There is another option as well, if you are not travelling at a peak time, and which would allow you to purchase a discounted ticket and still get the value back for use by yourself or someone else.
As long as you have a Rapid Rewards account, you can purchase Rapid Rewards points to use for the ticket. In the event that an itinerary that was purchased on points is cancelled, the points go back into the account of the person who purchased them, not to the account of the ticket holder (unless of course those are both the same person.) You would not get a cash refund, just the points back for later use, but unlike a credit, points can be re-used for another passenger.
I have certain family members who back out on travel plans more often than they follow through, and this is how I always buy their tickets now.
This option is NOT viable if you are travelling at a peak holiday time such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Spring Break, etc., because award seats are very seldom available at such times.