nelsonian

About 3 weeks ago the same day the bookings were extended out to May 10th 2007, I booked a flight from Oakland to Baltimore for April 4th 2007 at
$173.30 including taxes. When I first looked at the site there were internet special one way fares available for
$109.00 but when I went to actually book that fare had disappeared, I then panicked and booked the next cheapest as it was around Easter and thought all the cheap flight might go in a hurry. I have just gone into the site again today, looked at the same flight and the cheap $109.00 is back.Is it possible to cancel the reservation I have, rebook and get a refund of the price difference. The booking was done via credit card.

gail

Some SWA fares are marked as refundable, cheapest ones are not - what did the fare you booked say on the site when you booked? If not, check fare rules in fine print on your e-ticket - depending on fare class, you may get a partial credit for future travel. But my guess is you own that flight at that fare.

amwosu

If you booked on the website you can go ahead and reserve the $109 flights first, then go to "Travel Center" and cancel the more expensive flights at no penalty to you.

Some of the money from the canceled flights will be refundable to your credit card (not much) and some will be held by SWA for credit for later flights.

You have a year to use that credit. When you are ready to use the credit you must know the confirmation number from the canceled flight in order to access the credit so be sure you print that info out when you cancel and keep it in your files.

I fly SWA all the time because they are inexpensive and fly direct to my usual destinations. I love that there is never a change fee or penalty for changing or canceling flights as my plans sometimes change.

BeachBoi

nelsonian.....The 173.30 fare is a non refundable fare.No portion of a non refundable fare will be refunded, to your credit card or anywhere else.You must cancel the reservation you have now, completely, before the credit is available for you to use to purchase the new $109 fare, which btw will be $122.60 with the taxes.Now, that could be a little tricky.Once you have completed the cancellation, and you go back into the availability you had seen previously, the $109 fare may or may not be there.There is a small amount of risk.But you must complete the cancellation first.I have been on their website, almost completing a reservation and boom, it crashed.It happens.Maybe not a lot and there will be tons of travellers who have no difficulties.A slight technicality: assuming you get the lower fare, the $50 odd credit remaining after you book the new reservation, will remain a credit for one year from the date of original purchase.It has nothing to do with date of travel.Good Luck!

Lori

I've booked at SW with one fare and later saw that the Internet or Promotional fare was now available. I just went into Travel Center and pulled up Change and did it right there (no canceling one and re-booking). It always works just fine and the difference in price (a "credit") is then posted as monies to be used on a future flight (you have a year from the date of original booking).

Lori

Actually I just did this a minute ago and now have a $40 credit to be used on future travel. It's very easy to do via their Change screen.

j_999_9

Ditto what Lori said. SW really seems to have a lot of this stuff figured out. No wonder they're killing the other airlines.

nelsonian

I have a slight problem now. I didn't wait for all your advice as it was 10pm in NZ and around 3am where the majority of you guys live and no was answering me at that hour of the morning(I wonder why). Anyway I went ahead and cancelled thinking I could use the credit for the new flight but when I booked the new flight it said there was no credit there. Then I thought maybe my credit card just gets refunded so I went ahead and charged my credit card. About 10 minutes later I got two e-mails one showing I had a $ 173.30 credit which can be used against future flights within 12 months, the other stating the new flight was confirmed and credit card charged. That would be no problem normally but as we live in NZ and I have booked all our internal flights in the US when we go for our trip I am unlikey to use the credit. Is it transferable to some-one else like a friend in the US? If not I guess my cost saving exercise just back-fired. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I don't think I will try changing my husband's flight to the cheaper one!!!!

BeachBoi

nelsonian...Yes, anyone can use the credit.If you book it over the phone,they just have to know whose name is on the credit card.Glad things worked out.Dont know about using someone else's credit when booking on line.I'm not so generous myself...

Lori

It will entail a long distance (not toll free) call to SW headquarters in Texas but if I were you I'd call their Customer Relations at 214-792-4223 and explain. You might get lucky and a rep will Credit your credit card. I have actually had them extend expiration dates on credits, so if you ask nicely you never know !!

amwosu

You have 24 hours to cancel a flight after you book it. Its a law but many people don't know it.

I guess that doesn't really help in your case, you still will end up not using all of the credit you have in your account...

GoTravel

amwosu, do you have a link? I tried googling and could not find a thing.

amwosu

A link to SWA to cancel within 24 hrs or a link about the law? I don't have either but I've always done the 24 hr cancellation by phone.

I booked air to Alaska online (NWA or Continental)then DH realized he didn't have enough vacation days for two weeks there. No problem with a full refund.
Another time I booked flights for the wrong month....duh.... middle of the night, not enough caffeine...

amwosu

Okay, maybe not a law. I know that you can cancel within 24 hrs on airlines like US Airways, America West, NWA, United, and Air Canada.

Here is something I found from Northwest. "Northwest Airlines will allow our customers to refund a ticket without penalty for up to 24 hours in order to give customers an opportunity to check for lower fares through other distribution systems, such as travel agents or the Internet."