Award ticket change and cancellation fees vary wildly from one airline program to another. One of my favorite things about booking award tickets with foreign programs is that many of them have more reasonable change and cancellation fees than the major domestic US programs (you pay the change or cancellation fees assessed by the ticketing carrier rather than the carrier operating your flight). This post lays out the key information for award changes and cancellation policies of the transfer partners of each of the major international programs with an easy-reference table of contents below.
What’s new? Updates to this guide include the massive increases in Etihad’s award cancellation fees, the addition of Bilt Rewards and Capital One miles transfer partners (which added American Airlines, Aer Lingus, Finnair Plus, and TAP Air Portugal to this guide) as well as links to official airline policies where possible.
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 reduces 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 by transfer program and partner
Amex Membership Rewards transfer partners award ticket change and cancellation fees
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Deadline: Not specified
- Change fee:
- Domestic (presumably Mexico): 1,070 MXN (about $61 USD)
- International: 1,930 MXN (about $110 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: $100
- Cancellation fee: $150
- Notes: I believe the fees above are in Canadian dollars. See the “Change and cancellation fees” section of the Aeroplan Flight Reward Policy.
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Deadline: Latest check-in time
- Change fee: €70
- Cancellation fee: €70
- 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 50 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 the 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.
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 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. $50 for a ticket within a single region, $200 for tickets between regions
- Notes: You can see the change and cancellation fees during the booking process. It’s always worth taking a screen shot of that type of information for your booking.
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. See full table of fees here.
Iberia Avios
- Deadline: 24 hours before departure
- Change fee: €25 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Cancellation fee: €25 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Notes: Iberia Avios bookings on most airlines are totally nonrefundable. You can only change or cancel if your flight is operated by 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 redeposit.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Deadline: None specified
- 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.
El Al
- Variable. According to this page, “Award ticket conditions, including conditions for change, cancelation or no-show for the flight will be specified during the Award ticket reservation process and before purchase of the ticket.” It further notes that the previous fee schedule was canceled.
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: By departure
- Change fee: $30
- Cancellation fee: Varies based on when you cancel:
- Within 24 hours of departure: 100% of the fare
- Within 7 days of departure: 75% of the fare
- 8-21 days prior to departure: 50% of the fare
- More than 21 days prior to departure: 25% of the far
- Notes: New award cancellation fees took effect on February 22, 2024 and are exorbitant. Book with caution.
Hawaiian Airlines
- Deadline: None specified
- Change fee: No fee on Main Cabin awards or higher
- Cancellation fee: No fee on Main Cabin awards or higher
- Notes: If you have an award ticket combined with a revenue fare, the more restrictive policy will apply and you will only be charged one fee. Full details on this page.
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.
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 (and unfortunately, one of the best uses of Qantas points is for short-distance American Airlines itineraries, where these fees would be comparatively substantial). 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.
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.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Deadline: 24 hours in advance
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50 (Note: If your original taxes were less than $50, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes. This is especially useful for Delta flights originating in the US as the taxes are generally only $5.60).
- 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.
Bilt Rewards transfer 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
- Notes: The page with policy information can be found here. You’ll have to contact Avios.com for a change or refund. Keep in mind that they are open 8am to 10pm GMT – keep that in mind as their phone lines may not be open if you wait until exactly 24hrs in advance.
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Deadline: 2 hours prior to departure
- Change fee: $100
- Cancellation fee: $150
- Notes: I believe the fees above are in Canadian dollars. See the “Change and cancellation fees” section of the Aeroplan Flight Reward Policy.
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Deadline: Latest check-in time
- Change fee: €50
- Cancellation fee: €50
- 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 50 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 the 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.
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.
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. $50 for a ticket within a single region, $200 for tickets between regions
- Notes: You can see the change and cancellation fees during the booking process. It’s always worth taking a screen shot of that type of information for your booking.
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. See full table of fees here.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Deadline: None specified
- 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)
- Cancellation fee: $120 or 17,000 miles
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.
Hawaiian Airlines
- Deadline: None specified
- Change fee: No fee on Main Cabin awards or higher
- Cancellation fee: No fee on Main Cabin awards or higher
- Notes: If you have an award ticket combined with a revenue fare, the more restrictive policy will apply and you will only be charged one fee. Full details on this page.
Iberia Avios
- Deadline: 24 hours before departure
- Change fee: €25 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Cancellation fee: €25 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Notes: Iberia Avios bookings on most airlines are totally nonrefundable. You can only change or cancel if your flight is operated by 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 redeposit.
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.
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 $150.
- Cancellation fee: $70
- Note: No-show fee to redeposit is also $150 (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.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Deadline: 24 hours in advance
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50
- (Note: If your original taxes were less than $50, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes. This is especially useful for Delta flights originating in the US as the taxes are generally only $5.60).
