Award ticket change and cancellation fees vary wildly from one airline frequent flyer program to another. This post outlines the award change and cancellation policies of those airline programs that are transfer partners with major US credit card and rewards programs, with an easy-to-reference table of contents below.
What’s new? This guide has been extensively updated. From an organizational standpoint, all airlines are now in a single alphabetical list. Newly added programs include Japan Airlines Mileage Bank, Lufthansa Miles & More, Air India Maharaja Club, and SAS EuroBonus. Change and cancellation fees have been updated (with a couple of nominal increases in fees), links to change and cancellation policies have also been updated.
Elite members often pay less
It’s worth noting that if you have elite status with the ticketing airline (the airline whose miles you are using to book the ticket), you may pay reduced fees or no fees at all. The fees indicated in this post assume no elite status and thus should be the highest you would expect to pay with each partner.
Award ticket change and cancellation fees
Aer Lingus Avios
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change fee: 42.50 EUR
- Cancellation fee: 42.50 EUR
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Deadline: Not specified
- Change fee:
- Ranges from as low as 700 MXN (about $40 USD) for domestic Aeromexico awards within Mexico to 5,400 MXN (about $300) for international itineraries (pricing varies by region — note that for travel to/from the US, the change fee is 4,000 MXN, or about $228 USD)
- Cancellation fee:
- Domestic: 1,930.00 MXN (about $110 USD)
- International: 2,900.00 MXN (about $165 USD)
- Notes: AeroMexico isn’t known for great customer service, but you can refer to this page for award change fees.
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Deadline: 2 hours prior to departure
- Change fee: $75 CAD at aircanada.com (about $53) / $100 CAD via phone (about $70 USD)
- Cancellation fee: $150 CAD (about $106 USD) online / $175 CAD via call center (about $124)
- Notes: See the “Change and cancellation fees” section of the Aeroplan Flight Reward Policy. Note that since the fee to change is less than the fee to cancel, in most cases you are better off paying the change fee to change to a fully flexible award first, and then cancel for no additional fee.
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Deadline: Latest check-in time
- Change fee: €70 (about $80 USD)
- Cancellation fee: €70 (about $80 USD)
- Notes: Note that in the past, it was not possible to change or cancel Promo Rewards, but these days those award tickets can be changed or cancelled for the same 70 Euro fee (a fare difference will apply on changes). Note also that the online form suggests that they will automatically charge the cancellation fee to the card you used to book the tickets; if you wish to use a different card to pay the fee, you need to call. In 2023, I had one case where they immediately re-credited the tickets and charged my card for the cancellation fee, and another where they did not immediately charge me or deposit the miles, but when they got to it months later they waived the cancellation fee.
Air India Maharaja Club
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure or it is considered a No-Show (no refund will be given) except for those with top-tier elite status (for whom awards can be cancelled up to 2 hours prior to departure)
- Change fee: 25% of the miles
- Cancellation fee: 25% of the miles
- Notes: Note that elite member fee waivers do not apply to others traveling on the same reservation. More information on change and cancellation fees can be found here.
Alaska Atmos Rewards
- Deadline: Prior to departure
- Change fee: None
- Cancellation fee: None, though you will forfeit the $20 partner booking fee on partner awards.
- Notes: In most cases, miles are immediately redeposited. Do note that the $20 per passenger partner booking fee is nonrefundable. You might want to consider changing rather than cancelling when possible. More information can be found here.
American Airlines AAdvantage
- Deadline: Prior to departure of your first flight
- Change fee: None
- Cancellation fee: None
- Notes: In most cases, miles are immediately redeposited, but as per this page you will sometimes need to contact reservations for help reinstating your miles for travel involving partner airlines, trips booked outside of the United States, and some other conditions.
ANA Mileage Club
- Deadline: Before departure. Most blogs say up to 24 hours before departure. This page on the ANA site says “Customers must change their flight award before the departure of their originally reserved flight and up to 96 hours prior to the departure of their preferred flight.” In other words, you need to make the change at least 4 days in advance of the flight you want to change to — though in my experience, I made a change barely 24 hours in advance of departure that pushed my trip back one day (i.e. new departure was 48 hours from the time of the change), so YMMV.
- Change fee: $0 (none for time/date/routing/destination)
- Cancellation fee: 3,000 JPY or 3,000 miles (note that for tickets to/from some regions, the fee can only be paid with miles)
- Notes: Miles will not be refunded if their expiration date has passed.
Avianca LifeMiles
- Deadline: None (LifeMiles at least theoretically allows cancellation even after departure, though YMMV on getting a competent agent)
- Change fee: $150
- Cancellation fee: Varies from $50 to $200 per ticket. See fee listed during the booking process.
