Cancellation policies of major US airlines and online travel agencies

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Miles and points enthusiasts are usually meticulous in planning their travels. But sometimes life gets in the way, and we have to change our plans or cancel altogether. Other times, we might jump on a super low fare and realize afterwards that it doesn’t work for our schedule.

In those situations, the best travel insurance credit cards may not have potent enough benefits to provide a full refund. If you need to change your plans, airlines and online travel agencies (OTAs) like Orbitz, Expedia, and Priceline all have different cancellation policies. And with airlines, fare rules can be rather complicated. Here’s a rundown of what to expect when you cancel a ticket.

(by Antonio Rico/Shutterstock)

Airline Cancellation Policies

Generally speaking, airlines may refund you for a cancelled ticket, depending on the fare paid.  Most low fares, regardless of the class of service, are completely non-refundable.

And policies vary on award tickets, too. Very few award tickets are completely refundable (you’ll get all of your miles or points back with no fee), while other airlines charge penalties to return miles to your account.

Alaska Airlines

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Fully refundable ticket: Refunded to your original form of payment, no fees

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets: $125, plus difference in fare

Same day confirmed change: $50 ($25 if flying entirely within California or other shuttle markets)

Exceptions: Passengers with MVP Gold elite status or higher won’t pay change fees

Change/cancellation fee: $125 if changing your ticket more than 24 hours after booking

Exceptions: MVP Gold Alaska Airlines elite status or higher

Flights reserved through June 30, 2020, for travel until May 31, 2021, can be canceled or changed with zero fees — no cash refunds. You must rebook your flight for travel within one year of your original itinerary. You are responsible for the difference in fare.

American Airlines

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund as long as you book at least two days prior to departure. You will not receive a refund on certain taxes or fees for booking via phone

Fully refundable ticket: Refunded to your original form of payment, no fees

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets: $200 for domestic flights, up to $750 for international flights

Same day confirmed change: $75 ($150 between New York-JFK and London Heathrow)

Exceptions: Executive Platinum American Airlines status receives free same-day flight changes. Basic Economy flights cannot be changed

Change/cancellation fee: Free date changes (origin and destination must remain the same), $150 for origin and destination change. $150 cancellation fee for first passenger, and $25 for each additional passenger on the same reservation

Exceptions: Executive Platinum members exempt from award change fees

Flights reserved through June 30, 2020, for travel through Sept. 30, 2020, can be cancelled or changed for free — no cash refund. You’ll be responsible for difference in fare.

Delta

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Fully refundable ticket: Refunded to your original form of payment, no fees

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets: $200 per domestic ticket (plus difference in fare). International change fees cost up to $500. You’ll receive an eCredit for future use with Delta in the amount of your ticket minus the fee.

Same day confirmed change: $75

Exceptions: Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Medallion Members Delta status exempt from same day change fees. Basic Economy cannot be altered

Change/cancellation fee: $150 (changes must be made 72 hours or more before departure)

Exceptions: Platinum and Diamond elites are exempt from award change fees

Flights reserved through June 30, 2020, can be canceled or changed for free for up to one year after the purchase date — no cash refunds. You’ll be responsible for the difference in fare.

Frontier

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Fully refundable ticket: The WORKS fare bundle gives you fully refundable and changeable tickets, no fees

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets:

Same day confirmed change: $119

Exceptions: Elite 100K members receive the WORKS bundle

Change/cancellation fee: $99.

Exceptions: $0 change fees if change is made eight or more days prior to travel and the same class of service is available on your new flight

None

JetBlue

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees (ticket must be booked seven days or more prior to departure)

Fully refundable ticket: Refunded to your original form of payment, no fees

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets: For Blue and Blue Plus, you’ll pay:

For Mint class, you’ll pay $200

Same day confirmed change: $75

Exceptions: Mosaic status exempt from all change fees except for Blue Basic fares

Change/cancellation fee: Same as non-refundable tickets

Exceptions: Mosaic status

Flights book through June 30, 2020, can be changed or canceled for free. You are responsible for difference in fare. If you change to a lower-priced ticket, you’ll receive a travel credit valid for 24 months from its issue date.

