Try this trick if you want to get a refund on a nonrefundable ticket: Phone your local city’s courthouse and volunteer for jury duty. Most of the airlines will refund a ticket if you have to show up for jury duty. Even on tickets that are nonrefundable!

More ways to get a refund:

You are qualified to get a refund if a family member has died or if you have a medical emergency. Make sure though that you have a death certificate or a doctor’s note to show the airline.

Don’t use your full name when the airline asks for it. Rather just give your surname and first name’s initial. This way a family member with the same surname can use the ticket if you cannot go.