- Notes: You can see the change and cancellation fees during the booking process. It’s always worth taking a screenshot of that type of information for your booking. Note also that those with a “Basic” subscription to Lifemiles+ that was initiated prior to June 26, 2026, award change and cancellation fees are waived provided you change or cancel at least 72 hours prior to departure. Be aware that this applies to the “Basic” subscription or above ($50 per month), not the “lite” subscription, and that this benefit only lasts until June 26, 2027. The free change and cancellation benefit has been eliminated for new subscribers. See this post for more details.
British Airways Avios
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change fee: $55
- Cancellation fee: $55
- Notes: If the taxes & fees on your ticket were less than $55, British Airways allows you to instead forfeit those fees rather than pay $55. However, in practice, they sometimes still refund the taxes. This makes British Airways a very good option for booking American Airlines flights in many instances given much lower fees than you’d pay if ticketed through AA. Note that there might be a slight variation in the cost to change or cancel depending on the country of departure. See full table of fees here.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Deadline: Before departure
- Change fee: $50 or 7,500 miles if done online / $90 or 13,500 miles if done over the phone (fees are per person, per sector) as per this page.
- Cancellation fee: $120 or 17,000 miles as per this page.
Delta SkyMiles
- Deadline: 10 minutes prior to departure for domestic awards. 72 hours for travel originating outside the US.
- Change fee: None for Main Cabin or above tickets on flights originating from the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa, India and the Caribbean. Basic Economy tickets are not typically changeable or cancellable.
- Cancellation fee: None for Main Cabin or above tickets on flights originating from the United States or Canada or for travel between the Caribbean and the US. Basic Economy tickets can not be changed but can be cancelled for 9,900 miles for travel within the US and Canada or 19,900 miles for international travel. For tickets issued for travel originating in Korea, tickets will be refunded to original form of payment after deducting the cancellation charge. A redeposit fee of $150 will be charged for award tickets and upgrades originating outside of North America. See more information here.
Emirates Skywards
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change fee:
- Date change: $25
- Destination change: $75
- Cancellation fee: $75
- Notes: There is no cost to change or cancel Flex Plus awards.
Etihad Guest
- Deadline: 72 hours before departure
- Change fee:
- Within 72 hours of departure:
- Value: Not allowed
- Comfort: Not allowed
- Deluxe: Not allowed
- More than 72 hours before departure:
- Value: AED 600 (~US$163)
- Comfort: AED 200 (~US$54)
- Deluxe: Free
- Within 72 hours of departure:
- Cancellation fee:
- Within 72 hours of departure:
- Value: Not allowed
- Comfort: Not allowed
- Deluxe: Not allowed
- More than 72 hours before departure:
- Value: Not allowed
- Comfort: 25% of fare
- Deluxe: Free
- Within 72 hours of departure:
- Notes: New award change and cancellation fees are exorbitant. Book with caution.
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Deadline: Prior to departure
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50 (note that it looks like there may be no fee if cancelled online)
- Notes: Unused flights from a partially used ticket can still be changed or cancelled for the same fee according to the Star Alliance award ticket terms.
Finnair Plus
- Deadline: Not specified
- Change fee: €50
- Cancellation fee: €50
- Notes: Applicable fees are listed on this page.
Iberia Avios
- Deadline: 24 hours before departure
- Change fee: €25/$40 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (we’ve had recent datapoints that suggest that this is $40 for US customers despite there being no mention of it on the website). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, and Nostrum
- Cancellation fee: €25/$40 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (we’ve had recent datapoints that suggest that this is $40 for US customers despite there being no mention of it on the website). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, and Air Nostrum
- Notes: Iberia Avios bookings on most airlines have historically been totally nonrefundable. The Iberia site now says, “For flights with all other airlines, including those belonging to the oneworld Alliance, refunds and changes are permitted depending on the fare. Check the particular conditions of each ticket at the time of purchase.” That marks a change in 2026 from the previous wording, which indicated that oneworld bookings were nonrefundable, but it would be wise to carefully check terms during the purchase process.
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- Deadline: Not listed for JAL awards. 48 hours prior to departure for partner awards.
- Change fee: Changes are not permitted for awards on Japan Airlines. To change, you must cancel and rebook. Partner awards offer free change day/time changes only (Changes to the traveler’s name, the airline carrier, the flight sector, the class of service, the routing, reversing the direction of travel, and exchanges to other awards are not permitted).
- Cancellation fee: 3,100 JPY (about $19 USD) for international awards / 1,000 JPY for domestic awards
- Notes: More information can be found here for JAL awards or partner awards here.
