How to change or cancel a Southwest flight booked with Rapid Rewards points

What you can do after reading this guide

• Decide, segment by segment, whether to change or cancel an award ticket in each of the Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra fare bundles.
• Work out where the redeemed points go and how the taxes and government fees on the unused travel can be returned. [3]
• Identify the deadline before which a change or cancellation has to be made, and what a missed deadline does to points and funds on each fare type. [3]
• Recognise which bookings — such as Getaways by Southwest package holidays and tickets issued by an authorised ticket agent using a global distribution system — follow different handling. [1] [3]

Who this applies to and what you need first

This guide covers Southwest Airlines tickets in the US market that were paid for with Rapid Rewards points, across the four fare bundles Southwest describes: Choice Extra, Choice Preferred, Choice and Basic. [1] [2] Southwest also sells a Getaways fare bundle through Getaways by Southwest vacation packages and sets separate rules for it, and group reservations follow group policies; neither is covered here. [1] [3]

Before you act, you need the fare bundle of every segment on the ticket, because a Ticket can contain flight segments with mixed fare types [3], and you need the original scheduled departure time of the flight concerned. [1] You also need to know which Rapid Rewards account booked the ticket, because that is where the points are returned. [1] [2] Southwest states that Basic fares and Choice fares are discounted, restricted and nonrefundable fares, with the restrictions set out in various provisions of its Contract of Carriage. [3]

How do you change or cancel the booking?

1. Note the fare bundle of each segment on the ticket — Basic, Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra — since the change and cancellation rules differ by bundle and a Ticket can mix them. [1] [2] [3]
2. Note the original scheduled departure time of the flight you want to move or drop, and act at least 10 minutes before it. [1] [2] [3]
3. If the trip is a roundtrip and one or both segments is booked with a Basic fare, check that you are cancelling both segments; a cancellation is only permitted if either both flight segments are cancelled or the Basic fare segment is upgraded. [1] [2]
4. If you want a different flight, confirm the change: on Choice, Choice Preferred and Choice Extra fares, flight changes are allowed and you pay the difference in fare if one applies. [1] [2]
5. If the segment is a Basic fare, the change is an upgrade to Choice, Choice Preferred or Choice Extra, because a Basic fare segment can only be cancelled or upgraded to a higher fare product. [1] [2] [3]
6. Expect a change to be priced on the day you make it: changes made after the original issue are subject to the fares, fare rules, tax increases and charges in effect on the date the change is initiated. [3]
7. If you cancel, track the points back to the Rapid Rewards account holder who booked the ticket; Southwest redeposits points associated with eligible unused transportation to that account holder's account. [1] [2] [3]
8. Decide what happens to the taxes and government fees on the unused travel: they are refunded at your direction, either back to the original form of payment or in the form of a Flight Credit or a Transferable Flight Credit, depending on the fare purchased. [3]
9. If a refund has to be requested before it is due, make the request no later than one year from the date the Ticket was issued. [3]

The cited pages do not describe a specific app, website or telephone workflow for changing or cancelling an award ticket; they set out the deadlines, the fare-type conditions and where the points and funds go. [1] [3]

What happens to your points and fees when you change or cancel?

If a Southwest flight credit from a previous reservation was applied toward a Choice Preferred or Choice Extra fare, that credit is refunded as a Transferable Flight Credit rather than to the original form of payment. [1] [2]

Where a ticket contains mixed fare types and is not changed or cancelled at least ten minutes before scheduled departure, all segments are cancelled and each segment then follows the rule attached to its own fare type. [3] A Transferable Flight Credit created from Choice Extra, Choice Preferred and Choice reservations expires 12 months from the date the fare was booked and ticketed. [1] [2]

Worked example (illustration)

Illustration only: you redeem Rapid Rewards points for a roundtrip booked in the Choice Extra fare bundle and cancel it at least 10 minutes before the flight's original scheduled departure time. Your points return to the Rapid Rewards account holder who booked the ticket, and Southwest redeposits points associated with eligible unused transportation to that account holder's account. [1] [2] [3] The taxes and government fees on the unused travel are refunded at your direction, either to the original form of payment or as a Flight Credit or Transferable Flight Credit depending on the fare purchased, and a refund that has to be requested must be requested no later than one year from the date the Ticket was issued. [3] Had you neither changed nor cancelled the Choice Extra segment at least ten minutes before scheduled departure and not travelled, the funds including taxes and government fees would have come back as a Transferable Flight Credit — expiring 12 months from the date the fare was booked and ticketed — and the points used would have been returned to the account used to purchase the segment. [3] [1]

