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Cancel My Reservation

AN90
Explorer A

Does anyone know if I can just go ahead and cancel my flight reservation and get a refund? I did the Wanna Get Away, and I realize those are non-refundable; however, our trip in May is a scheduled reunion, and I'm afraid Southwest will wait until 5 days (or less) before we are scheduled to leave and cancel our flight. That doesn't give us enough time to find another flight to book. I have already booked a hotel and everything. I don't want to take the chance of not getting to go.

7 REPLIES 7

Re: Cancel My Reservation

SWDigits
Aviator A
Solution

@AN90 wrote:

I'm afraid Southwest will wait until 5 days (or less) before we are scheduled to leave and cancel our flight. That doesn't give us enough time to find another flight to book. I have already booked a hotel and everything. I don't want to take the chance of not getting to go.


^ ^ ^ My observation is that the 5 day cancel window is causing problems for both Southwest and customers ^ ^ ^
It seems like Southwest is hedging their bets by waiting until approximately 5 days out (maybe they are hoping that the grounding will be lifted?) but that's still not enough time to allow travelers to make alternate arrangements. End of my thinking out loud...

@AN90, if you cancel a Wanna Get Away ticket then you will receive credit that "may be applied toward future travel on Southwest Airlines for the originally ticketed passenger only."

A couple of notes:
  1. The credit is good for one year from the date of the original purchase.
  2. The credit needs to be used by each ticketed passenger (assuming this is related to the 4-person trip referenced in other posts).

    Source:
    https://www.southwest.com/html/air/fare-information.html

Customer | Home airport DCA

Re: Cancel My Reservation

AN90
Explorer A

Thank you!

Re: Cancel My Reservation

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

There's really no reason for you to cancel your flight now. Go ahead and book another flight on another airline if that's what you want to do, but hold on to your Southwest reservation. IF (and that's a big IF in my opinion) Southwest cancels your flight you can then choose to get a cash refund instead of getting rescheduled. Holding onto the reservation gives you a chance to get a cash refund on what is typically a nonrefundable fare. If Southwest does not cancel you still have the ability to cancel the reservation up until 10 minutes prior to the flight and get the travel fund credit @SWDigits explained about.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancel My Reservation

TheMiddleSeat
Aviator A

Additionally, unlike some ultra low cost airlines, if Southwest cancels your flight they will still do their best to get you to your destination as soon as possible. It's not like they just say, "sorry, flight is canceled, go back home". Depending on how many flights a day there are to your destination and how full they are you might be delayed either hours or possibly a day or two. Also keep in mind that all airlines cancel flights for a wide variety of reasons. Booking a flight on a different airline does not guarantee you won't be canceled or delayed.

 

--TheMiddleSeat

Re: Cancel My Reservation

dfwskier
Aviator A

@TheMiddleSeat wrote:

There's really no reason for you to cancel your flight now. Go ahead and book another flight on another airline if that's what you want to do, but hold on to your Southwest reservation. IF (and that's a big IF in my opinion) Southwest cancels your flight you can then choose to get a cash refund instead of getting rescheduled. Holding onto the reservation gives you a chance to get a cash refund on what is typically a nonrefundable fare. If Southwest does not cancel you still have the ability to cancel the reservation up until 10 minutes prior to the flight and get the travel fund credit @SWDigits explained about.

 

--TheMiddleSeat


I don't know your specific itinerary, but if you are leaving a city with a fair number of SW flights, and going to a city with a fair number of SW flights, there would be a pretty good chance that the airline would get you to your destination for your event. If either city doesn't have many flights, then there would be more risk.

 

Remember that if you book a flight on another airline, and want to cancel that flight, that you would receive it's version of travel funds minus $200 or so for the privilege of using those funds.

Re: Cancel My Reservation

AN90
Explorer A

Thank you! It’s memphis to las vegas. The scheduler shows several per day so hopefully we will be ok. 

Re: Cancel My Reservation

AN90
Explorer A

Thank You!