The Flight Deal is about spontaneous and flexible travel to interesting destinations. We published a lot of great fares that expire quickly and the consequence of which is that for most of you, the ability to take advantage of the deal is sometimes challenging due to the lag time required to coordinate with friends or significant others.

The team here has a book it and ask later policy. Why? Well, we usually book on the carrier website and take advantage of the generous cancellation or hold policies.

[Update 9/20/2012 @ Midnight – we have updated this post – please visit the new post for up to date information]

American Airlines

American Airlines allows you to HOLD a reservation for 24 hours for free. As long as you purchase before the HOLD expires, American will guarantee the price if it goes up. This is probably the most generous policy out there since it requires no money out of pocket. Starting at $5, American also offers holds for up to 7 days.

American does not offer a 24 hour risk free cancellation policy unlike Continental, Delta, United or US Airways.

One caveat: if you HOLD multiple reservations with the same dates, American will run a sweep at midnight and cancel them all. To avoid such a situation, HOLD the reservations without being logged in on the AA.com site.

Continental

Continental offers 24 hour risk free cancellation. If you buy a ticket from Continental.com, you have 24 hours to cancel and you will receive a refund in your original form of payment.

In addition, for a fee Continental offers a FareLock for up to 72 hours or 7 days on selected Continental flights. Like American, the fare is guaranteed for the duration of the hold.

Delta

Delta offers a 24 hour risk free cancellation policy. If you buy a ticket from Delta.com, you have 24 hours to cancel without penalty and you will receive a refund in your original form of payment. This policy applies to refundable as well as non-refundable fares.

Unlike American or Continental, Delta does not offer the ability to hold a fare.

United

United offers a 24 hour risk free cancellation policy. If you buy a ticket from United.com, you have 24 hours to cancel without penalty and you will receive a refund in your original form of payment. This policy applies to refundable as well as non-refundable fares.

Unlike American or Continental, United does not offer the ability to hold a fare.

US Airways

US Airways will allow a customer to cancel a purchased ticket for a full refund without penalty for up to 24 hours after purchase. This policy applies to refundable as well as non-refundable fares.

Unlike American or Continental, US Airways does not offer the ability to hold a fare.

On the scale of customer friendliness, American has the best policy for pre-purchases while all the other carriers have a better policy for post-purchases. But for our purposes, the cancellation policies give us more time to think about the deal and take advantage of them.

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