Does Japan Airlines have an unconditional 24-hour refund policy?

Does Japan Airlines have an unconditional 24-hour refund policy? - 
A Silhouette of the Itsukushima Shrine in Japan

I am trying to understand whether/when Japan Airlines has an unconditional 24-hour refund policy, i.e. offers a full ticket refund if the ticket was purchased through Japan Airlines in the last 24 hours, assuming one has completed the purchase one week or more before the original scheduled departure flight.

When testing the Japan Airlines website by booking a flight on https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/, it clearly states that tickets are non-refundable, with a few exceptions:

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The exceptions are listed in the following link: Peace of mind travel with free reservation changes (mirror), which states:

If your travel is disrupted due to a JAL flight cancellation, schedule change, or entry restrictions, you may also rebook or refund your ticket free of charge.

This means there no unconditional 24-hour refund policy.

However, on https://www.jal.co.jp/arl/region/en/other/csplan.html (mirror), I do read that there is an unconditional 24-hour refund policy:

JAL is dedicated to provide refunds of tickets to our customers with minimal inconvenience. Reservations can be held at the quoted fare without payment, or refunded within twenty four (24) hours after the reservation if the reservation is made one (1) week or more before departure. After this twenty four (24) hour period, the refund amount will be calculated based on the fare rules of your tickets.

I don't know to which tickets this policy applies. All tickets purchased on Japan Airlines' official website? A subset of it (e.g., out/in from/to the US)? All tickets with Japan Airlines, including purchased via agencies? etc.

This confuses me. Do any tickets purchased on Japan Airlines' official website have an unconditional 24-hour refund policy? (assuming one has completed the purchase one week or more before the original scheduled departure flight)



Best Answer

Getting a full refund if you cancel within 24 hours is a US DoT policy (possibly also adopted by a few other countries), so it only applies for tickets somehow related to those countries (not sure what the exact official rule is, probably flight departing or arriving in one of those countries — JAL seems to say departing only).

The JAL FAQ on the US version of the site has this question: https://faq-ar-en.jal.co.jp/app/answers/detail/a_id/26214

Your customer service plan states that full refund will be provided for cancellation within 24 hours. How do I proceed?

Ticket purchased on Japan Airlines American Region website (www.ar.jal.co.jp) can be refunded without penalty if request within a 24 hour time period on the website through “Manage Booking”.

  • When online cancel/refund is not available, please contact Japan Airlines Reservation Center.
  • Reminder: 24 hour full-refund policy doesn’t apply to JMB award tickets and revenue tickets departing outside of American Region (U.S., Canada, Mexico, or Brazil). Fees and charges apply based on the fare rules.

Ticket purchased through a travel agency or online travel agency 24 hour full-refund may not apply if tickets are purchased through a travel agency or online travel agency. Please contact your travel agency for the refund policy.

Make sure you use the US version of their site…




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Are airline tickets refundable within 24 hours of purchase?

For airline tickets that are purchased at least seven days before a flight's scheduled departure date and time, airlines are required to either: allow consumers to cancel their reservation and receive a full refund without a penalty for 24 hours, or.

Does JAL do refunds?

JAL will only accept refund requests for eligible tickets after the departure date through our JAL Call Centers. The request must be made within one (1) year and 30 days from the ticket issue date (if the ticket is unused), or from the date of travel commencement (if the ticket is used).

Which airlines have 24-hour cancellation policy?

American: Must be booked at least two days prior to departure. Delta: Must be booked at least three days (or 72 hours) prior to departure. JetBlue: Must be booked at least a week prior to departure. Southwest: 24-hour rule applies to all bookings.

Can you cancel a trip because of Covid?

Luckily, many travel providers are letting you change or cancel your bookings for free, including ones that originally let their COVID-19-related flexible travel waivers expire. Even better, in most cases, these changes and cancellations can be made online.



Japan Airlines Cancellation and Refund Policy: Updates 2020




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