- 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.
Capital One Miles transfer partners award ticket change and cancellation fees
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Deadline: Not specified
- Change fee:
- Domestic (presumably Mexico): 1,070 MXN (about $61 USD)
- International: 1,930 MXN (about $110 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: $100
- Cancellation fee: $150
- Notes: I believe the fees above are in Canadian dollars. See the “Change and cancellation fees” section of the Aeroplan Flight Reward Policy.
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Deadline: Latest check-in time
- Change fee: €50
- Cancellation fee: €50
- 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 50 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 the 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.
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. $50 for a ticket within a single region, $200 for tickets between regions
- Notes: You can see the change and cancellation fees during the booking process. It’s always worth taking a screen shot of that type of information for your booking.
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. See full table of fees here.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Deadline: None specified
- 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)
- Cancellation fee: $120 or 17,000 miles
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: By departure
- Change fee: $30
- Cancellation fee: Varies based on when you cancel:
- Within 24 hours of departure: 100% of the fare
- Within 7 days of departure: 75% of the fare
- 8-21 days prior to departure: 50% of the fare
- More than 21 days prior to departure: 25% of the far
- Notes: New award cancellation fees took effect on February 22, 2024 and are exorbitant. Book with caution.
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Deadline: Prior to departure
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50
- 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 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Cancellation fee: €25 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Notes: Iberia Avios bookings on most airlines are totally nonrefundable. You can only change or cancel if your flight is operated by 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 redeposit.
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 (and unfortunately, one of the best uses of Qantas points is for short-distance American Airlines itineraries, where these fees would be comparatively substantial). 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.
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.
TAP Air Portugal
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change fee:
- Continental flight (i.e. within Europe): $50
- Intercontinental 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.
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 $150.
- Cancellation fee: $70
- Note: No-show fee to redeposit is also $150 (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.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Deadline: 24 hours in advance
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50
- (Note: If your original taxes were less than $50, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes. This is especially useful for Delta flights originating in the US as the taxes are generally only $5.60).
- 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.
Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partners award ticket change and cancellation fees
Air Canada Aeroplan
- Deadline: 2 hours prior to departure
- Change fee: $100
- Cancellation fee: $150
- Notes: I believe the fees above are in Canadian dollars. See the “Change and cancellation fees” section of the Aeroplan Flight Reward Policy.
Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Deadline: Latest check-in time
- Change fee: €50
- Cancellation fee: €50
- 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 50 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 the 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.
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. See full table of fees here.
Iberia Avios
- Deadline: 24 hours before departure
- Change fee: €25 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Cancellation fee: €25 for Blue, Premium Economy, or Business Class (oddly, this page says there is no penalty for changes/cancellations on Full Economy). Only on flights operated by Iberia, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum, and British Airways
- Notes: Iberia Avios bookings on most airlines are totally nonrefundable. You can only change or cancel if your flight is operated by 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 redeposit.
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.
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.
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.
Southwest Rapid Rewards
- Deadline: About 10 minutes prior to departure
- Change fee: None
- Cancellation fee: None
- Notes: Southwest has the easiest award change and cancellation policy in the business. Up until they close the boarding door (about 10 minutes prior to departure), you can change or cancel with no fee. You may pay the difference in Rapid Rewards for changes, but sometimes they don’t even change a difference. Cancellations are immediately redeposited in your account and points do not expire.
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.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Deadline: 24 hours in advance
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50
- (Note: If your original taxes were less than $50, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes. This is especially useful for Delta flights originating in the US as the taxes are generally only $5.60).
- 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.
Citi Thank You points transfer partners award ticket change and cancellation fees
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Deadline: Not specified
- Change fee:
- Domestic (presumably Mexico): 1,070 MXN (about $61 USD)
- International: 1,930 MXN (about $110 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 France KLM Flying Blue
- Deadline: Latest check-in time
- Change fee: €50
- Cancellation fee: €50
- 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 50 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 the 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.
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. $50 for a ticket within a single region, $200 for tickets between regions
- Notes: You can see the change and cancellation fees during the booking process. It’s always worth taking a screen shot of that type of information for your booking.
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Deadline: None specified
- 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)
- Cancellation fee: $120 or 17,000 miles
Emirates Skywards
- Deadline: 24 hours prior to departure
- Change fee:
- Date change: $25
- Destination change: $75
- Cancellation fee: $75
Etihad Guest
- Deadline: By departure
- Change fee: $30
- Cancellation fee: Varies based on when you cancel:
- Within 24 hours of departure: 100% of the fare
- Within 7 days of departure: 75% of the fare
- 8-21 days prior to departure: 50% of the fare
- More than 21 days prior to departure: 25% of the far
- Notes: New award cancellation fees took effect on February 22, 2024 and are exorbitant. Book with caution.
