Expert: Stephen Tanenbaum - 12/2/2004

Question
Is it generally possible to get a refund on tickets as long as you notify the airline in advance?  Or does that policy vary from airline to airline?  I thank you for your help.  

Answer
Hi Augusto:

My wife just purchased full price last minute tickets on Southwest Airlines. They are 100% refundable at anytime even five minutes before flight time!

We usually buy ahead and the very same  ticket, at 1/2 to 1/3 the price is 100% NOT REFUNDABLE.

There is simply no single answer to your question. Depends on the airline and type of ticket you are buying.

We just changed flights from Jet Blue from Florida to Long Beach CA and instead flew Continental from Florida to Oakland CA. The Jet Blue tix were $119 very CHEAP and totally NOT Refundable BUT Jet Blue and Southwest and many others DO GIVE YOU a FULL CREDIT to be used another time usually within a year. Also  Jet Blue, unlike Southwest, charged us $25 per ticket for cancelling the flight.

Sooooo, once again when shopping be a good consumer and check out the policy of the airlines of interest to you.
It's always nice when there is competition so that such policies as Refunds are more liberal to consumer/flyers.

Hope this helps.

PS: It is not so much 'when' you cancel a flight as it is the cost and hence 'type' of ticket you are buying. Just ask any airline whether they offer  REFUNDABLE tickets and compare prices with other cheaper non refundable tickets as well as any credit they may give even when cancelling cheaper tickets, assuming you will use such credit on a later flight. Steve Tanenbaum