Southwest

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Fully refundable ticket: Refunded to your original form of payment, no fees

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets: Wanna Get Away fares (the cheapest) are refunded in the form of Southwest travel funds. You can use these toward any Southwest purchase, but they typically expire within one year of the issue date.

Same day confirmed change: No fees as long as you change more than 10 minutes before boarding. You’ll be responsible for the difference in fare

Exceptions: A-List and A-List Preferred Southwest elite status members can jump on an earlier Southwest flight for no charge if there’s room

Change/cancellation fee: Fully refundable up to 10 minutes before boarding

Exceptions:

None

If you change or cancel your Wanna Get Away fare by September 7, 2020, the travel credits you’ll be issued won’t expire until Sept. 7, 2022.

Spirit Airlines

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees as long as reservations are made more than seven days prior to departure

Fully refundable ticket:

None

xistent

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets:

Same day confirmed change: $99 per person for standby

Exceptions:

None

Change/cancellation fee: $110

Exceptions:

None

Fares booked by June 30, 2020, can be changed or canceled for free. If you cancel your itinerary, you’ll receive a travel credit valid for 12 months. If you change your flight instead of canceling, you’ll need to pay the difference in fare. If you book a cheaper flight, you’ll receive a travel credit for the difference.

Mile redeposit fees for canceled award flights are waived.

United Airlines

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Fully refundable ticket: Refunded to your original form of payment, no fees

Change/cancellation fee for non-refundable tickets: $200 for domestic flights, up to $1,000 for international flights

Same day confirmed change: $75

Exceptions: Basic Economy fares cannot be changed. Premier Gold, Premier Platinum and Premier 1K status are charged no fees for same day changes. Premier 1K is exempt of all change fees

Change/cancellation fee:

Exceptions: United Airlines elite status offers varying discounts on change fees.

Price when booking 60 days of departure:

Price when booking 61+ days from departure:

You can cancel or change flights purchased through June 30, 2020, for free. If you change, you’re responsible for the difference in fare. If you book a cheaper fare, you will not be reimbursed. If you cancel your flight, you’ll receive travel credits valid for 12 months.

Mile redeposit fees are waived for canceled award flights.

Online Travel Agency (OTA) Cancellation Policies

If you book a paid ticket through an Online Travel Agency, you may be able to cancel your ticket and get a refund or apply the value of the ticket towards future travel.

Bear in mind that even though you’ve purchased a ticket through an OTA, your ticket will still be subject to the fare rules, cancellation policies, and fees from the airline you’re traveling.

Orbitz

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Change/cancellation fees: $30, generally. This is on top of the fees charged by the airline. You may receive travel credit for canceling non-refundable flights, minus any fees. Fully refundable tickets can take up to 45 days to be redeposited to your form of payment

COVID-19 policy changes: All Orbitz policy changes appear to have ended. You’ll still save with most airlines, as they may not pass along change and cancellation fees during this time

Expedia

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Change/cancellation fees: You’re only charged fees passed along by airlines. You may receive travel credit for canceling non-refundable flights, minus any fees

COVID-19 policy changes:

None

, really. Expedia invites you to try and cancel directly with the airline (with the exception of low-cost carriers like Frontier and Spirit)

Priceline

Cancel within 24 hours: Full refund, no fees

Change/cancellation fees: It APPEARS that Priceline simply follows the policies of its airline partners — so be prepared to pay whatever the airline charges. A very select few airlines may not be eligible for refunds no matter what (again, low-cost carriers). If someone has firsthand knowledge of fees incurred by Priceline, leave a comment.

COVID-19 policy changes:

None

, except the ability to reach customer service agents more easily through chat if you’re departing within 72 hours

Bottom line

If your plans change and you need to cancel or change a paid or award airline ticket, you’ll have to look closely at the policies of the specific airline or online travel agency you booked with — especially in the time of coronavirus.

Generally, you can get a refund on fully refundable tickets (but may pay a fee). Non-refundable tickets can sometimes have their value applied to future travel, but you’ll always pay a difference in fare and airline change fee (except on Southwest, which doesn’t have change fees). Online travel agencies have similar policies, and will defer to the airline’s fare rules and fees.

Have you had to change or cancel a ticket recently? What was your experience?

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
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