You can cancel your Southwest booking without paying any cancellation charges! Sounds good? But there is more to Southwest cancellation policy that makes your travel cost-effective. Having one of the best airlines cancellation policies, Southwest makes your flights convenient and affordable.
If you have to cancel your confirmed booking with Southwest, the airline refunds you as per your ticket type. Your refund also depends on the time when you canceled your reservation. Now, let’s go through the following account to know more about the cancellation policy if the airline and learn how it is making flight trips easier.
What is Southwest Cancellation Policy?
If you have to cancel your booking, know its rules. For your reference, here are Southwest flight cancellation policy highlights –
- If you cancel your booking more than 10 minutes before your flight’s scheduled departure, Southwest refunds into your original payment mode or gives you flight credit for future bookings.
- When tickets purchased with cash are canceled, the airline refunds to your payment mode or converts into Southwest travel funds, as per your fare type.
- For bookings made with Rapid Rewards, the airline refunds the points into your loyalty account on cancellation.
- With a Rapid Rewards account, you can transfer the following to anyone else –
- Wanna Get Away Plus
- Business Select
- Anytime fares
- Wanna Get Away Fares are non-transferrable.
- As per Southwest 24-hour cancellation policy, tickets canceled within 24 hours of booking are eligible for a full refund. The policy is applicable to all ticket types. Refundable tickets get the amount credit into their original payment mode and non-refundable opens get travel funds.
Please note
Your Southwest flight credits never expire, no matter what your ticket type is.
How to Cancel a Southwest Flight?
When you are traveling with Southwest but have to cancel your flight booking because of any circumstance, follow the simple steps below.
Online Southwest Flight Cancellation
- Visit the official website of Southwest Airlines or its app.
- Click on the option of Manage Reservations.
- 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 phone call.
- Dial 800-435-9792.
- Listen to and follow the IVR instructions.
- Once a live executive gets connected, request your booking cancellation.
- Share the details required.
For any assistance on flight cancellation, get in touch with the customer care representatives of the airline.
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.
What is Southwest Airlines Refund Policy?
On booking cancellation, travelers want to know about Southwest refund policy so that they can request refunds accordingly. Let’s go through the policy highlights here –
- With Southwest Airlines, you get a full refund on flight cancellation for all ticket types as per its 24-hour refund policy.
- Cancellations after this 24-hour period, refund as per your fare type.
- Southwest gives flight credits to Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Plus tickets that are nonrefundable.
- Business Select and Anytime tickets are refundable and get a refund to the original form of payment.
Can I Get a Refund when Southwest Airlines Cancels a Flight?
You have purchased tickets on Southwest Airlines but the airline cancels your flight. Don’t worry. To make it correct for you, Southwest automatically rebooks another flight so that 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
Cancel your flight
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 of 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.
How to Cancel or Change a Southwest Flight for One Traveler in the Booking?
For canceling or changing booking for only one passenger when two or more were traveling together –
- Divide the booking.
- Change/cancel the reservation to upgrade.
- Divide your reservation or change the number of people traveling online without needing to call.
Once done, the airline emails you a new confirmation number for the travelers divided off the original booking.
For assistance, call 1-800-435-9792.
Wrapping Up
Therefore, follow the customer-friendly Southwest cancellation policy if you have to cancel your bookings. Flexible and simple, the policy makes your travel smooth. Moreover, Southwest doesn’t charge you a cancellation fee and refunds you the ticket value.
So, if you have to cancel your reservation with Southwest or want to rebook when prices drop, you won’t be at loss. The airline keeps you covered with its mart approaches and policies.
