I have a flight to Chicago next Friday, the 25th, for what is essentially a job interview. But due to new circumstances that have popped up in my life, I’ve decided that there’s no way I’m going to move away from where I currently live, so going on this trip is pointless.
Problem is, I’ve discovered the plane ticket is non-refundable. I’ve Googled a bit, and my understanding is that the only way I’d have a shot at getting my money back (or at least a credit) would be if something drastic happens like a death in the family.
I would think that since it’s 12 days out, they’d be able to sell my seat now for more than I paid… but I suppose what would happen is they’d refuse my refund then sell it for more anyway.
So, is it worth it to try for a refund, or would I just be wasting my time?
Each carrier has dozens, nay hundreds, of ticket types. Each ticket type has different rules.
“non-refundable” may mean you can’t get a refund, but you *can *get a credit for all of your fare for future use on that carrier. Or it may mean 100% of what you paid is lost forever. Or anything in between. Or something completely different.
Only by reading the exact fine print associated with your actual ticket / reservation will you be able to answer the question. Calling the airline is a good place to start if you can’t get the info you need from their website.
The last non refundable tickets I had were on Southwest. I could re-use the ticket again, sometime in the future, provided I 1) paid the difference between the existing ticket price and the new ticket price 2) paid a 100.00 change fee.
Typically if you call and cancel before your flight, you’ll have a credit towards a future flight. You’ll have to pay change fees for that next flight. So, say you have a $600, non-refundable ticket, and you cancel it. Now you have a $600 credit. But, the airline has a $150 change fee. So next time you book a trip, say, it’s another $600 flight. You’ll have to pay $150 for the change fee. Or, you can find a $450 flight, and with the change fee, it’ll be all taken care of. If you don’t use a travel agent, you may have to pay a using-a-human fee, since your credits aren’t generally available online.
I think he must be mistaken. I’ve changed tickets on southwest several times going back several years. I always buy the absolute cheapest ticket I can, and I have never had them charge me a change fee or hassle me in any way. As long as you use the credit within a year, you keep the full value.
I had to cancel a flight last minute once, and it was a non-refundable ticket. They told me to go to the airport within 30 days to get a credit minus $75. I don’t remember the carrier, but I know it wasn’t Southwest.
Yeah, you should be able to at least get a credit minus a fee. Good luck. Best advice is to take care of it sooner than later, not a day or two before the flight.
This.
Before I started dating a pilot, I would regularly fly Southwest. I kept an eagle eye on prices and usually changed my flights a couple times before use, with no fees.
That’s probably what’s going to happen… the problem is, I’ll have to get a hotel room and either rent a car or pay a bunch of cab fare. That’s more money I’d rather not spend. It’s only for the one night though, I come back on Saturday night.
Agreed. Might as well turn it into a credit for however much it is over $150 or whatever Untied charges these days. The norm these days AFAIK is that a simple cancellation w/o rescheduling becomes a credit good for a year, with the change fee taken out when you actually try to reschedule.
