While most U.S. airlines only give you a 24-hour “risk-free cancellation,” American Airlines still offers a true fare hold — and in practice, it often lasts a bit longer than you’d expect.
Airfare prices can change by the minute, which makes timing a purchase stressful when you’re waiting on approval or coordinating plans. U.S. rules require airlines to offer either a 24-hour hold or a 24-hour free cancellation (as long as you book at least 7 days before departure). Most airlines go with the cancellation option. American still offers a hold on select flights — and that can be surprisingly useful.
A real-life example
Let’s say you’re shopping for a flight and you stumble on a terrific price on American Airlines. You’d love to book it immediately… but you need the OK from your boss to take the time off. You should know by tomorrow.
In the U.S., airlines have to provide consumers with a 24-hour “breathing room” option: they must either hold a reservation at the quoted fare for at least 24 hours without payment or allow you to cancel within 24 hours without penalty (as long as the reservation is made at least 7 days before departure).
Most U.S.-based airlines choose the “book now, cancel later” approach. Here’s how several major U.S. airlines explain it:
-
Alaska Airlines (24-hour refund option)
-
Allegiant Air (24-hour refund option)
-
American Airlines (hold option on select flights)
-
Delta Air Lines (24-hour refund option)
-
Frontier (24-hour refund option)
-
Hawaiian Airlines (24-hour refund option)
-
JetBlue (24-hour refund option)
-
Southwest (24-hour refund option)
-
United (24-hour refund option)
Of course, they’re not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts — it’s required. The DOT rule says airlines must offer a 24-hour hold or a 24-hour free cancellation window for flights booked 7+ days before departure, and they have to disclose which policy they use during booking.
This notice provides guidance to U.S. and foreign air carriers regarding compliance with the customer service rule that requires carriers to hold a reservation at the quoted fare for 24 hours without payment or allow a reservation to be cancelled within 24 hours without penalty (the “24-hour reservation requirement”)… and applies to all reservations made seven days or more prior to the flight’s scheduled departure time.
Bottom line: Most airlines go with “book it and cancel within 24 hours.” American is one of the only major U.S. airlines that still gives you a true hold option during booking (on select itineraries).
A secret: AA’s “24-hour hold” often runs past the exact 24-hour mark
Here’s the part a lot of people don’t realize.
American advertises a hold “up to 24 hours.” But in real-world use, many travelers report that the hold often doesn’t expire exactly 24 hours after you placed it. Instead, it frequently shows an expiration time near the end of the day (local time) on the expiration date — which can effectively buy you extra hours depending on when you placed the hold.
For example:
- If you place a hold late in the evening, you may still see it expire close to 11:59 PM local time the next day.
- If you place it early in the morning, you may end up with far more than 24 hours before that end-of-day expiration hits.
American’s website doesn’t advertise the “extra” time
American’s hold page says they’ll hold it for “up to 24 hours.”
…But the hold email usually shows a specific end-of-day expiration time
When American emails you the hold details, it typically includes a specific expiration time — and many travelers say it’s often close to 11:59:59 PM local time rather than “exactly 24 hours from now.” FlyerTalk and Reddit users have been pointing this out for years.
(As always: the email you receive is the final word — it will tell you the exact expiration date and time for your hold.)
The history of airline holds
American Airlines is one of the only major U.S. airlines that still offers a free 24-hour hold during booking (on select flights) — and yes, they’ve played with the idea of pulling it before.
But airline holds used to be much more of a “thing.” Years ago, several airlines offered paid options that could lock in a fare for more than a day (yep, plural days) — basically a way to stop price creep while you figured out plans. Over time, most carriers either dropped those longer hold products or shifted to the simpler (and DOT-compliant) approach: book now, cancel within 24 hours if you change your mind.
These days, United is the most notable holdout for longer paid holds with FareLock, which can hold some itineraries for 3, 7, or 14 days (for a fee).
Our thoughts on this
Needing a hold isn’t an everyday situation. But when you’re waiting on someone else (a boss, a travel companion, a family schedule), it’s one of the few tools left that actually reduces stress without forcing you to buy first and unwind it later.
And if your “24-hour hold” quietly turns into “until the end of the day,” that makes it even more useful — especially if you’re trying to line things up during business hours.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
