Flight Question

[916chipndale]

hi, this will be our first time flying. we are thinking about going december 12-18, but havent booked yet because we may need to cancel later on and that brings me to my question. if we book our flights ahead of time and have to cancel our trip beforehand, do we get our money back?or do we at least get a portion of the money back? we will be flying continental if that matters. TIA.

 

[Tara]

You will only get your money back if you buy refundable tickets. These are generally much more expensive than non-refundable tickets.

If you buy non-refundable tickets and have to cancel, you can use the value if those tickets for new tickets, but most airlines charge a substantial change fee for this. I think Continental charges $150 per ticket. And there's generally a time limit, like cancelled tickets lose their value one year from date of purchase or date of originally planned travel.

 

[DebbieB]

hi, this will be our first time flying. we are thinking about going december 12-18, but havent booked yet because we may need to cancel later on and that brings me to my question. if we book our flights ahead of time and have to cancel our trip beforehand, do we get our money back?or do we at least get a portion of the money back? we will be flying continental if that matters. TIA.

Depends on the type of ticket you buy. If you want to be able to cancel and get a full refund, you should buy a refundable ticket. If you buy a non-refundable ticket, you will get a credit for a future flight, minus a change fee.

If you are concerned about something unexpected coming up, I would suggest travel insurance, which would cover the cost of your tickets. They usually just cover illness, death, etc, not something like work related schedule changes.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

If there is a good chance that you will have to change the dates of the tickets, look at airlines with no change ticket fees (such as Southwest if they fly to your area), or airlines with lower fee change charges. Or as suggested buy a more expensive ticket with a no change fee.