Southwest Airlines Cancellation Policy

We’ve all dealt with the heat of last-minute travel changes that led to rigid cancellation policies and sky-high cancellation fees which can sometimes cost as much as the ticket itself. Southwest Airlines cancellation policy said to be the most flexible when it comes to cancellations and changes of your travel reservation. It is one of the straightforward and no boat-around-the-bush policies out there. Southwest Airlines is one such airline that puts the customer first. Here we break down all the details of the Southwest flight cancellation policy – 

• No cancellation fee
• No change fee
• No need to wait on the pesky calls to request Southwest Airlines cancellations. You can cancel quickly and easily on official website or through the mobile app. 

Southwest Airlines Flight Cancellation Policy

Here are the important highlights from the Southwest Airlines cancellation policy – 

• The Airline offers three kinds of fares – Wanna Get Away, Anytime, and Business Select. When canceling a Southwest Airlines flight Wanna Get Away fare can be reusable but not refundable, while Anytime and Business Select fare are fully refundable as well as reusable.
• As per Southwest cancellation policy, Wanna Get Away, Anytime, and Business Select fares can be used for a future trip up to one year from the original date of purchase by the originally ticketed passenger only. 
• Fares are reusable as well as refundable as long as they were canceled in accordance with Southwest Airlines no show policy, where a flight needs to be canceled at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled flight departure. 
• In case of the Anytime and Business fares, upon requesting Southwest Airlines cancellations, passengers have the option to receive the refund in the original form of payment or Travel Funds for future use. 
• While canceling Southwest Airlines flights booked with fare points, the remaining point balance will be credited back to the account from which they were booked. Ant taxes and fees will be eligible for a Southwest Airline flight refund. 

Southwest 24 Hour Cancellation

As per Southwest 24 hour cancellation policy, you can cancel your flight booking online or through the app within 24 hours of booking. You can receive a Southwest Airlines cancel flight refund of any fare back to the original form of payment, or you can opt to generate Travel Funds. 

To cancel a flight feel free to reach us at cancellations helpline at within 24 hours of booking. 

Southwest Airlines Flight Cancellation Fee

The chart below gives you an overview of Southwest Airlines flight cancellation fee in comparison with six other major airlines. In general, any major carrier in the US charges a cancellation fee of 200 USD once the 24-hour window gets surpassed. While airlines do not charge any flight cancellation fee.

Airline	Ticket Cancellation Fee	Same-Day Cancel Fee
Alaska	125 USD	25 USD
Delta	200 USD (up to $450 on some international fares)	50 USD
Frontier	50 – 100 USD	25 – 50 USD
Jet Blue	75 – 150 USD	50 USD
United	200 USD	75 USD
Southwest	Free	None – but fare difference may apply

How to Cancel Southwest Airlines Flight?

In this post, we will discuss Southwest cancel flight reservation procedure – 

Cancel a Southwest Airlines Flight Online

Here’s the step-by-step procedure of Southwest Airlines cancellations online – 

• Navigate through Souithwest.com on the desktop website or open the Southwest Airlines mobile app, and select ‘Look Up Reservation’ in the menu. 
• As per Southwest Airlines rapid rewards cancellation policy, passengers who booked flights via Rapid Rewards can cancel or change Southwest reservation by logging in and looking it up in their account. 
• Enter the six-digit confirmation number and the passenger’s name in the required field.
• You will see available travel funds or Southwest Airlines flight refund balance attached to the booking confirmation you have entered. 
• If you have Southwest cancel flight refund value available, you can choose to receive a refund or convert the airfare into travel funds. 
• Click on the ‘Cancel flight’ button to cancel the flight. You can also select a specific passenger for Southwest Airlines cancellation, in case, the attached booking confirmation you have has more than one passenger. 
• As per Southwest Airlines refund policy, airfare refund may take one to two billing cycles to reflect the refund in the account statement. 

Cancel a Southwest Airlines Flight over the Phone

Passengers can cancel their flight and make Southwest Airlines refund request over the phone by – 

• Dial Southwest Airlines cancellation phone number.
• Keep your six-digit booking reference along with the passenger’s name handy in order to retrieve the booking.
• Ask the travel expert to cancel the booking. Keep a check on the Travel Funds or refundable value associated with your booking. 
• Southwest Airlines flight refund may take one to two billing cycles to reflect the refund in the account statement. 

