# Southwest Cancellation Refund Policy?



## anniemac

Before I do something stupid, can someone help me out?  I have made reservations (internet fare) on Southwest to travel in May and now find that I won't be able to get away that week and will have to delay my vacation until June. 

 I don't want a refund, I will still want to travel Southwest - just a couple of weeks later.  What's their policy on cancellations?  From the website it appears that I could cancel and apply the $$$ to the new ticket purchase.  Am I right?  Or if I cancel do I just lose the $$$$?

Thanks!


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## riverdees05

Southwest Airlines' Refund Request

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If your reservation is refundable1, you may request a refund in the following ways:

For refundable Ticketless flight reservations only: 
If your outbound flight has not departed, you may submit a refund request: 
online at southwest.com. To begin this process, you will first need to Cancel your Flight Reservation 
by calling our Reservations Department at 1-800-435-9792 
by calling Customer Relations at the telephone number below 
by writing to our Refunds Department at the address below

If your outbound flight has departed, you may submit a refund request: 
by calling our Reservations Department at 1-800-435-9792 
by calling Customer Relations at the telephone number below 
by writing to our Refunds Department at the address below

If you previously cancelled your reservation online at southwest.com and did not request a refund at that time, you may submit a request: 
by calling our Reservation Department at 1-800-435-9792 
by calling Customer Relations at the telephone number below 
by writing to our Refunds Department at the address below 
For all other refund requests, including refund exceptions on nonrefundable travel and refund consideration on all "paper" tickets, you may: 
write to our Refunds Department at the address below 
Notes:

1Not all reservations are refundable. Depending on the type of fare you purchased, you may not be eligible for a refund. 
All refund requests submitted in writing to the Refunds Department should include your unused ticket or, if your reservation was confirmed as Ticketless Travel, proof of purchase and/or the confirmation number is required. 

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Additional Refund Information:

Unused, fully refundable tickets that do not carry restrictions may be applied toward future travel or refunded within one year from the date of issue. 
All eligible refunds are provided according to your original form of payment. 
Refunds for tickets purchased with credit cards will be credited to the same credit card. 
Our Refunds Department will process an eligible refund to the original credit/debit card within seven business days from the date we receive your request. 
Your card-issuing bank may then take up to ten business days to post the credit to your account. Based on your individual billing cycle, you will see the refund on your statement within one to two statement mailings. 


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Contact Information 
Southwest Airlines
Refunds Department
P.O. Box 36649
Dallas, Texas 75235-1649 Southwest Airlines
Customer Relations
(214) 792-4223
Monday - Friday
8:00 am - 5:00 pm CT


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## anniemac

A $50 fee per ticket?


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## riverdees05

Change Itinerary
This page allows you to retrieve a Southwest Airlines' Ticketless flight reservation which was purchased on southwest.com. Once you have retrieved your Ticketless flight reservation, you may proceed to change your itinerary.


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*Denotes required fields

 Flight Reservation Information 


*Confirmation Number

(Confirmation Numbers use letters O and I instead of numbers 0 (zero) and 1 (one).) 
*Credit Card Holder Name (as it appears on card)


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## judy.f

No they don't.  The full value of a cancelled non-refundable ticket can be used within one year as payment for another ticket.



			
				riverdees05 said:
			
		

> I don't think there is a refund, but they have a $50.00 fee to cancel and rebook.


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## Luanne

I have "cancelled" several non-refundable tickets.  What happened was that a credit went into my account and I could use that credit for up to a year.  In fact, I could use the credit towards tickets for other people.  And no fee  to make the changes. I love Southwest.


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## anniemac

Thanks Luanne and JudyF.  That's the way I understood it but it seemed almost too good to be true.  A friend of mine who regularly flies Southwest on business says that he routinely "cancels" nonrefundable tickets and then uses the credit as his travel schedule changes.  I too love Southwest!


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## JillC

*Southwest*

I have cancelled a reservation in the past with them.  Southwest refund me $25.00 (tickets worth about $350).  They in turn give a credit for the balance of the tickets.  You need to use the credit within one year or you lose it.


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## davesdog

JillC said:
			
		

> I have cancelled a reservation in the past with them.  Southwest refund me $25.00 (tickets worth about $350).  They in turn give a credit for the balance of the tickets.  You need to use the credit within one year or you lose it.



