BargainAirTicket is an independent travel agency, we are not Southwest Airlines and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Southwest Airlines. You can change or cancel yourself at southwest.com or the Southwest app at no cost. Southwest itself charges no cancellation fee on any fare. If you'd rather we handle it, our agents assist for a service fee, quoted before you're charged.

Change or cancel your Southwest flight

The first thing that matters is your fare. Southwest charges no cancellation fee on any fare. Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra, and its 24-hour refund rule has no minimum-days-before-departure requirement, unlike several other airlines. The one real restriction is Basic: it can't be changed directly, only by upgrading to a higher fare. Answer a couple of quick questions and a live agent can tell you exactly what your ticket allows, then handle it for you.

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    First question: which fare did you book? It decides everything.

    Basic

    Basic is non-refundable and can't be changed directly, the only way to modify it is by upgrading to a higher fare. Cancel it instead and there's no fee, but outside 24 hours its value becomes a Southwest travel credit, not cash.

    Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra

    Choice is fully changeable with no change fee, though it's still non-refundable outside 24 hours. Choice Preferred and Choice Extra go further, they're fully refundable, so cancelling returns real money, not credit.

    No cancellation fee on any fare. Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra 24-hour full refund with no minimum-days-before-departure requirement, a real Southwest advantage Choice Preferred and Choice Extra are fully refundable, cash back, not credit Basic can only be changed by upgrading to a higher fare, there's no other way to modify it Basic and Choice are non-refundable outside 24 hours, cancelling converts value to travel credit, not cash Southwest tickets generally aren't transferable to another person

    No cancellation fee. Any fare.

    Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra all carry no cancellation fee, a real point of difference from carriers that charge one on their cheapest tickets. Basic's catch isn't a fee: the ticket simply can't be changed directly, only upgraded to a fare that can.
    The 24-hour rule, step by step
    The moment you book

    You have 24 hours from booking to cancel any Southwest fare for a full refund to your original payment. There's no minimum-days-before-departure requirement, this applies even to a flight leaving tomorrow.

    Compare that to other airlines

    JetBlue and United only honor their 24-hour rule if your flight departs 7 or more days after you booked. Book closer than that on those airlines and the window doesn't apply at all. Southwest doesn't add that condition.

    After the 24-hour window closes

    Basic locks into upgrade-only territory for changes, and cancelling any non-refundable fare now converts its value to travel credit instead of a refund. Choice Preferred and Choice Extra stay fully refundable regardless.

    How Southwest change & cancellation actually works

    The mechanics behind the fork above, fare by fare.

    No cancellation fee, any fare:

    Southwest doesn't charge a cancellation fee on Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra. You keep this even outside the 24-hour window, what changes at that point is what you get back (credit vs. cash), never whether you're charged to cancel in the first place.

    Basic: changeable only by upgrading:

    Southwest doesn't sell a "change" at the Basic level, there's nothing to buy at that tier. If your plans shift, your only path to modify a Basic ticket is upgrading to Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra and paying the difference; once upgraded, that fare's own change rules take over. Cancelling instead of upgrading is always an option, and it's still free.

    Choice: fully changeable, still non-refundable:

    Choice can be changed to a different flight with no change fee, you pay only any fare difference. But cancel it instead of changing it, and outside the 24-hour window its value becomes a Southwest travel credit, not cash back.

    Choice Preferred & Choice Extra: fully refundable:

    Both fares are fully refundable. Cancel one outside the 24-hour window and the refund goes back to your original payment method rather than converting to credit, the clearest financial advantage of booking one tier above Choice.

    24-hour rule, no days-before-departure catch:

    Cancel any Southwest fare within 24 hours of booking for a full refund to your original payment. Southwest doesn't require your flight to depart a minimum number of days out for this to apply, which isn't true on every airline.

    Name changes aren't really a thing:

    Southwest tickets are generally not transferable to a different traveler. Minor corrections, a misspelled name, for instance, can often be fixed with a call, but don't plan on handing your ticket off to someone else.

    These rules are Southwest's own published fare terms, not ours, they vary by fare bundle and Southwest can update them without much notice. We'll confirm your exact ticket's rules before doing anything.

    Basic vs. Choice and above

    Two very different sets of rules, depending on which side of this line your ticket falls.

    Basic

    Most restricted

    • Can't be changed directly, upgrading to a higher fare is the only way
    • Cancelling still carries no cancellation fee
    • Non-refundable outside 24 hours, value becomes travel credit

    Choice and above

    Flexible

    • Choice is fully changeable, pay only any fare difference
    • Choice Preferred & Choice Extra are fully refundable
    • No cancellation fee on any of the three

    Not sure which fare you booked? It's usually on your confirmation email or in "Manage Reservations" on southwest.com, or tell us your confirmation number and we'll look it up.

