Buy a refundable ticket, cancel it later if lower fare is available?
Jun 18, 2020, 9:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 124
Buy a refundable ticket, cancel it later if lower fare is available?
Hi all,
Just curious if there are any potential downsides to this approach: buy a fully refundable ticket for a flight that's six months away, then buy a lower fare if it appears (and I have a strong hunch it will) and cancel the refundable ticket? Will I be violating a clause in AA's contract of carriage, or in some other way raising a red flag?
Just curious if there are any potential downsides to this approach: buy a fully refundable ticket for a flight that's six months away, then buy a lower fare if it appears (and I have a strong hunch it will) and cancel the refundable ticket? Will I be violating a clause in AA's contract of carriage, or in some other way raising a red flag?
Jun 18, 2020, 9:55 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,482
Hi all,
Just curious if there are any potential downsides to this approach: buy a fully refundable ticket for a flight that's six months away, then buy a lower fare if it appears (and I have a strong hunch it will) and cancel the refundable ticket? Will I be violating a clause in AA's contract of carriage, or in some other way raising a red flag?
Just curious if there are any potential downsides to this approach: buy a fully refundable ticket for a flight that's six months away, then buy a lower fare if it appears (and I have a strong hunch it will) and cancel the refundable ticket? Will I be violating a clause in AA's contract of carriage, or in some other way raising a red flag?
Jun 18, 2020, 10:06 am
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
It almost always will be cheaper because you will be buying a restricted ticket which has, restrictions. So your fully refundable ticket has fun things like being changeable and flexible. Your restricted ticket not so much. So if you want to extend your return, you'll face additional fees, etc.
Jun 18, 2020, 5:30 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,057
I'm a bit confused. Is the refundable fare truly the cheapest fare being offered right now? If not, I don't really understand the point of this strategy. Why not just set a price alert and wait to see if a cheaper non-refundable fare pops up and do nothing for now. There will almost certainly always be non-refundable fares cheaper than the refundable fare available (unless you wait until the last moment to buy). I don't see the point in tying up your cash when this isn't actually some sort of insurance policy you would likely end up using. There was some research that suggest that around 42 days out is often the best time to buy (although there were some exceptions for holiday periods). So I'd say you have quite a bit of time to set an alert and see what pops up.
Last edited by xliioper; Jun 18, 2020 at 7:37 pm
Jun 18, 2020, 5:41 pm
#6
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA LT Gold
Posts: 3,646
Hi all,
Just curious if there are any potential downsides to this approach: buy a fully refundable ticket for a flight that's six months away, then buy a lower fare if it appears (and I have a strong hunch it will) and cancel the refundable ticket? Will I be violating a clause in AA's contract of carriage, or in some other way raising a red flag?
Just curious if there are any potential downsides to this approach: buy a fully refundable ticket for a flight that's six months away, then buy a lower fare if it appears (and I have a strong hunch it will) and cancel the refundable ticket? Will I be violating a clause in AA's contract of carriage, or in some other way raising a red flag?
The only impact is on your personal finances. You will have to say goodbye to that cash until you get the refund.
But why do you want to do that? You can always buy the ticket the day before and I bet that the lowest fare offered the day before will not be the refundable one; in other words, the last minute fare will be cheaper than the refundable fare anyway.
Jun 19, 2020, 10:42 am
#8
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA LT Gold
Posts: 3,646
But for practical matters, in the specific case of the OP, OP has said that will buy a refundable ticket and then cancel if there is a cheap fare. So that means that OP is ok with eventually having a ticket on a cheap fare without all the benefits of refundable fares.
So why doesn't he just buy a last minute ticket or even a walk up ticket OR set up an alert and buy when the ticket hits OP's price threshold?
Jun 19, 2020, 10:59 am
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
In a vacuum what you say is correct.
But for practical matters, in the specific case of the OP, OP has said that will buy a refundable ticket and then cancel if there is a cheap fare. So that means that OP is ok with eventually having a ticket on a cheap fare without all the benefits of refundable fares.
So why doesn't he just buy a last minute ticket or even a walk up ticket OR set up an alert and buy when the ticket hits OP's price threshold?
But for practical matters, in the specific case of the OP, OP has said that will buy a refundable ticket and then cancel if there is a cheap fare. So that means that OP is ok with eventually having a ticket on a cheap fare without all the benefits of refundable fares.
So why doesn't he just buy a last minute ticket or even a walk up ticket OR set up an alert and buy when the ticket hits OP's price threshold?
Jun 20, 2020, 1:28 pm
#11
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Arizona
Posts: 5,689
AA undercover of darkness replaces Refundable with Flexible fare
Yes you have to be careful as AA undercover of darkness changed the easily purchase row on aa.com with Flexible versus Refundable so you must search the difficult to find rules. Flyers often think they are buying full fare refundable to find out the name change only when they want a refund.