Canceling an airline ticket

[wfk122]

I bought 3 round trip tickets from Oh to ORlando from Travel Nows' website. Since I did this i am having second thoughts about flying. There policy is non-refundable for all tickets. Does anybody know of anyway to circumvent this? The charge for the tickets is on my credit card, but has not been paid yet.


Thanks

 

[Wish Upon A Star]

Unfortunately there is not much you can do We had airline tickets to travel Dec 1 - Dec 8 last year and we ended up cancelling because we were having construction done on our home that should have been completed in September. I wrote my credit card company and I contacted the airlines and I got absolutely no where. The only thing that the airlines told me was that my tickets were good for two years from the date of purchase and I can re-use them with a charge of $50/per ticket to reschedule a different flight. My credit card company could not do a thing for me . . .I not only wrote them, but I contacted a supervisor and basically what he told me was that the tickets were non-refundable/non-transferable and I was unfortunately stuck.

We are re-using our December 2001 tickets to return for a November 30th trip this year.

I know how you feel about flying, because I feel the same way, but I've decided that I'm flying no matter what. I'm flying out to WDW on July 4th, I'm scared, but I'm still flying. Then we are flying again November 30th. I've decided I'm not going to let terror warnings or terrorists stop me from going to WDW or anywhere else. Trust me, its a mind over matter thing. I've gone back and forth hundreds of times, should we fly, should we stay home, but in all comes down to one thing . . .if I stay home, I'll be miserable thinking I could've been at WDW.

 

[Tinky]

that's correct! Airline rules are so tight right now. I see both sides of the situation but i long for the days of easier air travel. Please keep in mind that non refundable rule is not the travel website you used, its the airlines. Unless you purchase a fully refundable ticket (at a very high price!) the tickets are yours for good. SW seems to have the most customer friendly way to exchange tickets.

Sorry wfk122. Just keep concentrating on how much fun your going to have once you get there!
You'll be fine!!

 

[dznyfan40]

Originally posted by Wish Upon A Star
I know how you feel about flying, because I feel the same way, but I've decided that I'm flying no matter what. I'm flying out to WDW on July 4th, I'm scared, but I'm still flying. Then we are flying again November 30th. I've decided I'm not going to let terror warnings or terrorists stop me from going to WDW or anywhere else. Trust me, its a mind over matter thing. I've gone back and forth hundreds of times, should we fly, should we stay home, but in all comes down to one thing . . .if I stay home, I'll be miserable thinking I could've been at WDW.

I just read this post, and I wanted to say BRAVO! I, too, am a fearful flier...have 4 tix on SW ready to go to our summer vaca in WDW, but still have plotted our driving route on the map (just in case!). I wanted to say that your response was very encouraging, and motivating to me. I hope the OP also takes comfort & support in it.

Happy Flying all!
Beth

 

[wfk122]

Just out of curiosity are your tickets from SW refundable, or if you decide not to fly are you just going to eat the cost?

 

[figment95]

I bought non refundable tickets on Delta in the beginning of September. DH and I don't like to fly anyway but after everything happened we were even more reluctant to get on a plane. We were supposed to fly out this Friday and we decided we would go anyway. A couple of weeks ago I called the airline to confirm our flights and found out that they had changed the time of our departing flight by about 1 1/2 hour. I told them that we could not make it to the airport at that time and we got a full refund. When I called I really wasn't expecting them to do anything for me but I figured I'd give it a try. They were actually very nice about it.

 

[dznyfan40]

Originally posted by wfk122
Just out of curiosity are your tickets from SW refundable, or if you decide not to fly are you just going to eat the cost?

We got a great deal on the SW tickets through their friends fly free program, so yes they are non refundable. If we decide to drive we will in fact eat the cost (I know thats nuts) At this point we're taking the position that we intend to fly, and we'll see how I well I handle it as the trip draws nearer.

Beth

 

[Dallas_Lady]

That is the downside to booking online and/or trying to get a good airfare. It is going to be non-refundable. Refundable airfare is always 2-3 times more expensive than non-refundable. Call the airline itself and they might give you a voucher for tickets at a later date, but I very seriouly doubt you will get any money back.

 

[Kim&Chris]

I feel your pain!!

We had tix for 9/29-10/3 for USAir. I am so terrified of flying that the mear thought of it makes me cringe. My DH is so understanding that he said it's OK to drive instead of fly, so we are eating the $320 we spent on the tickets.

I called USAir & asked them if there was ANY way to get around this, and I was told that they'll refund or exchange your tickets if you provide a valid doctor's note saying you're not fit to travel (due to pregnancy, illness, etc).

 

[lawgs]

dznyfan....you stated...

We got a great deal on the SW tickets through their friends fly free program, so yes they are non refundable. If we decide to drive we will in fact eat the cost (I know thats nuts) At this point we're taking the position that we intend to fly, and we'll see how I well I handle it as the trip draws nearer.

you can cancel the tickets with SW and they will issue you a credit that can be used later on ....with some "restrictions"...those being the funds will "expire" after a certain date ( think it is tied to when the tickets were booked but not sure )....but they do let you cancel and use the funds at a later time

in addition, you can use the funds to purchase tickets for others...we did this in May with some funds my bro in law had ....used it to buy his mother a r/t ticket to go with us to baltimore

so if you have tickets with SW all is not lost and you do not have to pay anything additional....but the funds do expire after a certain time

 

[dznyfan40]

Originally posted by lawgs
.but they do let you cancel and use the funds at a later time

in addition, you can use the funds to purchase tickets for others...we did this in May with some funds my bro in law had ....used it to buy his mother a r/t ticket to go with us to baltimore

so if you have tickets with SW all is not lost and you do not have to pay anything additional....but the funds do expire after a certain time

Thanks! Because of several of the messages on this board I did call SW and found out that if we choose not to use the tickets as purchased, we can use them for another trip as long as we use them within one year. We cannot sell, or assign these tickets to anyone else.

We don't travel all that much, though...we save our pennies for WDW every 2 years or so!
Thanks again,
Beth

 

[dznyfan40]

Originally posted by Kim&Chris
My DH is so understanding that he said it's OK to drive instead of fly, so we are eating the $320 we spent on the tickets.

God Bless your dh! Mine has said the same thing too, though I imagine he may be singing a different tune after 16 hours in the car with me and the 2 kids! lol!

Beth

 

[leslieh]

We just flew to Las Vegas on Southwest two weeks ago, this was about our 15 trip using southwest. We had absolutely no problem at all, the security was really tight (good). DH is a federal police sgt., showed his badge and the medal detector went off, they searched him totally. It was his $1.00 store sunglasses We were on a flight with a US Senator (can you believe sw?) We are flying next week to orlando on sw again, and have no worries.

 

[dznyfan40]

Originally posted by leslieh
We were on a flight with a US Senator (can you believe sw?) We are flying next week to orlando on sw again, and have no worries.

It is heartening to know that a US Senator is flying commercial airlines..and doubly so to know (s)he is flying SW.

Thanks for the encouraging post!
Beth

 

[pbhunt]

leslieh, that's too funny! I have a badge too. screener asked if that was a badge in purse, and I said yes. I was scanned 3 times through security for our Southwest flight(s), including the preboard scan which just about eliminated our early boarding pass # advantage!. On the way home, DH was pulled aside and scanned twice, I wasn't searched at all, go figure. --Patti