1. When the law is on your side
Many travelers are unaware that there are some regulations in place that ensure airline customers are covered in some situations. If your travel ticket is within, from, or to the United States, you are covered thanks to regulations from the
US Department of Transportation (DOT)
. If your flight is at least 7 days away from the time of booking, you are entitled to a full refund within the first 24 hours of booking with no fee.
This only applies to tickets bought directly through the airline and not via other services providers such as
online travel agencies (OTAs)
. In response to this, many OTAs offer even more flexibility than the regulations require.
Many airlines offer more flexibility than this too. Companies like Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, and United Airlines offer more flexibility to customers booking above basic fares. American Airlines adhere to the 24-hour regulation but have also made this eligible to travelers who have booked at least 2 days prior to departure rather than 7. Southwest airlines, on the other hand, have never charged for cancellation or change fees regardless of the fare purchased. As a Southwest passenger, you can cancel or change your booking up to 10 minutes before your scheduled departure time, and you don’t need to be traveling first class to do so.