How To Avoid Fees When Cancelling & Changing Airlines Award Tickets?

Whenever airlines cancel flights due to crew scheduling, maintenance, or weather, getting compensation becomes complicated. However, travelers may frequently need to pay the fee whenever they request to cancel or amend their own bookings. Whereas, many airlines have liberal cancellation and change policies. 

For some airlines with imposed fees, there are a few tactics to avoid or reduce them like taking perks of scheduled alterations or travel waivers. Here in this guide, you will learn about cancelling and changing your flight, fruitful tips to avoid paying the cancellation or change fees after their re-established. Moreover, you will also get a brief description about  how can you cancel American Airlines award flight. Hence, go through every section attentively. 

An Outline Of Change Fees 

Prior to making the adjustments, it's essential for every passenger to get a well-versed understanding of the charges they may be required to pay. Likewise, if you are thinking of moving to a new flight, here are some obligatory details about the change fee you must be aware of: 

• There are a few airlines that charge a change fee whenever you amend your flight itinerary. Generally, travelers will have to pay the applied fee and the fare difference to upgrade their flight. The actual fee may differ based on airline-to-airline, destination, and the time you initiate the adjustments. 
• If you request a last-minute flight change, the fee may be less. Many airlines provide same-day adjustments for a lesser cost, and these are often provided at a minimum amount for specific tiers of elite status. 
• Most importantly, multiple U.S. Airlines don't permit their passengers to change or cancel their flight if they have a basic economy ticket. However, unless there is an exception, such as a travel waiver or schedule modification.  

An Outline Of Cancellation Fees 

Whenever you cancel a non-refundable flight, the airline imposes the cancellation fees. These costs may differ based on the airline. Moreover, generally, in most circumstances, you will get a travel credit if you make the flight cancellation. Some significant U.S. Airlines will not provide refunds to your original payment medium unless there is no exceptional case, such as a schedule change, or if you have a refundable ticket. 

Flight Change & Cancellation Policies Of Different Airlines 

Every airline has different change and cancellation policies. A few of them are restrictive as compared to the other airlines.  Have a look at some of the significant airlines and their policies: 

1. Air Canada Airlines 

The Air Canada change policy for award flight tickets is uncomplicated in comparison to paid flight as it doesn't fluctuate by route. Furthermore, you don't need to pay any Air Canada change flight fee if you make alterations to Economy Flex, premium economy, Economy Latitude, first-class awards, and business class. Meantime, Economy Standard, business-class, premium economy, and first-class awards have a change cost of around 100 Canadian dollars, which is about $73 per ticket. For AeroplanSuper Elite members, the cancellation and change fees are waived. 

2. Alaska Airlines 

Passengers must amend or cancel their flight prior to their departure to be eligible for flight credit. According to the Alaska Airlines Award ticket cancellation policy, travelers will receive their taxes and miles refunded whenever they cancel the award tickets. However, around the $12.50 partner award reservation fee and the $15 call center reservation fee for awards reserved on the phone will not be refunded as it is non-refundable. 

Alaska same day change charges either around $25 or $50 and are waived for travelers with MVP 100K, American AAdvantage Platinum Pro, American AAdvantage Executive Platinum, and American AAdvantage Concierge Key membership. If not applied, you don't have to pay a difference in fare for same-day alterations. 

3. American Airlines 

American Airlines permits their passengers to change or cancel the cost for all awards tickets. Further, travelers will automatically get their miles in their registered AAdvantage account. This aspect applied on flights within the U.S. or from Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico. Moreover, the international itineraries beginning in the U.S. don't charge any AA change fees or cancellation fee. Additionally, you will only need to pay the fare difference whenever you request a flight change. 

4. Delta Airlines 

Similar to American Airlines, Delta Airlines does not demand any flight cancellation or change charges on flights within the U.S. or international itineraries beginning in the U.S. Further, you need to pay the difference in fare if you want to upgrade to an expensive flight. As per the Delta Award ticket cancellation or change policy, you must alter or cancel the flight ticket prior to your scheduled departure. No cancellations or changes are permitted on Basic economy tickets. 

