Originally Posted by
giporlos
So what I gather is... the USA is the ONLY country that has a 24 hour refund rule... the ticket must have a USA city in the itinerary. I never realized that no other countries have that 24 hour refund rule.
The reason I was asking in the first place... I am planning a international, multi-destination trip (and multi-airlines). I was hoping that while buying separate independent tickets (some of which will be between cities outside the USA), I could have some reprieve to get a refund as I purchase them in series. I.e. if for some reason I hit a scheduling glitch while making the separate reservations, I could go back and cancel a ticket quickly and regroup making the itinerary.
It may be best to just open several browser windows... get my tickets all lined up for purchase in separate browser windows... and then buy them all quickly before anything changes.
I dont know if US is the only country in the world to offer the 24h reprieve. I think that is too much a blanket statement - there are some non-US airlines eg TK that offers 24h free hold when you book through them and itinerary does not necessarily needs to touch US.
but if you are referring to DoT rule then the most direct answer is yes, DoT has no jurisdiction on anything that happen outside US soil. saying DoT rule applies worldwide is like saying FDA has jurisdiction over the drugs developed in 193 countries in the world. doesnt make sense and will never happen
the only way to get free 24h reprieve for non-US itineraries across board is to book it via US-based OTA as mentioned above. however, when booking through OTA, it is still up to the individual airline on whether they will refund or not after 24h. generally US and major non-US airlines are very good in doing so - automated to do so. but some obscure non-US airlines may not and if that happens, you would have to fight for the refund via the OTA.