They do refund the tax part back to your credit card, even on non refundable tickets.


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## judy.f

This is getting into the minutiae of airline fare rules, but part of a ticket can be refundable and part of it not, depending on the fare type and the way the ticket was paid for.  The best example would be you buy a non-refundable ticket for $100 and then cancel the flight.  Later on, you use the credit towards the purchase of a full-fare, refundable ticket that's $300.  If you cancel that full-fare, fully refundable ticket, you would get a $200 refund and a $100 credit.  The non-refundable amount remains non-refundable, even if you use it to buy a refundable ticket.

I, too, love Southwest!

judy

Incidentally, the Southwest web site has recently made it much easier to cancel and rebook - you can do it in one transaction and in the same reservation now, rather than cancelling the original reservation and rebooking in a new reservation.


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## Luanne

And now you can also print out your boarding passes 24 hours ahead of your flight instead of having to wait until after midnight the day you travel.     Doesn't have anything to do with refunds, but just thought I'd throw that in as a recent change.


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## happybaby

*changing with SW*

No there is no penalty with SW of fee charged to make changes.  They give you a credit as stated in previous posts.  (has to be used in 1 year from the date of the original purchase --   Not just booked, travel has to be used within the year)

I just changed my PIT to MCO for May from 77.00 to 69.00 and now have a 32.00 credit with SW on my account.  (4 people  8.00 diff per person)

NOW...........   they have a ding special for 34.00 which I can't change cause it's a "ding" special and doesn't show up when I pull my original info and try to change it.  Since I booked round trip, I would have to cancel the entire flight and re book.  Only thing is I can't get a return flight home except for a 7am flight. (too early)  I would have to go to the next fare which is 128.00, so no further ahead.    34 plus 128 = 162   and I'm now paying 165.10 with my 69.00 depart and 77.00 return.

If I had booked the flight as one way, I could have cancelled the 69.00 PIT to MCO and used the 34.00 "ding" fare.  And kept the 77.00 fare MCO to PIT.

Confusing............   and they get you.   Maybe I should have been patient and waited longer.   But that is taking a chance to try to get airfare for 4 people.

Maybe another internet special will become available and I can still get a lower fare.  Only thing is I have to use my credits by Jan. 2007.  We don't fly much and the Disney trip is going to break the bank.  Also  we won't have any vacation time left, unless we do Vegas Jan 2007    If my younger d. decides to join us in Orlando, she can use my credits to book her flight  and pay me back.


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## isisdave

Note that you have to use the credit within one year of the time you bought it, not the flight date or whenever you cancelled. Since SW never books more than about 5 months in advance, that should still be quite a while. And I successfully wheedled an extension out of them once.

Golly, lots of on-time flights to cities all over the country, friendly people, great customer service, and policies that don't make you mutter under your breath.  Next thing you know, Southwest will be one of the very few airlines to actually make money .... what a concept.


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## riverdees05

If you cancel and then rebook later.  What is the time line that you have, one year from purchase of ticket or one year from when your flight was scheduled?  Do you have to fly by then or only book your ticket by that time?


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## happybaby

riverdees05

If you cancel your flight or make any changes to your flight, you have one year from the original date of purchase to use your credits.  The booking and flying have to been done by that one year.

I booked my PIT to MCO on Jan. 13.  Yesterday, Feb 3, I changed it  (same time, same dates) but at a lower fare.  I have to use my credit of 32.00 by Jan. 13, 2007.

I had a ding fare of 34.00 departing PIT but would have had to cancel the complete flight and get my credit and rebook on ding.  You don't have the option to just cancel either the depart or the return.  Therefore, I was stuck since there wasn't a ding fare  available on the return.  The return flights were at 128.00

If you modify your flight in anyway, you have the option of modifying either the depart or return or both, but not on cancelling.

_Correct me if I am wrong_, but I did not see that I was able to do a partial cancellation.   I even called SW and the rep said I would have to cancel completely and rebook using "ding"

If I booked my departure and return separately, I would have been able to cancel the departure and rebook with the ding fare.  But then the SW rep said I could have a security problem having 2 separate confirmations.  _Why? _  I would still have proof of a return ticket.  Or would if we were moving to FL and only purchased a one way ticket.


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## Liz Wolf-Spada

I sure wish they would add Mac to the Ding option. I feel left out. :


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