5. United Airlines

Are you thinking of can you cancel united flight within 24 hours? Don't get anxious. The airline permits you to make flight cancellations within 24 hours of booking under the United Airlines cancellation policy. The airline minimizes charges on cancellation and change for flights within Puerto Rico and the U.S., between Mexico, the Caribbean, and the U.S., for all international flights that are going to depart the U.S. Remember that this doesn't apply to basic economy tickets. If you cancel the award tickets, the airline doesn't apply any redeposit fees. 

6. Spirit Airlines  

Nowadays, passengers look for tips and tricks to avoid paying the change or cancellation fee. Hence, if you are also looking, can you change Spirit flights for free? Then, the answer is yes. The airline permits you to make changes for free if you request it more than 60 days prior to your scheduled departure. Moreover, as per the Spirit flight flex cancellation guidelines, you can cancel an award ticket up to 24 hours prior to your departure. For more updates, you can head to the official Spirit Airlines website. 

7. JetBlue Airlines 

According to the JetBlue award cancellation policy, you don't need to pay any cost for an award or paid flight ticket unless it's not a Blue Basic ticket. The airline permits you to cancel or update your Blue Basic tickets for North American flights by charging around $100 per individual. Whereas approximately $200 per person on different routes including Europe. Amazingly, JetBlue $25 service fee will be charged if you make any cancellation or modifications over the phone. 

8. SouthWest Airlines 

The airline is known for not charging any change or cancellation fee. But you may need to pay the difference in fare, if any. Instead, you will obtain a credit if the charges are less. In case you make a modification on an award ticket and the prices are low, then the additional change fee points will be deposited in your account and can be utlized later. 

Tips To Avoid Paying Cancellation and Change Fees 

Following are a few circumstances under which the airlines may be ready to negotiate the cancellation or change fees. 

• Search for A Travel Waiver: These waivers are generally offered by the airline when they await a vast number of cancellations and delays. There could be multiple reasons, such as natural disasters or bad weather, responsible for this. Moreover, airlines choose to render flexibility to their passengers whenever it comes to dealing with last-minute corrections at the airport. Generally, the travel waiver information fluctuates based on the airline and the purpose of the waiver. However, they normally permit you to amend or cancel your flight tickets without paying any fees. To find a travel waiver, you can head to the official website of the airline. 
• Look After The Schedules Updates: The airline may permit you to avoid paying the cancellation or change fees if your flight itinerary updates after making a reservation. Let's take an example: if your departure time was around 1 p.m., but it changes to 2:30 p.m., you may be eligible to make the cancellation and changes for free. Airlines frequently inform you via email regarding these itinerary updates. Apart from that, it's also essential for you to examine your trip itineraries to observe any modifications. 
• 24 Hours Of Booking Policy: According to the law, U.S. Airlines need to provide refunds to its passengers within 24 hours of reservation if the flight departure is in more than seven days. This can be very convenient if the cost drops or you are still exposing some travel credentials. This is available for flight tickets reserved using credit card sites such as Amex Travel and the Chase Ultimate Rewards travel portal also. 
• Always Give A Good Reason: In circumstances like illness, the death of a family member, or other remarkable scenarios like natural disasters, passengers may have amendment charges waived. Just ensure to have supporting paperwork as the airline may ask to submit them at any time to validate your identity. 
• Get Elite Status: Travelers with elite status may get an opportunity to make same-day changes at a minimal cost. It renders flexibility to flyers if they want to update to an early or later flight at the last moment. 
• Utilize A Credit Card Travel Credit Or Savings To Cover Fees: If nothing works, you can utilize travel credit cards from a premium travel cards including The Platinum Card from American Express, or the Chase Sapphire Reserve, redeem miles via a card like Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card to amend or cancellation charges. 
• Don't Pay The Charges, If Not Required: You don't need to pay the cancellation charges if you reserve a ticket and cancel it later. There might be a few circumstances, like the airline announcing a delay, flight cancellation, or schedule changes, which enable you to cancel or change your flight without any fee. Therefore, ensure you have a well-versed understanding of the airline's policies from where you made a reservation. 

Final Verdict

Changing or canceling a flight is a bit of a complex situation, especially when it results in paying high costs. Hence, it's always best to have comprehensive knowledge of the airline's policies and different options to avoid paying the charges whenever possible. For that, you can either head to the airline's official website or speak to its customer support staff. Alternatively, you can get in touch with the flight experts by calling at +1-800-865-1848 to get precise assistance regarding how to avoid ticket fee.