Nonchangeable, nonrefundable tickets

[Scuba]

That's amazing... didn't realize that. I definitely need to give much stronger consideration to SW when I book future flights. Even if I have to pay $10-20 more to book each flight on SW vs. Delta, it's probably worth it over the long run if I average one cancelled or changed flight out of every dozen or so.

SW is great! No change fees, no bag fees, early bird boarding for $15. I fly them whenever I can.

 

[Chuckanut]

There's a lot to be said for SW.

One tactic I have heard about to get around the no-refund policy is to buy the non-refundable tickets and then buy 'cancel for any reason' insurance. However, I can't help but wonder if this is cost effective. That is, what is the price of a fully refundable ticket versus a no-refund ticket and the insurance.

 

[njhowie]

When something similar happened to me, I was able to get a credit for future travel from Southwest which was satisfactory to me.

Standard operating procedure with Southwest. You can cancel at any time for any reason with Southwest on the website, and it automatically saves what you paid as travel funds for the named passenger. Come back and book another flight any time within a year of when the tickets were purchased and you simply provide the original confirmation in the payment screen and you're golden.

If you see a lower fare pop up for your itinerary any time before your trip, maybe a flight at a different time/day that works for you, simply click to change your flight to the new one (or even the same one if its price dropped) and it will likewise store the difference as travel funds which can be used as credit for another flight within a year of original purchase date.

When you add the no change fee benefits, and on top of that the 2 free checked bags, carry-ons, and no games like "basic economy" Southwest is the way to go. We won't fly any other carrier unless we are forced to.