You may cancel your Southwest ticket online, and depending on the fare class, you will get a refund or travel cash.
Can Southwest flights be cancelled? Yes. Among major airlines, Southwest Airlines has one of the strongest cancellation policies.
If you don’t intend to travel again and merely want your money back, you’re in luck. Southwest has long been known for its customer-friendly change and cancellation procedures. Other airlines’ openness towards flight adjustments has increased as a result of the epidemic, but Southwest cancellation policy remains one of the most liberal.
Here’s all you need to know about cancelling your own Southwest flight.
It is pretty straightforward to cancel your Southwest flight. You may cancel your reservation by visiting southwest.com/cancel or by using the Southwest mobile app. Enter the first and last names of the ticketed passenger, as well as the reservation confirmation number.
You may also call Southwest reservations at 800-435-9792, or if you included your Rapid Rewards number on the first reservation, the flight will appear on your My Account page. Once you’ve input your flight information, any travel balances or refundable sums will be displayed next to the confirmation number.
Southwest flight change policy is straightforward: there are no change costs if you need to amend your travel reservation. You can alter your ticket as many times as you wish, but if the new flight is more expensive than the original, you must pay the difference. If you plan a last-minute flight, this might be rather costly.
To alter your Southwest travel, call the reservations department or search up your ticket online or on the app using the confirmation number and passenger details.
Also, bear in mind that merely requesting to modify your flight schedule isn’t enough. There must be an open seat on another aircraft, which proved difficult during the Great Southwest Meltdown during the winter vacations in 2022. Even while Southwest was eager to place clients on other flights at no additional cost, there simply weren’t enough seats on the few planes that were taking out, causing travellers to be delayed for up to a week.
Refunds for cancelled Southwest Airlines flights are determined not only by the kind of ticket purchased, but also by whether it was paid with cash or Rapid Rewards points. Furthermore, some flight add-ons, such as EarlyBird boarding, are nonrefundable. If you cancel a flight on which you booked EarlyBird boarding, you will not receive a refund.
For cash-booked flights
Wanna Get Away tickets are often the lowest-priced on the airline, and you will only get Southwest travel dollars if you cancel. The new Wanna Get Away plus fare is the same.
If you wish to receive your money returned in the original mode of payment rather than as a travel voucher, you must arrange an Anytime or Anywhere transaction.
When booking tickets using Southwest Rapid Rewards points
Southwest has a liberal cancellation policy for reward tickets. If you cancel a Southwest Rapid Rewards flight, your points will be instantly returned.
Furthermore, any taxes and fees paid with your points can be converted to travel cash for future travel or reimbursed to the original mode of payment.
The Southwest airline cancellation policy is straightforward: you can cancel your ticket at any time, with no fines, up to 10 minutes before the planned departure time.
If you used Rapid Rewards points to purchase a flight, they will be reimbursed to your reward account.
If you paid cash for your flight, it will be reimbursed to your payment method or converted into Southwest travel money, depending on the kind of fare you purchased.
Even if your reservation is nonrefundable, you can cancel within 24 hours of booking and obtain a refund in the original mode of payment or convert the ticket into travel money.
If you get Southwest travel money as a result of cancelling a Southwest Airlines journey, you should be aware that there are certain limitations to utilising your credit. The travel funds for Wanna Get Away Fares are only available with the confirmation number and the name of the original booked passenger — in other words, they are not transferable to anyone else. Wanna Get Away Plus, Business Select, and Anytime fares, on the other hand, can be transferred to another Rapid Rewards member.
The trip money has no expiration date, so you may keep it until you’re absolutely ready to utilise it, regardless of the sort of ticket you purchased.
If your plans change or the price reduces, you should consider cancelling your flight because the cancellation policy is customer-friendly and the process is pretty easy. You may always use your points, travel dollars, or cash refund to rebook.