Changes and cancellations for an airport ride you have reserved

Pulling a request back early

Until you say yes to a written fare, a request is only a question you have put to the office. You can withdraw it at any time, by phone during the office's hours or by email, and nothing is owed to anyone. No company has confirmed a pickup for you at that stage, so there is nothing to unwind. Should you want the ride after all, send a fresh request; the form is open 24/7.

Once you accept a written fare

Your yes goes to a written fare that one car company prepared for your ride, and that company's cancellation terms are printed on it. You read them before you answer, and from your yes onward they are the terms that apply.

If you cancel after your yes, those printed terms say what is owed, if anything. You pay the car company for the ride, so any charge or refund under its terms is settled between you and that company, on its own receipt. Whatever figure applies is the one printed on your written fare, and the office adds nothing to it.

Flight canceled, delayed or moved

Tell the office or the car company as soon as you learn that your flight has been canceled or shifted to another hour. The company confirms the new pickup time in writing, and the new time stands once that note reaches you. If the change lands the pickup near Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year or a spring school break, send it anyway: a late request is still answered, and the office says plainly whether a company has a car.

A delay on the day itself asks less of you. With the flight number on the request, the company can follow the flight. Your written fare names how long the driver waits after your flight lands, how that wait is counted after a late landing and what waiting past that costs, so nothing else you agreed to changes.

New pickup time or new address

To move a pickup to another hour or another door, call or write as early as you can and say exactly what changes. The company confirms the new time or place in writing. An address in a different place on the list is priced as that place, and you see the new written fare before you say yes to it. A second stop is its own line on that fare. For an address outside the list, ask first: the office says whether a company can take it.

Weather can move a pickup from the company's side as well. On a morning of snow or ice, the company may ask to come for you earlier than the time you reserved. Agreeing to the earlier hour leaves the fare exactly as written, and the new time reaches you in writing, as every change does.

When a company has to step back

If a company finds it cannot keep a ride it has confirmed, the office tells you at once and asks another company for a written fare for the same ride. Asking costs you nothing. The second fare comes to you by email in the usual way, with that company's cancellation terms printed on it, and nothing is reserved again until you say yes and the new company confirms the pickup in writing. If no company has a car, the office says so plainly.

Calling or writing to cancel

Phone the office at +1 (816) 842-4783 Monday to Thursday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Central time. Email goes to pickups@cetravelservices.com. Saturday and Sunday run on the form alone. A message that arrives while the phone is open gets a written answer within two hours; any other message is answered by email by 10 a.m. the next morning, weekends included.

Cancel as early as you know, because the company's terms printed on your written fare decide what a late cancellation costs. The office passes your message to the company holding the ride. If you ticked the consent box at the phone field, either of them may phone or text that number about it, giving a name and a number when they do; if not, replies come by email. A message is quickest to match when it gives:

• your name as it appears on the request
• the date and hour of the pickup
• the pickup address
• the car company named on your written fare
• whether you are canceling or changing the ride