A guide to the Southwest cancellation policy (plus flights from $59 with the new sale)

Post originally Published January 4, 2017 || Last Updated April 13, 2020

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What's the Southwest cancellation policy?


Strangely enough, you can actually cancel a 'nonrefundable' Southwest Airlines flightwithin 24 hours of booking without penalty, which is very useful if you don't want to lose a seat but still want to compare prices elsewhere once it's secured.You're refunded back to your original form of payment or you can retain credit.

However, Southwest also lets youchange or cancel your reservation up toten minutes prior to the scheduled departure, to get a credit for the full amount of your fare, which you can use on future travel up toa year out. You'll need to pay the extra if your future flight costs more of course, but very few airlinesare this generous, especially with cheap fares like Southwest's 'Wanna Get Away'.

A guide to the Southwest cancellation policy (plus flights from $59 with the new sale)

The Southwest site also states that if you have arefundable ticketless flight reservation and your flight has already departed, you can still submit a refund request!

What else is in this post?

  1. What's the Southwest cancellation policy?
  2. What else do I need to know about the Southwest cancellation policy?
  3. What's the current Southwest sale?
  4. How do I get the current Southwest sale?

What else do I need to know about the Southwest cancellation policy?


We've championed various Southwest policies before, including two free checked bags and no change fees. Southwest's cancellation policy is one of the best there is among airlines and another great reason to fly with them. Yet another reason is Southwest's sales...

What's the current Southwest sale?


A guide to the Southwest cancellation policy (plus flights from $59 with the new sale)

Southwest has just released a new international and nationwide salefor the New Year, with fares starting at just $59when you book by January 26th, 2017. The cheap one-way advance fares are for:

  • Domestic US flights betweenJanuary 24th and May 24th, 2017

  • Travel to or from Puerto Rico's San Juan betweenJanuary 24th and March 2nd, 2017

  • Other international flights between January 10th andMarch 2nd, then April 18th to May 8th, 2017


International destinations in this sale include Cancun, Mexico City, Cabo, San Juan and Liberia.

As usual with Southwest sales, you need to check which days of the week are valid for each market; for instance, you can't fly domestic on Fridays or Sundays with this particular sale.

How do I get the current Southwestsale?


Book your flight hereby January 26th, 2017.

Note that you can book with your Rapid Rewards points, but the booking won't include taxes, fees or other government and airport charges of at least $5.60 per one-way segment.

You can check all of the T&C for this offer here.

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