JetBlue TrueBlue
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change/cancellation fees: None for any fares except Blue Basic. Blue Basic fares are subject to a change/cancel fee of $100 per person for travel within North America, Central America, or the Caribbean, or $200 per person for all other routes.
Lufthansa Miles & More
- Deadline: Prior to departure.
- Change fee: 50 EUR. Note that only date & time can be changed, not route
- Cancellation fee: 50 EUR or forfeiture of the miles
- Notes: For cancellations, the member can choose to get back only taxes & fees (forfeiting the miles) or to pay 50 EUR to receive a refund of both taxes & fees and the miles. Note that some fare classes may have higher fees. See this page for more detail.
Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change fee: 5,000 points
- Cancellation fee: 6,000 points
- Notes: Fees are quite reasonable for international long-haul flights but would be significant on shorter itineraries. See this page for a full schedule of fees. Note that the schedule of fees also notes a service fee of 4,500 to 7,700 points for cancellation of economy class awards.
Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Deadline: 3 hours prior to departure (cancellations within less than 3 hours prior to departure forfeit miles and are only eligible for refund of taxes).
- Change fees:
- More than 24 hours in advance: $25
- Between 3-24 hours in advance: $100
- Within 3 hours or after departure: Miles are nonrefundable
- Notes: The fee to change Qatar award tickets at least 24 hours in advance is very reasonable, but don’t wait until the last minute to get on the phone and cancel. See this page for fees, including reduced fees for elite members.
SAS EuroBonus
- Deadline: Cancel/rebook up to 1h before departure if points are valid (fee applies).
- Changes:
- European flights: 25 EUR/250 SEK/250 NOK/175 DKK/25 USD/32 CAD.
- Flights to/from Asia and North America: 75 EUR/750 SEK/750 NOK/525 DKK/75 USD/96 CAD.
- Cancellations:
- European flights: 25 EUR/250 SEK/250 NOK/175 DKK/25 USD/32 CAD.
- Flights to/from Asia and North America: 75 EUR/750 SEK/750 NOK/525 DKK/75 USD/96 CAD.
- Notes: More information can be found here.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Deadline: None specified
- Changes:
- Change of date / route / class / add a stopover for travel on Singapore Airlines or Silk Air: $25
- Change of date / route / class on partner airlines: $50
- Cancellation fee: $75
- Note that if you no-show, you pay an additional fee on top of the change or cancellation fee:
- Economy: $100
- Premium Economy: $200
- Business or First: $300
- Note that if you no-show, you pay an additional fee on top of the change or cancellation fee:
- Notes: Singapore long had even cheaper change and cancellation fees for partner bookings, but those fees increased a couple of years ago to the rates seen above. More info on service fees can be found here.
Southwest Rapid Rewards
- Deadline: About 10 minutes prior to departure
- Change fee:
- Basic: Fare difference
- Choice or higher: None
- Cancellation fee: None
- Notes: Cancellations are immediately redeposited in your account, and points do not expire. Note that Basic fares can only be changed for a fare difference (i.e. can only be changed to a higher fare). If you want to rebook a Basic award for a fare drop, you need to either cancel and rebook or first change to a Choice fare or higher and then change back to Basic.
TAP Air Portugal
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change fee:
- Domestic flight (within Europe): €50
- Continental flight: €75
- Partner award: €150
- Cancellation fee:
- Flights on TAP: €75
- Flights on partners: €100
- Notes: If you no-show your flight, you’ll pay $130 for flights on TAP or $150 for flights on partners for a refund of the miles. See full table of fees here.
Thai Airways Royal Orchid
- Deadline: Not specified
- Change fee:
- On Thai Airways:
- Economy / Premium Economy: $85
- Royal Silk / Royal First: $120
- On Star Alliance Partners: $125
- Name change: $190 or 20,000 miles
- On Thai Airways:
- Cancellation fee:
- On Thai Airways within Thailand: $60
- Regional / International: $125 or 10,000 miles
- Intercontinental: $190 or 15,000 miles
- Notes: Dates or flight numbers can be changed, but all other changes require a cancellation/redeposit and the terms here indicate that you should allow 3 days for miles to redeposit. The redeposit fee schedule can be found here.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles
- Deadline: None (miles can be redeposited after no-show)
- Change fee: $70
- Note: No-show fee to change and reissue a ticket is $170.
- Cancellation fee: $70
- Note: No-show fee to redeposit is also $170 (you pay this to redeposit if you no-show the flight)
- Notes: These fees mark a substantial increase over the old fee structure of $25 to change or cancel. See this page for full terms.
