooking rules. Autopilot does it.
Upgrade bidding. Set a max budget for a cabin upgrade and Autopilot watches the airline’s upgrade pricing. If it drops below your number, it processes the upgrade automatically.
Award ticket monitoring (Pro plan). If you booked an award flight on a supported U.S. airline and the mileage price drops, Autopilot sends you exact instructions on how to get your miles back. Codeshare flights count as long as you booked through a supported airline. The pricing is straightforward: free to track reservations, Pay-As-You-Go takes 25% of savings (you only pay when you save), and Pro at $9.99/month drops the fee to 15% and adds award ticket monitoring plus upgrade alerts. Try Autopilot free →
Which Flight Price Tracker Should You Use?
The honest answer: use them together. They solve different problems. Use Google Flights or Skyscanner to find and compare fares before you book. Use Hopper if you want a prediction on whether to buy now or wait. Then once you’ve purchased, add your flight to Autopilot and let it watch for price drops and upgrade opportunities on your behalf. Most travelers stop at step one. The ones who use a post-booking tracker are the ones actually getting money back.
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