I have a refundable reservation (Y fare) that I am not going to need. I would like to cancel it. I have several questions that I am certain the Gurus of FT can answer for me.

1. Can I cancel this reservation on line without losing money or should I call the OPSC and have them do it.
2. I have a lot of upcoming flights in the new year and would just like to get a e-certificate (credit) rather than have CO refund my credit card. Is that possible or foolish on my part? If I get an e-cert, do I have to use all of it at one time or can I spend it down as I purchase new flights? (None of the upcoming flights that I have will cost as much as the canceled flight, but I have more than enough flights to spend the entire amount and more).
3. If I cannot use an e-cert, how long does it take CO to credit my CC?

If everyone thinks it is just better to refund the fare to my CC, I can do that as well. I just need to know how to do it especially if I am going to do it on line at OP. Thanks in advance.

Radonc1

You can call or do it on line, but the refund will come in the same form as payment. So if you used XYZ credit card, that's where it will go. You can then use that credit card to purchase other tickets. As for when the credit will show up on your card, it can be anywhere from immediately to 90 days.

You can call or do it on line

Is there anything I should avoid doing on-line? I have read where people hit the cancel button and bad things happen. I imagine I have to hit some other button. Any hints will be appreciated! Thanks
Radonc1

Take the credit on the card. CO Refunds is usually pretty good -- they take 1-2 weeks, max. If it doesn't post in 2 weeks, there's a problem with it.

They give you this 2 billing cycles line like everybody else does, but that's an outdated line back from the pre-Internet days:

Say you request the refund, CO processes it in 2 weeks, meanwhile your statement gets cut in 1.5 weeks (just before the refund posts). A month later, the next statement gets cut. Add a week for mailing time, and sure, you won't see it on paper in your mailbox for nearly 2 months. But in reality you got it in a couple weeks.

Just pick up the phone and ask for a refund. @:-) It will take 90 seconds and they don't charge you for speaking to an agent. You could have done this thirty times in the time this post has been active.

Just click on the refund button and on the confirmation page, go towards the bottom of the page and make sure the option refund to original form of payment is selected or select the other option - hold funds for future use and then click on confirm. That's it. I agree with others, take the refund to the original form of payment.

yes, absolutely don't take any kind of "credit" with CO -- it's guaranteed this will be more of a pain to use than cash.