Domestic
Effective for tickets issued on/after November 1, 2006:
- Wholly unused tickets - If a traveler misses the ticketed travel date, they are required to select a new travel date and exchange the ticket within one year from the original departure date.
- Partially used nonrefundable tickets - If a traveler misses the ticketed continuing or return flight, a new flight may be rescheduled and the ticket exchanged no later than one year from the original departure date.
- Unused domestic tickets that have previously been exchanged must commence travel within one year from the original ticket’s outbound travel date.
Extensions to these validity polices are not permitted. Once any ticket expires, Northwest will retain all amounts collected from the traveler as an administrative service charge/cancellation fee.
Same-day travel changes—FlyNow option
- This option allows travelers to make confirmed same-day changes to their domestic flights for a $25 fee. If the customer's fare qualifies for standby and eligible seats are available on the desired Northwest or Northwest Airlink-operated domestic flights scheduled within three hours of the time the customer checks in for their original flight, Northwest will confirm the customer on the alternate flight or flights and issue boarding passes for the $25 FlyNow fee. The new desired flights must be on the same day as the travel originally scheduled.
- In addition, Northwest will allow customers to use the FlyNow option on different routings to their destination. For example, if an itinerary is scheduled for a domestic connection through Northwest’s Minneapolis/St. Paul hub, and a connection through the airline’s Detroit hub will arrive at the destination sooner, customers may choose the FlyNow option and be confirmed on the Detroit routing, if eligible space is available.
- Complimentary standby option—Northwest continues to offer its customers the option of standing by for an earlier or later domestic flight on the same day and the same routing at no cost.
- If requested, Northwest will place customers on the standby lists for both their first flight and their domestic connecting flight at their initial point of check-in. If seats are unavailable on the first flight for which the customer would like to stand by, the customer will be added to the standby list of the next possible flight.
International
- Wholly unused international non-refundable tickets: For tickets issued on and after August 1, 2006: Wholly unused tickets, to remain valid, must be exchanged within one year from date of issue on the original ticket.
- Partially used tickets will remain valid for up to one year after the original departure date.
- When applying an unused international ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket, the base fare amount of the new ticket needs to be equal to or higher than the base fare amount of the original ticket and the penalty fee applies. Unused international tickets can be applied toward a new domestic or international ticket as long as it follows the rule mentioned above.
- Effective April 15, 2005, for international tickets, when a voluntary change* is made to a reservation, the ticket must be reissued at the same time the reservation is modified. All change fees and fare differences must be collected at the time of reissuance. The simultaneous ticket reissuance policy will continue to apply to all restricted fares that contain change fees.
* a cancellation is not considered a "change". You can cancel a ticket and use the credit later. When you re-book (use the credit) that is a "change".
Notes:
Any difference in fare when changing travel plans will be the responsibility of the traveler.
If the new itinerary has a higher fare, the fare difference will be collected along with the change fees.
If the new itinerary has a lower fare than the original ticket, the administration fee may be deducted from the difference in fares.
If there is excess value left after deducting the fee, then a credit voucher will be issued for the residual amount less any fees, which may be applied toward the purchase of future travel on Northwest.