United Mileage Plus
- Deadline: Prior to departure or else you are subject to the no-show fee
- Change fee: None
- Cancellation fee: None
- No show: Redeposit miles for $125 in the event that you no-show the award. More information can be found here.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Deadline: 24 hours in advance
- Change fee: £70 for flights originating in the UK or $100 for flights originating elsewhere
- Cancellation fee: £70 for flights originating in the UK or $100 for flights originating elsewhere (Note: If your original taxes were less than $100, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes. This can be especially useful for domestic Delta flights or other situations with low taxes & fees).
- Notes: Keep in mind that you must change or cancel at least 24 hours in advance. They will technically allow cancellations within 24 hours of departure, but you won’t receive any miles back. More information about change and cancellation fees can be found here.
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Thank you for keeping us informed Frequent Miler team! You’re the best!
Alaska partner fee has increase from $12.50 to $20
This listing is a reminder of why I primarily collect miles from our domestic carriers. AA, UA, and AS (if you have the Summit card) are the best (no change or cancellation fees!), with DL slightly behind (if booking flights starting outside of North America). Less flexibility with all the rest.
Frontier?
Obviously a lot of work went into this Thank you!
Under your “How-Tos and Guides” menu at the top, there is an “Airline Change Fee Chart” article under “Booking Awards”, which links to a different, out of date article. This should be there instead.
A simple table on top with details below would be better
Alaska?
Added
odd because twice on Virgin awards that i’ve cancelled (partner awards,EU to US) I’ve been told $50 (and on one got it waived).
When was that? They increased the fee in 2024.
both in the past year. one just a month ago (but it was waived). Virgin is the one I don’t understand why i never get the $100.
I cancelled 2 award tickets Business class ( Ams-Vie ) I called them today and was charged $50 for each reservation cancelation. Taxes on both reservations were $97 and will be reimbursed plus 9,000 pts each.
There’s a subtlety for JAL. Award tickets on their own metal can’t be changed, as listed. But partner award tickets can be changed for free online if the partner airline(s) and route(s) are the same: https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/en/jalmile/use/partner_air/p_jmb/cancel.html
Where’s Alaska?
Thanks for commenting — I’ve added it! Very simple policy for Alaska.
I believe now Alaska is charging $20 for partner booking, as of July 1st.
Has Iberia changed their policy and now prohibits cancellations on its own metal too?
Grok seemed to think so (as of ~ May 2025). I ask because I noticed the Booking Email / PNR Confirmation has the following language:
Change Permitted before the departure of the flight with a fee of €25/$40. Only permitted on IB, YW, I2 and BA flights (except VY flights)
Refund (in each direction) Not allowed.
Probably would not have booked without some leeway, though I suppose I could change to a very far off date if there’s good availability end of schedule (this seems to becoming more rare)
OK – Looks like this page should be updated for Iberia. I called in & can confirm Iberia policy considered “Economy” (not otherwise marketed or distinguished as ‘blue’ or ‘basic’) does NOT allow any cancellations
Being that we have a rule when touching the US that you can cancel if under 24 hours (and >7 days out), I was able to call in today and have it refunded. I’m told it takes 1-15 days, but the call was swift at the moment I rang in
This is an incredibly customer unfriendly policy! And, what’s worse is that for the same availability and price, one can book this flight using British avios (if transferred). AND they allow cancellations if > 24 hours on IBERIA metal
All other things being equal, I’d generally have tried to match the carrier with the loyalty program for IRROPs. But here’s another example that things rarely are equal
In the case of Iberia Avios, I would ONLY ever book in their program if I had high confidence of flying (e.g., a close-in booking), or maybe at a very substantial savings in points, or possibly if it was a route with good availability that I flew often and could date change the flight as needed. It seems using their program for partners OR for themselves is highly discouraged. Maybe it’s a high cost center for them and they actually want to minimize its use?
When playing the game you have to know the rules, i.e. the bad things for award flights:
4) Iberia Avios bookings on most airlines are totally nonrefundable. You can only change or cancel if your flight is operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways (except for flight series 5xxx). This makes Iberia a poor choice for most oneworld partner bookings as there is no way to change or redposit.
5) Delta – Basic Economy tickets are not typically changeable or cancellable.
Can this be updated to include the transfer partners that were recently added to Bilt, Citi, and Capital One? Also, I agree with what Wigand Weirich said below. Instead of organizing by transferable currency and then airline program, it should be organized by airline program and then whatever currencies transfer to them can be included in a short list. I feel that programs like American and Alaska were important enough to include even before anyone could transfer to them since getting miles through credit cards was very possible.
Need to add JAL now that they have xfer partners.
First paragraph is dated; US airlines are now far better in terms of fees for changes or cancellations (usually free).
It sure was! Thanks. Fixed.