When you book a non-refundable airline ticket, you can’t cancel your flight and get your money back. What usually happens is you cancel your flight and either:

1) lose your money (on basic/basic economy tickets) or

2) get a credit in your airline account that can be used on a future flight (yes… these credits typically expire)

On the other hand, when you book a refundable airline ticket, if you need to cancel your trip, you can get your money back. Whatever the reason may be (you get sick, you want to stay for an additional day, etc), you can cancel your flight and get a refund back to your credit card or original form of payment.  

In other words, the difference between refundable and non-refundable tickets is if your ticket is refundable, you can cancel your flight and get your money back. Whereas with non-refundable tickets, you either lose your money or get an airline credit to use for a future flight. 

Ok, well, what airlines offer refundable tickets? Here are the major United States based airlines that offer refundable tickets: 

Alaska Airlines

• Refundable to original payment, if you pay the extra cost (otherwise, they default to a travel credit): Main, Premium, and First
• Non-Refundable: Saver 

American Airlines

• Fully refundable to original form of payment: Main Select
• Refundable to original payment, if you pay the extra cost (otherwise, they default to a travel credit): Main, Business, First
• Refundable as travel credit only: Main Plus
• Non-Refundable: Basic Economy

Delta

• Fully Refundable to original form of payment: Main Refundable, Comfort Refundable, First Refundable
• Refundable as travel credit only: Main, Comfort, First
• Non-Refundable: Main Basic 

Southwest 

• Fully Refundable to original form of payment: Anytime, Business Select 
• Refundable as travel credit only: Wanna Get Away Plus 
• Non-Refundable: Basic Fare

United Airlines

• Fully refundable to original form of payment: Economy (fully refundable)
• Refundable to original form of payment, if you pay the extra cost (otherwise, they default to a travel credit): Economy Plus, Premium Economy, Business/First
• Refundable as travel credit only: Economy
• Non-Refundable: Basic Economy

Ok, so how do you get a refundable ticket? To make a ticket fully refundable to your original form of payment, you usually have to pay a fee. This fee can range from as low as $50 per ticket to $100s of dollars on some tickets. 

Because it costs more to book a refundable ticket, at Sky Key, we recommend booking a refundable ticket if you:

• want the ultimate travel flexibility 
• are pretty confident you are going to cancel your trip
• are booking a backup flight that you will cancel at the last minute (after you are confident your real flight, usually on the same day and around the same time, is actually going to takeoff and leave on time) 

If you have any questions about refundable flight tickets, or how to book refundable tickets, always feel free to reach out to support@theskykey.com or read this related blog post about refundable tickets.

– Billy Bund. Co-Founder @ Sky Key