Technically, if it's already ticketed it's a refund, not a cancel (at GDS level at least), but airlines use both the same at marketing level.
You can try that but full refunds are unusual, normally there's a penalty fee. More than for preventing ripping off lounges, it's to prevent third parties from playing tricks on the seats' availability. Maybe it still pays off, have a look!
> full refunds are unusual, normally there's a penalty fee.
At least on United (not too familiar with other airlines' policies), full-fare tickets (Y, J, F) are refundable without a fee. If it was paid on a credit card, they'll typically just reverse the charge.
Probably refundable within 24/48h of the purchase. Many companies do that. Normal penalties apply from then on. So unless you buy your ticket in the last moment, no, it wouldn't work.
No, fully refundable fares are fully refundable at any time up to the flight. That's the whole point of a "fully-refundable" fare; it has no penalties for refunds. This is made pretty clear in the fare rules, and is the basic reason to buy full-fare tickets rather than discount fares (apart from the mileage bonus, I guess).
The 24 hour limit is for refunds on non-refundable fares. Most airlines will still let you cancel any ticket within the first 24 hours, even a discount fare (in the US, the DOT requires this for tickets booked at least 7 days in advance).
Refundable within X hours usually doesn't apply if you book within Y hours of the flight. The US DOT rule is refundable within 24 hours if booked at least 7 days in advance.
You can try that but full refunds are unusual, normally there's a penalty fee. More than for preventing ripping off lounges, it's to prevent third parties from playing tricks on the seats' availability. Maybe it still pays off, have a look!