Flight cancelations are always challenging – after all, you have to pay hefty cancelation charges to call off your journey. But what if you can cancel your bookings without costing a cent? Don’t get surprised, as you can drop out of your current travel for free as long as you are traveling with Southwest Airlines.
If you cancel your confirmed booking with Southwest, the airline refunds you as per your ticket type. Be mindful that your refund also depends on the time when you canceled your reservation. Eager to know more? Review the Southwest Cancellation Policy to know more about the key terms and conditions and cancel your flights accordingly.
What is the Southwest Cancellation Policy?
Have you made up your mind about canceling your Southwest flights? Hold on and find the key pointers to understand the policy from the inside and out. Here are Southwest flight cancellation policy highlights. Scroll through them and make notes.
- Southwest refunds into your original payment mode or gives you flight credit for future bookings if you cancel your booking at least 10 minutes before your flight’s scheduled departure.
- The airline issues refunds based on your fare type. It processes refunds either to your original payment mode or converts them into Southwest travel credit.
- For bookings made with Rapid Rewards, the airline refunds the points to your loyalty account upon cancellation.
- With a Rapid Rewards account, you can transfer the following to anyone else –
- Wanna Get Away Plus
- Business Select
- Anytime fares
Southwest 24-Hour Cancellation Policy
Like most airlines, Southwest also offers a risk-free window to cancel flight tickets for free. Here’s what you should need to know.
- As per the Southwest 24-hour cancellation policy, tickets canceled within 24 hours of booking are eligible for a full refund.
- Make sure your flight is at least 7 days away from the scheduled departure.
- The policy is applicable to all ticket types, refundable or non-refundable.
- Refundable tickets get the amount credited into their original payment mode, and non-refundable opens get travel funds.
- Be mindful that your Southwest flight credits never expire, no matter what your ticket type is.
How to Cancel a Southwest Flight?
Southwest Airlines offers multiple ways to cancel your flight ticket. You can either visit the official website or call the airline’s personnel to call your journey. Let’s outline both methods in a bit of detail.
Online Method
- Visit the official website of Southwest Airlines or launch the Southwest Airlines’ app.
- Click the “Manage Reservations” tab.
- The airline redirects you to a new page.
- Click the Cancel flight link.
- You will be taken to the Cancel Flight Reservation page.
- In the fields shown below, enter your –
- Booking confirmation number
- First name
- Last name
- Click the Continue button.
- Follow the instructions to successfully cancel your reservation.
Canceling Southwest Rapid Rewards Bookings
- For reservations that include your Rapid Rewards, find your flight on the My Account page.
- Enter your flight details required.
- Check any refundable amount or travel balance.
- Click on the Cancel button.
Offline Southwest Flight Cancellation
Alternatively, canceling your Southwest flight reservation can be made on a phone call.
- Dial 800-435-9792 and listen to and follow the IVR instructions.
- Once a live executive gets connected, request your booking cancellation.
- Share the details required, such as your confirmation code, Last Name, and First Name.
- Allow them to check the refund options and discuss your preferences.
What is Southwest Flight Cancellation Fee?
Southwest doesn’t charge you for canceling your booking. You can cancel your tickets and request a refund. The airline refunds you as per your ticket type.
- Refundable tickets get credit to their original payment form.
- Non-refundable tickets get flight credits.
- Rapid Rewards points are redeposited into your account.
Canceling Business Select and Anytime Tickets
Business Select and Anytime tickets are refundable; hence, you can get a refund in the original form of payment. These are flexible and will offer you the cash value back when canceled. Here’s what you should know when canceling the Business Select and Anytime tickets.
- Passengers flying with Business Select and Anytime tickets can get a refund in the original form of payment.
- The airline typically takes up to seven business days to process your refund if purchases were made using a credit card and 20 days if paid by cash.
- Flyers can hold the value of their ticket as a flight credit and use it for further bookings.
Southwest Cancelation Policy for Gift Cards
What if you have paid for Southwest flights using gift cards? Can you cancel such tickets? Will the airline offer refunds for them? Scroll through the page and find all the answers here.
- Firstly, flights booking with gift cards will be considered as Non-Refundable.
- If you cancel such flights, the value will be automatically converted into Southwest travel credits.
- However, unlike other travel funds, these credits often come with an expiration date, which is typically 12 months from issuance.
What is Southwest Airlines’ Refund Policy?
Travelers often want to know about the Southwest refund policy so that they can request refunds accordingly. Let’s go through the policy highlights here to avoid unpleasant surprises.
- With Southwest Airlines, you get a full refund on flight cancellation for all ticket types as per its 24-hour refund policy.
- Cancellations made after this 24-hour period are eligible for a refund per the fare type.
- Southwest gives flight credits to Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Plus tickets.
What if Southwest Airlines Cancels Your Flight?
You have purchased tickets on Southwest Airlines, but the airline cancels your flight. Don’t worry, Southwest automatically rebooks another flight so you can reach your destination without any hassle.
In addition to this, the airline offers you a few options –
- If the airline informed you of your new confirmed booking, simply board your flight.
- You can cancel or change a new Southwest flight booking if –
- The new reservation doesn’t match your plans
- You are not rebooked automatically
If you don’t want to travel after Southwest cancels your flight, select from –
- A method-of-payment refund
- A flight credit
Change your flight
As per the Southwest cancellation policy, you can change the flight time/date in the original booking up to 14 days before your scheduled departure. You can do it twice without any extra charges.
For more information, get in touch with the customer service representative of Southwest.
Wrapping Up
Follow the customer-friendly Southwest cancellation policy if you have to cancel your bookings. The best part is that Southwest doesn’t charge you a cancellation fee and refunds you the ticket value. So, what are you waiting for? If you have to cancel your reservation with Southwest or want to rebook when prices drop, you won’t be at a loss. Do you need more assistance? Dial the airline’s toll-free number and seek immediate human support.