    The 24-hour rule other airlines don't match

    The kind of comparison you won't find summarized on southwest.com itself.

    Most large US airlines follow the same federal baseline: cancel any fare within 24 hours of booking for a full refund. But several. JetBlue and United among them, only extend that protection if your flight departs 7 or more days after you booked; book anything closer to departure on those airlines and the 24-hour window doesn't apply to that ticket at all, on any fare. Southwest doesn't add that condition. Book a flight leaving tomorrow, next week, or next year, and the 24-hour rule covers it the same way every time. Combined with a genuine no-cancellation-fee policy on every fare, that means a same-day or next-day Southwest booking carries less regret risk than the equivalent booking on several competitors, a detail that matters most exactly when you're booking in a hurry and don't have time to double-check every rule.

    Have this ready before you call

    Thirty seconds of prep gets it done on the first call.

    • Confirmation number, the code on your confirmation email
    • Passenger name exactly as it appears on the ticket
    • When you booked, that's what decides whether the 24-hour rule still applies
    • Fare type if you know it. Basic changes what's directly possible

    Booked Basic and need to change plans? Upgrading to Choice or above is the only way to modify the ticket directly, cancelling instead costs nothing in fees, but outside 24 hours the value becomes credit, not cash. If you're still inside the first 24 hours, cancelling for a full refund and rebooking the fare you actually want may be the cleanest move.

    Managing the rest of your trip yourself

    Changing or cancelling is only part of it, most of a booking you can manage online, free.

    With your confirmation number, "Manage Reservations" on southwest.com or the Southwest app lets you handle most of this yourself at no cost: pick or change your seat assignment, add checked bags, update contact details and Rapid Rewards info, and review your itinerary. Arrange special requests, a pet, an unaccompanied minor, ahead of time rather than at the gate. When a self-service change fails, a payment won't go through, the site won't recognize your booking, a travel credit won't apply, that's the moment a call saves the trip.

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    Frequently asked

    Does Southwest charge a fee to cancel my flight?+
    No. Southwest charges no cancellation fee on any fare, including Basic. If you cancel a nonrefundable fare (Basic or Choice) outside the 24-hour window, though, its value converts into a Southwest travel credit instead of cash back to your card.
    Can I change a Basic fare?+
    Not directly. Basic can't be changed on its own, the only way to modify a Basic ticket is by upgrading to a higher fare (Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra). Once you've upgraded, the new fare's own change rules apply. Cancelling Basic, unlike changing it, carries no fee at all.
    I booked a few hours ago and my flight isn't for weeks, can I still cancel free?+
    Yes. Southwest's 24-hour rule gives a full refund on any fare cancelled within 24 hours of booking, and, unlike JetBlue or United, which require your flight to depart 7 or more days after you booked. Southwest doesn't add any minimum-days-before-departure requirement. It works even if you booked a flight leaving tomorrow.
    Will cancelling get me cash back or a travel credit?+
    It depends on your fare. Basic and Choice are non-refundable outside the 24-hour window, so cancelling converts the value into a Southwest travel credit rather than cash. Choice Preferred and Choice Extra are fully refundable, so cancelling sends the money back to your original payment method.
    Can I put someone else's name on my Southwest ticket?+
    Generally, no. Southwest tickets aren't transferable to a different traveler. Minor corrections, like a misspelled name, can often be fixed with a call, but don't plan on handing your ticket to someone else. Call us and we'll check what your specific booking allows.
    Do you charge to change or cancel it for me?+
    Yes, we're an independent agency and charge a service fee for handling your booking, quoted before you're charged anything. You can always do it yourself at southwest.com or the Southwest app at no cost; Southwest itself charges no cancellation fee on any fare.

    Contact options

    Reach Southwest directly, or let us handle it.

    Contact Southwest directly

    The airline's own official channels, free.

    Websitesouthwest.com
    Reservations1-800-435-9792
    AppSouthwest app (iOS / Android)

    Or let a BargainAirTicket agent do it

    Independent · 24/7 · English & Español · service fee applies.

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    More Southwest help

    Related guides.

    Full Southwest guide Refunds Baggage & fees Seats & upgrades Pets in the cabin Delays & rebooking

    BargainAirTicket is an independent travel marketplace operated by Bookmecheapest LLC, not an airline and not a representative of Southwest Airlines or any airline. "Southwest Airlines" and related marks are trademarks of their respective owners, used here only to describe the ticketing support we offer. Change and cancellation rules are set by Southwest and change frequently, always confirm current terms at southwest.com. We assist with bookings, changes and cancellations on any airline for a service fee, quoted before you're charged.

    Policies last verified July 20, 2026 against Southwest Airlines' own website. Airlines change these rules often, and we confirm current terms on every call.

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