Orbitz 24 Hour Cancellation Policy vs Direct Flight Policy
Mar 20, 2016, 10:14 am
#1
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 24
Orbitz 24 Hour Cancellation Policy vs Direct Flight Policy
I almost always book directly with orbitz. Reason is because i used the 24 hour courtesy cancel a lot. I make lot of changes and many times cancel and rebook it etc. They basically let you do it up to next night 10pm central time.
I usually fly with jetblue. I have booked directly with jetblue before. They told me you can cancel up to 24 hours free of charge. However... they say thats only if flight is more than a week away.
With orbitz, they tell me its 24 hour cancellation free of charge even if the flight is the next day. Can someone confirm if this is true or not? Example let say i book flight now for a flight 5 days away. with jetblue.com if booked directly, i cannot cancel it without any charges since flight is less than one week away.
With orbitz, they say i can cancel it within 24 hours. Basically can cancel it till next night 10pm central time. I even went and asked let say i book a flight for tomorrow at 9am. If i book flight now... then cancel it tonight... i can still do that free of charge? They told me yes. They say you can cancel it as long as flight is 6 hours from departure.
Does anyone know if this is true or not? The thing is i have done a lot of cancellations courtesy with orbitz booking and rebooking flights and i recalled i done this where the flight would been less than 7 days. I had no issue with it. When jetblue told me their policy was yes 24 hours as long as flight is more than 7 days... its fine.
If thats the case, why don't people book with orbitz as oppose with jetblue or direct airline? This orbitz policy seem to be very good if you make changes a lot and close to when you going to leave. Of course if you do things way in advance and rarely have change of plans, no issue at all.
I usually fly with jetblue. I have booked directly with jetblue before. They told me you can cancel up to 24 hours free of charge. However... they say thats only if flight is more than a week away.
With orbitz, they tell me its 24 hour cancellation free of charge even if the flight is the next day. Can someone confirm if this is true or not? Example let say i book flight now for a flight 5 days away. with jetblue.com if booked directly, i cannot cancel it without any charges since flight is less than one week away.
With orbitz, they say i can cancel it within 24 hours. Basically can cancel it till next night 10pm central time. I even went and asked let say i book a flight for tomorrow at 9am. If i book flight now... then cancel it tonight... i can still do that free of charge? They told me yes. They say you can cancel it as long as flight is 6 hours from departure.
Does anyone know if this is true or not? The thing is i have done a lot of cancellations courtesy with orbitz booking and rebooking flights and i recalled i done this where the flight would been less than 7 days. I had no issue with it. When jetblue told me their policy was yes 24 hours as long as flight is more than 7 days... its fine.
If thats the case, why don't people book with orbitz as oppose with jetblue or direct airline? This orbitz policy seem to be very good if you make changes a lot and close to when you going to leave. Of course if you do things way in advance and rarely have change of plans, no issue at all.
Mar 25, 2016, 11:39 pm
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: NYC
Programs: AA 2MM, Bonvoy LTT, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 14,634
Orbitz 24 Hour Cancellation Policy vs Direct Flight Policy
Yes it is true. US travel agencies report their sales to airlines thru ARC. ARC rules allow end of next business day to void out a ticket without regard to non-refundable/cancellation fee restrictions. Note this only applies to the airline ticket itself. Any ticketing fees the travel agent charges on its behalf are not covered by this.
If you ticket on Friday the travel agent can actually courtesy cancel aka void the ticket out end of day Monday even if the flight is on Sunday and if Monday is a holiday, the travel agent have until end of day Tuesday to void.
This is what the travel agent is allowed to do. Whether they make it available to the passenger and/or make it available without a service charge is a separate topic. In my experience, both Orbitz and Expedia do offer the weekend courtesy cancel.
If you ticket on Friday the travel agent can actually courtesy cancel aka void the ticket out end of day Monday even if the flight is on Sunday and if Monday is a holiday, the travel agent have until end of day Tuesday to void.
This is what the travel agent is allowed to do. Whether they make it available to the passenger and/or make it available without a service charge is a separate topic. In my experience, both Orbitz and Expedia do offer the weekend courtesy cancel.
Aug 5, 2017, 2:55 pm
#3
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1
I came across this thread because I was confused by Orbitz website showing much more than 24 hours to do free cancel. It says I can cancel free up to 11:59 pm EDT Monday for a flight booking I did on Friday 6 pm EDT!!! This felt too good to be true until I read above comments. Thank you guys. Does this weekend policy mean I should get full refund of tix cost if I indeed cancel before the Monday deadline? (My travel dates are months away from now)