Common reasons it fails

• Acting too late. The change or cancellation must be made at least ten minutes before scheduled departure, or the no-show rules for the segment's fare type apply. [1] [3]
• Cancelling only one leg of a roundtrip that includes a Basic fare. For roundtrip reservations where one or both flight segments is booked with a Basic fare, cancellations are only permitted if either both flight segments are cancelled or the Basic fare segment is upgraded. [1] [2]
• Trying to move a Basic segment without paying for an upgrade. A Basic fare segment can only be cancelled or upgraded to a higher fare product. [3]
• Expecting the points somewhere else. Points go back to the Rapid Rewards account holder who booked the ticket. [1] [2]
• Assuming points survive a missed deadline on a Basic or Choice segment. On those fare types the points and/or funds used for the segment, including taxes and government fees, are forfeited. [3]
• Handling a travel-agency ticket through Southwest. Where a ticket was issued by an authorised ticket agent using a global distribution system and is exchanged, cancelled or surrendered via a Southwest system, the funds associated with that ticket become nonrefundable, subject to Section 9 (Southwest-initiated cancellations and significant delays), and are thereafter held as a Flight Credit or a Transferable Flight Credit depending on the fare purchased. [3]

Exceptions and limits

• Seats bought separately. When seats are purchased separately from a fare, the seat cannot be cancelled unless you cancel the flight too, and you receive a flight credit for the seat. [2]
• Getaways by Southwest packages. You cannot voluntarily cancel individual products of a package, and you may not cancel only one way of the flight itinerary; the booking must be changed or cancelled at least 10 minutes before the first flight's scheduled departure or it is cancelled as a no-show with all unused funds forfeited. [1]
• Tickets issued through a travel agent. For tickets issued by an authorised ticket agent using a global distribution system, flight changes, ticket exchanges and refunds must be processed via the ticket's original booking source or agent. [3]
• Group bookings. Group reservations are subject to group policies, procedures and terms, and those terms prevail over the Contract of Carriage in the event of a conflict. [3]
• Basic fares and the 24-hour policy. Basic fares are non-refundable except as allowed by Southwest's 24-hour cancellation policy; the detail of that policy is not set out on the cited pages and is not covered here. [2]
• Currency of refunds. Southwest states that it makes all refunds in U.S. dollars. [3]

Frequently asked questions

Do the points come back to me or to whoever booked the ticket?

For travel booked with Rapid Rewards points, the points are returned to the Rapid Rewards account holder who booked the ticket. [1] [2] For eligible unused transportation, Southwest redeposits the points to the Rapid Rewards account holder's account. [3]

Is there a fee to cancel an award ticket?

No. All fare types are eligible for cancellations without a fee, and the same no-cancel-fee statement appears against each fare bundle. [1] [2]

What happens if I do not cancel in time?

It depends on the fare type. If a Basic or Choice segment is not cancelled at least ten minutes before scheduled departure and the passenger does not travel, all segments on the ticket are cancelled and the Rapid Rewards points and/or funds used for those segments, including taxes and government fees, are forfeited. [3] If a Choice Extra or Choice Preferred segment is not changed or cancelled in that window and the passenger does not travel, the funds including taxes and government fees come back as a Transferable Flight Credit and the points used are returned to the account used to purchase the segment. [3]

What happens to the taxes and fees on an award ticket?

For purchases using Rapid Rewards points, Southwest redeposits the points and refunds the taxes and government fees associated with unused travel at the customer's direction — either to the original form of payment or in the form of a Flight Credit or a Transferable Flight Credit, depending on the fare purchased. [3]

Next step and official entry points

• Southwest: Fare Information and Rules — the fare-by-fare statements on cancellation, the 10-minute requirement, changes and the flight credit wording. [1]
• Southwest: Fare Types and Benefits — the fare comparison and the numbered notes on cancellations, changes and Transferable Flight Credit expiry. [2]
• Southwest: Contract of Carriage (PDF) — the no-show policy by fare type, the redeposit of Rapid Rewards points and the return of taxes and government fees. [3]
• Rapid Rewards programme hub — where the earning, redemption and status rules behind these award tickets are collected.

Related pages

• Award change and cancellation fees compared
• How to book Southwest Rapid Rewards awards
• Rapid Rewards fees guide
• US flight cancellation and refund guide
• Award reinstatement and cancellation deadline
• Rapid Rewards programme

Sources

Sources checked on 18 October 2026. This guide covers changing and cancelling Southwest Airlines tickets in the US market that were booked with Rapid Rewards points, and the return of points, taxes and government fees by fare type; it does not cover the mechanics of the booking screens, Getaways by Southwest packages, group reservations, or how award availability is searched.

1. Southwest Airlines: Fare Information and Rules, checked 18 October 2026
2. Southwest Airlines: Fare Types and Benefits, checked 18 October 2026
3. Southwest Airlines: Contract of Carriage (PDF, 58th Revised, 09/24/2026), checked 18 October 2026