Cancel a Southwest Airlines flight at the airport counter

Passengers can request Southwest Airlines cancellations at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure and can be requested at the airport counter with one of the airlines customer representatives. 

Southwest Airlines Cancelled Flight Compensation

As per Southwest Airlines cancellation policy, passengers are entitled to get Southwest Airlines cancelled flight compensation if the flight is delayed at least three hours or more prior to the scheduled departure. Passengers are entitled to  – 

• 325 USD for the flight distance shorter than 1500 km
• 475 USD for the flight distance between 1500 and 3500 km
• 725 USD for flights longer than 3500 km

Passengers are entitled to get Southwest Airlines cancelled flight compensation under the following circumstances  – 

• Health emergencies where a host country puts travel restrictions
• Weather cancellations scenario such as bad weather, snowstorm
• Medical emergency
• Riots or State emergency
• Severe traffic while reaching the departing airport
• Airport strikes
• Airlines bankruptcy 
• Flight fails to reach the final destination or stopover
•  Passengers fail to board the connecting flight

Southwest Airlines Vacation Packages Cancellation

If your plans change, you must immediately cancel or change your package. Here are the important takeaways from the Southwest Airlines vacation packages cancellation policy – 

• If you haven’t added Travel Insurance to your packages, and request for cancellations, any refund will be in the form of a travel credit.
• If your vacation package includes a Wanna getaway fare, and you make Southwest cancel flight reservation request at least10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure, the refund on the airfare would be issued in the form of travel credit and remains valid for 12 months from the date of issuance.
• Southwest vacation packages do not charge any cancellation fees for the air portion of your booking. 
• Once booked, any  Southwest Airlines cancellations on the hotel or car rental are subject to suppliers’ penalties. Passengers can avoid penalties by purchasing the Southwest Vacations’ Travel Protection option. 

Southwest Refund Policy

Here are the important highlights from the Southwest Airlines ticket refund policy – 

• Not all Southwest Airlines’ fares are refundable. When canceling a Southwest Airlines flight Wanna Get Away fare can be reusable but not refundable, while Anytime and Business Select fare are fully refundable as well as reusable.
• Southwest Airlines cancel flight refund would be issued to the unused portion of the ticket. 
• Refundable fares that do not carry any restrictions may be applied towards future travel or can be applied for cancel flight reservation refund within 12 months from the date of issuance. 
• All original flight refunds would be credited to the original form of payment. 

Here’s the overview of Southwest Airlines cancellation policy for refundable fares as well as non-refundable fares based on the cancellation rule – 

Fare	Reusable (applied as Travel Funds toward a future trip)	Refundable
Wanna Get Away	Yes	No
Anytime	Yes	Yes
Business Select	Yes	Yes

Southwest Flight Cancellation Policy for Non-refundable Tickets

For non-refundable fares such as Wanna Get Away fares, passengers are entitled to get a 100% Southwest Airlines flight refund if requested a cancellation for the same within 24 hours of booking. You will get – 

• Either a 100% refund which is to be credited back in the original form of payment
• Or, choose to convert the airfare into Travel Funds which is to be used towards future travel.

Beyond, 24 hours, while canceling a Southwest Airlines flight Wanna Get Away fare can be reusable but not refundable. Please ensure – 

• Passengers need to cancel a reservation in accordance with the no-show cancellation policy at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure.
• Passengers need to complete the travel within one year from the original date of booking. 

Southwest Airlines Covid-19 Update

Southwest Airlines is aware that government mandates have resulted in travel restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic outbreak. These restrictions include – 

• Flight cancellations
• Potential quarantines
• COVID test upon arrival and/or departures
• Temperature test upon boarding and landing 

In such a scenario, the airline is offering maximum flexibility by – 

• No Southwest Airlines cancellations fees or change fee
• Non-refundable tickets such as Wanna Get Away fares getting a flight canceled or rescheduled on the travel date can be applied to future travel if only canceled as per Southwest Airlines no-show policy (Southwest Airlines cancel flight reservation 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure)
• Anytime and Business select fares’ schedule getting canceled on the travel date can be applied towards future travel.

Frequently Asked Questions – (FAQs)

---

Related Pages