If I Cant Use My Purchased Airline Ticket Can I Use It Again Later

Yelena Shuster's case looked hopeless. She had a one-way, nonrefundable airline ticket from New York to Los Angeles on United Airlines – and she wanted a refund.

"I got sick, which turned into a terrible sinus infection," says Shuster, a college counselor who lives in New York. "My doc brash me to cancel the trip."

If you travel, yous've probably been in a similar bind. You bought the less-expensive, nonrefundable airline ticket. And so your circumstances changed.

"Booking nonrefundable flights tin be an excellent way to relieve money," says Stan Sandberg, co-founder of TravelInsurance.com, a travel insurance site. "Just in the result that something goes wrong and you can no longer have your planned vacation, it can exist heartbreaking to lose that money."

Maybe you should have bought a refundable ticket, merely the cost is double or triple the amount of a nonrefundable ticket. Realistically, only corporate travelers on an expense account can beget them. Possibly you lot should accept purchased a travel insurance policy, but at present information technology'due south too belatedly.

Relax.

Even though airlines similar to tell you that nonrefundable means nonrefundable, it doesn't. It just means less refundable. A few kind words, the right circumstances and a little persistence can score you a full refund.

If you're planning ahead:How to choose the right travel insurance

A kind word can unlock a refund

Simply like other airlines with nonrefundable tickets, United would take turned down Shuster's refund in a New York minute. But she had a underground weapon. In addition to a doctor'due south note, she had a way with words. So much so that Shuster has turned her skill into a business organization that coaches prospective higher students on writing better application essays.

"I wrote the nicest, most gracious note I could think of," she says. "I figured the employees reading these are drowning in accusations and negativity, then I made sure to lift them up and acknowledge how hard they worked and how much I love flying United."

It worked.

"Nosotros're sorry to hear your travel plans changed due to a medical condition," United wrote in an electronic mail. "We can certainly sympathise your concerns, and nosotros wish you and your family well. We've processed the refund."

Time and once again, I see passengers talking themselves into refunds. It'south an art, not a science. If you approach the airline politely and sincerely, and with a valid and verifiable reason, you lot might become your money back.

When do you lot deserve a refund?

When your flight's canceled, an airline can't always continue your money. For example, if the airline cancels your flying, it owes you a fast, no-questions-asked refund. Airlines sometimes likewise offer refunds when there'south a significant schedule change, if you have a change in war machine orders, a valid medical reason or if your travel companion dies. If yous die, an airline will always refund your ticket to your adjacent of kin, as long equally your next of kin remembers to ask.

"If you encounter any of these special circumstances, check with your travel provider or contact the airline directly to find out what information or documentation is required for a refund," says Angela Zade, a spokeswoman for Trondent Development Corp., which develops software for the travel industry.

Just because you can – or could – get a refund for your ticket doesn't mean you will. Airlines sometimes say "no" for no skillful reason. They inquire for the same documents, such equally death certificates or jury duty, over and over until you lot give up.

Why? Because they can.

All the more than reason to go back to my first piece of advice: Use kind words. It isn't that you lot're feeling kind only that the employees considering your asking are so beaten down by the complaints and cruelty of disaffected passengers that your request might seem like a bright shiny beacon of hope. They just might do your bidding.

Desire a refund on a nonrefundable airline ticket? Be persistent

The final and perchance the most important flim-flam to negotiating a successful refund is persistence. I've seen so many cases that started like Jeanette Franz'south. She was flying from Austin, Texas, to Moline, Illinois, on American Airlines for her grandmother's funeral and experienced a lengthy filibuster in Dallas that fabricated her miss the upshot.

"I was supposed to sing at the funeral, and my married man was going to exist a pallbearer," she says.

She contacted the airline and asked for a refund, but it refused, offering flying vouchers instead. She appealed to an executive just received the same answer. Franz didn't surrender. She kept replying to the appeals, arguing that she'd made a trip in vain and should receive a total refund. Eventually, with a little nudge from yours truly, American agreed with her and refunded her tickets.

In that location's no surreptitious formula for getting a refund on a nonrefundable ticket. But with a few kind words, some insider knowledge and diligence, y'all could get your money back. It'southward always worth a try.

More refund tricks for nonrefundable tickets

Retrieve the 24-hour rule.If you're flying domestically, you can abolish most tickets within 24 hours of booking them. Airlines volition attempt to offering a flight credit, merely if you cite the 24-hr rule, you should get an firsthand refund.

Utilize a travel agent – and go travel insurance.A travel professional often has insider contacts at an airline and can help negotiate a refund if necessary. Some larger online agencies even have entire departments dedicated to processing "waivers and favors" for customers who want an exception to the refund rules.

"Utilize a travel amanuensis when possible," advises Julian House, founder of a discount promotional codes website. Also, ask your amanuensis about an insurance policy that may cover you if you have to cancel your flight.

If you can't go a refund, salvage the ticket."Your odds are much better of irresolute the date or repurposing the ticket," says Andrew Weinberger, a frequent air traveler who works for a real estate visitor in New York. He's managed to modify his ticket to a different destination and dates, paying a change fee. It'due south far amend than throwing the ticket away.

Christopher Elliott is a consumer advocate. Contact him at chris@elliott.org or visit elliott.org.

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Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/advice/2019/07/19/flight-refund-how-to-get-refund-on-nonrefundable-plane-ticket/1772832001/

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