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Deadline: Prior to departure
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50
- 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).
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 (and unfortunately, one of the best uses of Qantas points is for short-distance American Airlines itineraries, where these fees would be comparatively substantial). See this page for a full schedule of fees.
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.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Deadline: Not 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.
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 $150.
- Cancellation fee: $70
- Note: No-show fee to redeposit is also $150 (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.
Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Deadline: 24 hours in advance
- Change fee: $50
- Cancellation fee: $50
- (Note: If your original taxes were less than $50, Virgin Atlantic will allow you to simply forfeit the taxes. This is especially useful for Delta flights originating in the US as the taxes are generally only $5.60).
- 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.
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Data point – Virgin charged me €30 per person to cancel instead of the $50 listed above. FWIW, it was an economy flight from Italy to Montreal on KLM. Miles were refunded and taxes/fees will supposedly be refunded as well.
It would be great if you could include hotel transfer partners. Or just in general post missing airlines like Korean Air and Alaska.
Any fee for changing the return flight after already taking the first flight on united.
Air France fee is €70 as of the last couple of weeks.
Is this still up to date? For example I saw just today that Air France fee is €70, while this page says €50.
I didn’t realize that had changed — I actually couldn’t find the current price on the site, it just said to see your booking for the fee from what I could see. Since I cancelled a couple of awards in late 2023 and it was still 50 Eur, I had assumed the fee hadn’t changed. A couple of readers pointed out the new 70 EUR fee though, so I’ve updated that.
FYI, Iberia charges 25 euros if transaction was made in Euros. If it is done in dollars (for taxes), they charge USD $40.
Just happened to me and I confirmed on the website. I was annoyed obviously. Know now to make future reservations in euros.
United says award flights can be cancelled with no fees “International flights originating in the U.S.”
What about flights from, say, Australia to the USA?
I’ve cancelled a bunch of flights on partners originating in Asia in the last 4 months, sometimes 3 hours before departure. No fess at all.
Thanks.
The FT threads on this seem quite confusing (which rule overrides), so asking here if anyone have experience with how a BA Avios ticket 24-hour cooling-off (full refund) vs less-than-24-hours-before-flight (no refunds) interaction? Specific example: book an Avios ticket for 1pm Wed at 11am Tue, $5.60 taxes. Cancelling before 1pm Tue definitely returns the Avios and $5.60; cancelling after 11am Wed definitely no refunds; the question is what happens in the in-between period, e.g. if one cancels at 5pm Tue, will the cooling-off rule (meaning full refunds) apply or the no-refunds-within-24-hours-of-flight rule apply? Thanks!
The US rule that provides you 24hrs from the time of booking to cancel for free only applies to tickets purchased at least 7 days prior to departure. Obviously individual airlines can have different policies on that, but I wouldn’t expect most to allow a free refund within 24 hours if you booked fewer than 7 days in advance since they aren’t required to do so.
Correct, they could refuse refunds, but of the airlines I use frequently (DL, AA, UA, B6, BA) — only B6 (JetBlue) seems to enforce that rule. All the others follow the 24-hour (exactly, or up-to-midnight-of-next-day) rule, even if unofficially. E.g., BA seems quite strict (like 1pm->1pm next day) vs DL (midnight next day, often, in Atlanta time) etc.
Used my stash of Iberia avios on AA business Lax/Bos x4 tickets 160k for a December flight, called to cancel was told $25 charge per ticket and avios returned within a week or so, not the case, NO refund in miles no refund of any kind, all wasted 3x all told me they don’t refund avios on AA flights, 1st rep was mistaken about the refund…
worst thing about Iberia is their CR over the phone.
i can confirm that Air Canada change/cancellation fees are in Canadian dollars.
Feeling like this one belongs under the Airlines section of the Resources page. Great job!
Alaska?
I know AA isn’t a transfer partner of any of those transferable currencies currently listed, but that would be a good one to add to the list for reference as well
I think the fees you list here for delta are the ones for revenue tickets. This is what it says under REDEPOSIT OF MILES FOR AWARD TICKETS/MILEAGE UPGRADES:
“There are no change fees for travel within the U.S. (including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), international travel originating in the U.S. and Canada and travel between the Caribbean and the U.S..* You may redeposit miles any time prior to departure. A redeposit fee of $150 will still apply for Award Tickets and mileage upgrades for travel originating outside of North America.”
“One of my favorite things about booking award tickets with foreign programs is that many of them have more reasonable change and cancellation fees than the major domestic US programs”
This was true pre-pandemic but now the opposite is true. For me it has increased the relative value of those US programs relative to other programs AND cash.