Simply put, there are no fees associated with changing or cancelling a Southwest flight Change. Southwest Airlines doesn't operate under the same business model as other airlines, which may charge you far over $100 to modify an already-booked itinerary. Additionally, Southwest Airlines flight credits are now perpetual.
Southwest has some of the most forgiving cancellation and refund policies available. So you're in luck if you need to alter or void a Southwest Airlines flight. What you need to know is as follows.
Southwest makes cancelling a flight quite simple. Both paid reservations and award reservations follow a fairly similar procedure.
Southwest offers four different categories of fares: Business Select, Wanna Get Away, and Wanna Get Away Plus. For each of these fares, a different Southwest refund policy applies.
Since these are the least expensive fare choices, most travellers tend to buy Wanna Get Away or Wanna Get Away Plus flights. Both of these prices are non-refundable.
If you must cancel your Change Southwest flight, you will get a credit for the full amount paid as long as you do so more than 10 minutes before the flight's planned departure. The only method to transfer this fare credit to another Rapid Rewards member is if you purchased a Wanna Get Away Plus fare, as it no longer has an expiration date.
Additionally, you are entitled to a full refund (per Department of Transportation regulations) if you cancel a paid reservation within 24 hours of purchasing the flight. You won't need to worry about a flight credit because the money paid is returned to the credit card you used to make the flight reservation.
The entire refund applies to the Anytime and Business Select fares. You'll get your money refunded on the credit card you used to make the reservation if you have to cancel your flight.
You can easily cancel your flight online if you made your reservation directly with Southwest. Even if you reserved a round-trip itinerary, you are still able to change just one way.
Southwest shows all of your upcoming reservations in your account. Click the "Cancel flight" link next to the appropriate flight to make changes to your flight.
Keep in mind that if the flight is cancelled, everyone on the schedule will also be cancelled. If you want to cancel only one traveller from a multi-person reservation, you'll need to contact Southwest Airlines Change Flight Policy for help.
The procedure is the same whether you purchased a paid price or used Southwest points to reserve an award ticket. Southwest will nonetheless ask you how you want the taxes and fees you paid to be returned if your reservation was made using points.
If you want to make sure that the money is returned to your credit card, choose "Refund to method of payment." You'll wind up with Southwest travel funds if you don't.
It's simple to change a Southwest flight, and there are no additional fees. If you want to go on a different day, take a different flight on the same day, or go somewhere entirely different, changing a trip can be helpful.
Instead of cancelling and rebooking, altering a flight offers the advantage that, if you booked EarlyBird Check-in, the fee will remain with your reservation. If you purchase this add-on and then need to cancel your flight, you won't get your money back.
While there are no fees for altering a Southwest trip, you may be charged the difference in price if your new itinerary is more expensive.
In contrast, if the cost of your ticket decreases, you will be given the difference as either a travel credit (for Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Plus fares) or a refund to the original payment method (for Anytime and Business Select fares).
If you book a Wanna Get Away Plus, Anytime, or Business Select fare and want to make a same-day modification, there is no additional cost. With this choice, southwest airlines change flight will waive any fees associated with changing your itinerary to another airline departing on the same day and travelling the same route.
One of the nicest scenarios is changing a Southwest flight you bought with points. If your new itinerary costs fewer points than your current itinerary, the difference in points goes right back to your account. Otherwise, the terms are the same as a paid reservation.
This still applies if the cost of your flight has decreased. You can ultimately re-price your current fare by going through the "Southwest flight Change" procedure, and you'll immediately receive the points difference back in your account.
There's no need to put off booking your flights because of Southwest's simple-to-use change policy. After all, especially during a Southwest sale, you can periodically check to see if the prize price has decreased.
Southwest is quite accommodating when it comes to letting you pick another flight that works best for you — without charging you more money — in the event of weather delays or schedule adjustments.
When a weather alert is in effect (such as one for a hurricane, snowstorm, or other event), the airline is extremely open about adding potential cities to the list as soon as feasible. By doing this, you can move your flight to a different date in advance to avoid last-minute cancellations.
Southwest gives passengers a longer grace period than any other airline, allowing you to change your travel for 14 days in either direction.
You can even switch the airport you'll be flying into or out of as long as it's in the same area. For instance