Originally Posted by
Often1
First, don't worry about cancelling for WN. WN overbooks counting on a predictable percentage of no shows. Somebody else got your seat. Not to worry.
Second, WN, at its option, may either refund the $5.60 to the passenger or pay it to the Treasury. The only thing WN can't do is retain the funds. As a passenger you are not entitled to the return of the funds, but WN could return them to you. I take it that WN is simply shifting to not returning any funds and paying everything collected over.
At the current time, Southwest will refund the fee if you cancel. They do not if you no-show. Your advice makes sense only if you don't want the fees refunded.