How often do people buy refundable flights? According to Sky Key’s data, not very often.

First, what are refundable flights and how do I buy them?

What are refundable flights?

When you buy a refundable flight, you can cancel your flight and get all of your money back. For example, if you bought a flight to Chicago O’Hare for $500 and need to cancel your flight the day before, you will get your $500 refunded back to your credit card (or original form of payment).

How do I buy refundable flights?

It varies by airline, but more often that not, buying a refundable flight is just an extra step you have to do when booking your flight. Read this post to see how to buy refundable flights on Alaska, American, Delta, Southwest, and United Airlines.

How often do people book refundable flights?

Excluding business travelers, the vast majority of people don’t book refundable flights. Here is the percentage of flights that are refundable by airline:

A couple of observations from the above table:

• The 4.1% average means for every 1,000 flights purchased, about 41 are refundable. Or, for every 1,000 flights purchased, 959 are non-refundable. This makes it immediately clear that most flights purchased on the major US airlines are non-refundable.
• Why does Southwest have the highest percentage of flights that are refundable? If you book a Choice Preferred or Choice Extra fare, your flight is automatically refundable. In other words, these flights are refundable out-of-the-box- you don’t need to jump through additional hoops to make them refundable.
• Why does Alaska have the smallest percentage of flights that are refundable? Because many people book Alaska flights using miles/points, more so than any other major US airline. Taking out flights booked using miles/points gets Alaska’s percentage of refundable flights closer to the average.

Do I have to buy refundable flights to save money on Sky Key?

No. Sky Key saves you money, miles, and credits on flights you’ve already booked.

• If you book non-refundable flights, Sky Key savings come back as credits
• If you book refundable flights, Sky Key savings come back as refunds to your original form of payment (most often your credit card)
• If you book flights using miles/points, Sky Key savings come back to your airline account

Got more questions about refundable flights? Just let us know.

– Billy Bund. Co-Founder @ Sky Key