how to buy fully refundable ticket?
 

I have searched the forum and saw people talk about buying "Y" (full fair economy) tickets. I checked UA, the lowest unrestricted fare, which I believe is "Y", is like $3300 (international flight from US to Asia). I didn't find it on AA website. I just want to make sure that it is really fully refundable. Has anyone bought such tickets before? Is there any hidden charge or fee? Any way to buy fully refundable tickets at a lower price? Thanks!

On American, when the grid of fares comes up for Economy there will be fares for Super Saver, Saver, and Flexible. If you click on one of those headings, you will get a table that shows which fares are refundable, changeable, and if there's a fee associated with them.

Thanks for the info! Do you know when I buy from UA, should I specify "Y" or choose "unrestricted fare" in "Fare Type" in the flight search page, in order to get a fully refund ticket?

You should. But, UA will always have a link to the fare rules and you should check those to be absoluetly certain that the fare is fully refundable/changeable.

You should check which fare class you are booked in (dont confuse with Cabin class).
The fare classes Y and B tend to be the most flexible, but as often1 mentiones above, click on the rules to make sure they 100% are.

I mean, should I choose "Y" or choose "unrestricted fare", which one is fully refundable? or both are fully refundable? Thanks!

If you hover over the blue compare fare types on the United site under the advanced search, a pop up will come up showing that the unrestricted fares are refundable.

dislab, your best bet would be to choose the "refundable fare" option, and to check that that fare, which could be lower than Y, is fully refundable. While rare, there've been some Y fares not fully refundable and there can be some lower class fares offered for a particular booking which are fully refundable. As was stated above, a check of the particular fare rule on refunds would verify this.

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately on united.com there is no "refundable fare" option. It seems that "unrestricted fare" there is fully refundable, and the lowest unrestricted fare is "Y" based on the search result. Its fare rule is short but very hard to understand, no way to tell if it is fully refundable without any fee or not. But according to others' posts, it seems that "Y" is usually fully refundable.


Thanks. It turns out that the lowest ticket of the search result from "unrestricted fare" is the "Y" type. I guess this is what I am looking for.

As others said, definitely read the T&C to make sure that the entire ticket is fully refundable.

dislab, I meant the "unrestricted" rather than the "refundable" but it seems you have it figured out OK.

I have been researching on ITA Matrix but how do I filter and see only FULLY-REFUNDABLE fares.

I spoke with a travel agent today and he said most airlines have almost a $100 penalty on cancellation.

He did mention that with Qatar Airways I could get away with around "1200 Rs" i.e. 20-25$ of charges.

I called Qatar directly and they mentioned "7000 Rs" as cancellation charge but then said if I booked online there was a "Super Flexible" fare of the Fare Class B where I could BOOK & CANCEL online and there would be no loss / penalty/ charge - BUT.. I would have to READ & CHECK through the SPECIFIC FARE RULES before booking.

The FARE Rules are long, winded and not clear and comprehensible. The issue is that all this leads me into GRAY AREAS.

Can someone with more experience with Airlines and Flight fares please GUIDE me with some specifics about SPECIFIC AIRLINES and their FARES/ FARE CLASSES that would be FULLY REFUNDABLE - Either purchase through Airlines website/ phone center or travel agent.

I am open to suggestions.

These are my airline options. Any advise/ experience/ suggestions from people on choosing a REFUNDABLE FARE on one of them is welcome.

- Turkish
- Qatar
- South African
- Swiss
- Emirates
- Lufthansa
- KLM

(and some Code Share Mixes between the above)

There is no easy answer. Even with the same airline, the fare rules for a fare bucket (eg B - which is normally flexible economy) could have different change/cancellation fees depending on where the flight originates from and where the fare was purchased.

The higher fare buckets like Y and B are usually the most flexible with the lowest cancellation penalties (or no penalty), but you would need to read the fare rules for that ticket to check what the exact conditions are.

And if you call to cancel, some airlines may charge a phone agent fee to do it. If you do it online, normally there is no extra fee.

Using the airlines website, usually it is pretty easy to find the details on cancellation costs. Or using ExpertFlyer, you can use the fares search and read the Cancellation/Change box.


Why do you need to know this for so many airlines?

I need a refundable ticket to get the Visa as I know my dates are currently in flux.

But, the Consulate people are stuck to their text book and are fine with issuing my visa on a VALID ticket even if I change my travel plans etc after visa is issued. I've shared this truth with them of how my dates are in flux through the entire month that I could begin my travel.

Their consulate in other places accepts ITINERARY / TRIP receipts, but at this particular location have been stuck to seeing an issued ticket.

I don't need all these airlines. These are the OPTIONS available for the trip and for the TICKET SHOW case that the consulate needs.

So, any one of them if I can UNDERSTAND and DECODE, that would be fine with me.