Refundable fare?
 

Is it me or is it impossible to tell whether a fare in refundable or not? Is a First Class ticket with Delta not automatically refundable?

I think only by checking the box for refundable fares during the search, or looking up the fare rules after the fact. (I forget if there is a letter in the fare basis code that is a giveaway but someone like xliioper probably knows :) )

It is *not* automatically refundable (and in a discounted bucket it almost certainly is not).

Airlines began selling discounted, non-refundable FC fares about 20 years ago -- https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/18/b...rst-class.html. Now they pretty much dominate. Generally speaking, D/I/Z FC fares (and often C fares) are non-refundable. Other than rare, high-demand cases (think CES and Superbowl), J fares are generally always refundable. If you click the "Fare Rules" link before purchase, the non-refundable fares will show "TICKET IS NON-REFUNDABLE IN CASE OF CANCEL/NO-SHOW." in the Penalties section while refundable fares will say "CANCELLATIONS PERMITTED". As noted above, if you search for FC fares on DL's website, you can specify only refundable fares be shown. Also, they will generally identify both refundable and non-refundable options in different columns if you don't specifically ask for refundable fares. Just like in the old days, the cheaper FC fares have advance booking requirements (ranging from 3 to 21 days) with the cheapest generally having the longest advance requirements. Also, some of the cheaper ones may have roundtrip booking requirements (indicated by the Minimum Stay field in the Fare Rules).

Some airlines have fares that are refundable with a fee. Refundable does not necessarily mean fully refundable without penalty. However, while I haven't seen such fares offered by DL, AFAIK they could appear if the ticket/PNR includes segments marketed by other carriers but not segments operated by other carriers but marketed by DL (codeshares). If refundability matters (versus getting a DL credit for the full amount paid if the trip is cancelled), be sure to check the box and *also* inspect the fare rules. You may want to print the screen showing that you checked the bas at the beginning not the search too. If you don't have EF, it's wise to capture there fare rules during the purchase process as you won't be able to see them later on delta.dumb unless you can manage a dummy booking of exactly the same fare and the fare rules haven't changed in the meantime.

Always check the fare rules. Nothing short of that matters.

People also routinely uas terms such as "F" to denote a seat in the First Class cabin rather than an F fare. All the more reason to review the fare rules.

Thanks all.

To be clear, domestic First Class fares that are marketed as "Refundable" are generally fully refundable with no fee. While long-haul international business class/Delta One fares (Delta does not have long-haul international First Class), can sometimes have "refundable" fares which carry a fee if you wish to refund. These tend to be focused on certain markets (for example, LHR) and in Delta's case the fee is typically $900 and is found in the fare rules. "CANCELLATIONS - BEFORE DEPARTURE - CHARGE USD 900.00/CAD 900.00 FOR CANCEL/NO-SHOW."

I booked a ticket yesterday labelled Delta One Refundable on the Delta codeshare with Virgin Atlantic, non-stop between JFK and MAN for next year. The e-ticket said
NYC DL MAN1603.00IN1HV6D2 DL NYC1753.00IN1HV6D3 NUC3356.00END ROE1.00 XF JFK4.5

I called in and spoke with an agent during the 24-hour safety period. They told me there's a $900 per person refund penalty once the 24 hour period expires. I asked where I could read the fare rule for myself and they could not find it for me. Taking them at their word, I've gone ahead and cancelled the tickets.

Shameful!

There's a couple of links at the bottom of the delta.com Trip Summary page when pricing an itin that will bring up a copy of the fare rules (see below). Unfortunately, once you've purchased, the only way to get to them again on delta.com is to re-create an itin with those fares. matrix.itasoftware.com will also show the fare rules when you price an itin. You can identify if the fares are the same from the fare basis codes (IN1HV6D2 and IN1HV6D3 fares in your case). If you have an ExpertFlyer account, you can look up fare rules from the fare basis codes without having to actually price out an itin. ExpertFlyer will also show you all the published fares on a route so you can see which ones have the fee for a refund, and which ones don't.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...d81c1dbb06.png

In recent months, the difference in domestic refundable vs. non-refundable fares seems to have decreased significantly. Just today I'm booking a OW domestic First Class (Z) which is $656, and Refundable First Class (I) is only $34 more. On my last booking I noticed a similar difference (whereas I recall pre-COVID this difference was more pronounced). With all of COVID related changes, I'm assuming the main practical difference now is that a refundable fare can be returned to the method of payment, and a non-refundable fare can be cancelled only for a credit? Are there any other significant differences? For $34 I'll likely go refundable. What are others doing in this situation?