How to Change or Cancel Airline Tickets

Ingolfson/Wikimedia Commons

There are plenty of reasons why the flight to your outdoor vacation might require a little adjustment. You could become sick, or the weather might take a severe turn for the worse. These are just some of the reasons why you might need to change or cancel your flight. How this is done depends heavily on who you bought the tickets from, there are some general guidelines you can follow.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Flight ticket and/or receipt Credit card used in the purchase
Flight ticket and/or receipt
Credit card used in the purchase

Step 1

Get a copy of your ticket and/or receipt, take out the credit card you used to pay for the flight and have your itinerary handy. Some of these could be on your computer screen if you don't have the paper versions, but you will need information from all of these things to make a change to or cancel your flight.

Step 2

Call whoever you purchased the tickets from. Even if your flight is entirely on American Airlines, for example, if you purchased the tickets through Travelocity, you need to speak to Travelocity and not American Airlines. Changes usually have to be made through an agent by telephone, but this is not always the case. Southwest Airlines permits some changes to be made online.

Step 3

Check to see if you bought a non-refundable ticket. It is almost always the case that a discounted ticket will be non-refundable. While you may be able to cancel the ticket in exchange for credit to be applied to another flight, you will not be able to cancel it for a refund.

Step 4

Be prepared to pay a hefty fee to make a change. US Airways, for example, charged $150 for changes to domestic and $250 for changes to international flights in 2009. Online travel agencies also charge fees. In 2009 Airfare.com charged $200 for domestic flights and $350 for international flights, which also covered the fee charged by the airline. This is not universally the case, however. In May 2009, Expedia announced they were permanently abolishing their change fees for most flights, but that still left fees charged by the airline. Some airlines, like Southwest Airlines, also do not charge change fees.

Step 5

Make your change or cancellation. Be aware that in addition to change fees, a change in flight might also mean changing to a more expensive ticket. In that case, you will be liable for both change fees and the difference in the relative prices between your old ticket and your new one. Also, change fees might be levied against your refund, so you might not get back the full value of your ticket.

Step 6

Mail in your receipt if you are seeking a ticket refund. This is a normal requirement in the event of a cancellation where leftover funds are not being "banked" as credit for a future ticket purchase.

Article Written By Edwin Thomas

Edwin Thomas has been writing since 1997. His work has appeared in various online publications, including The Black Table, Proboxing-Fans and others. A travel blogger, editor and writer, Thomas has traveled from Argentina to Vietnam in pursuit of stories. He holds a Master of Arts in international affairs from American University.

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