This guide is current as of 21 June 2022.
Even though COVID-19 is now in the rear-view mirror, the value of flexible points-based bookings simply cannot be understated. Especially when it comes to change and cancellation fees.
Perhaps you’ve just spent the last couple of years of your life chasing points deals and working out which card to buy what with. You’ve racked up the points and booked your dream trip. But what if something goes wrong and you need to amend your booking?
Well, usually you’d be up for some fees. But thankfully, many airlines are still providing waivers for bookings made with points. Here’s what you need to know.
What do I need to know about cancelling a points booking?
One very important thing to note is that you are bound by the terms and conditions of the airline you’ve booked with, not the airline you’re flying with (if those two are different).
Depending on the complexity and timing of your booking, you might be able to cancel or change it with a few clicks for nothing. In some cases though, you could be looking at fees upwards of US$150. You might be able to cancel anytime before departure, or you may have to finalise any changes at least 24 hours before the flight.
However, when all is done and dusted, you’ll usually be eligible for a full refund of the points used, as well as any cash co-payments remaining once fees are taken into account. This makes reward bookings a great tool to have when booking travel during these uncertain times.
It’s important to know all these details before we even go into the fees involved. You should be able to find this information relatively easily with most programs, but we’ve also included links below.
What are the change/cancel fees for popular frequent flyer programs?
Last updated: 20 June 2022 |
We are focusing on the airline programs that most Australia-based travellers would likely have their points with, such as Qantas Frequent Flyer, Velocity Frequent Flyer, Asia Miles, KrisFlyer, Skywards and Etihad Guest.
And for those who buy miles from Alaska Mileage Plan, American Airlines AAdvantage, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club and United MileagePlus, we’ve got you covered too.
Airline program | Change | Cancellations | Source & additional info |
---|---|---|---|
Qantas Frequent Flyer | COVID-19: Waived until 30 September 2022 (domestic) and 31 December 2022 (international) | COVID-19: Waived until 30 September 2022 (domestic) and 31 December 2022 (international) | Qantas Frequent Flyer Fee Schedule Cancelling or changing an Reward flight booking |
Velocity Frequent Flyer | 4,500 points or $35 for domestic COVID-19: International rewards are flexible until 31 December 2022 when you book by 30 June 2022. | 4,500 points or $35 for domestic COVID-19: International rewards are flexible until 31 December 2022 when you book by 30 June 2022. | Velocity Reward seat conditions |
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | Alaska Airlines Fees |
American Airlines AAdvantage | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | AAdvantage® program updates |
Avianca LifeMiles | COVID-19: May be waived or reduced depending on different policies | COVID-19: May be waived or reduced depending on different policies | FlyerTalk forum |
British Airways Executive Club | A$63 AUD (+$25 service fee if over the phone) COVID-19: Not waived. Previous charges apply. | A$63 AUD (+$25 service fee if over the phone) COVID-19: Not waived. Previous charges apply. | Depends on your 'region of departure' (Australia is assumed in this table). Change/cancellation fee waived for Gold Priority Reward bookings. Phone service fee waived for Gold members British Airways reward flight booking and service fees Executive Club terms and conditions |
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles | $40 or 4,000 Asia Miles over the phone COVID-19: Waived until 30 June 2022. | COVID-19: Waived until 30 June 2022. | Asia Miles FAQs |
Emirates Skywards | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | Figures are for Saver award tickets — more generous provisions for flexible tickets Emirates FAQs |
Etihad Guest | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | COVID-19: Waived indefinitely | Etihad Guest terms and conditions |
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer | $25 for change of route, cabin class or award type for tickets issued for flights on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir $50 for change of flight, date, route or carrier for tickets issued for flights on partner airlines COVID-19: Unlimited changes before 31 July 2022. One further change after that date. | COVID-19: Waived in the event of a flight cancellation, international border closures, or if you test positive for Covid-19 and are unable to travel. | $25 or 2,500 KrisFlyer miles offline/phone service fee (waived if can't perform action online) Singapore Airlines COVID-19 Travel Waiver Policy |
United Airlines MileagePlus | COVID-19: Change and redeposit fees waived temporarily. | COVID-19: Change and redeposit fees waived temporarily. | Fees are reduced or waived for those with elite status United change fees |
Some other notes on the comparison above:
- The information in the table is applicable to reward flight bookings only. All the airlines have different change/cancellation policies regarding other services (e.g. hotel and car hire) booked with points
- COVID-19-related travel waivers are subject to change at any time. See your airline’s website for the latest details
What should I know about airline change/cancellation fees?
You’ll be charged per person, per booking
Where a travel waiver doesn’t apply and you’re charged fees, those will be levied per person, per booking — not per booking or per sector. It means if that two people are on an itinerary and you want to change a flight, you’ll get charged the applicable change fee twice.
But if you wanted to change multiple flights within the same booking, the overall change fee is still usually the same.

Try to not be a ‘no-show’
A no-show is simply where you fail to turn up for a flight, and haven’t changed or cancelled it previously.
Some airlines have a clear no-show policy, while for others there’s no mention of it at all. For the most part, it’s definitely to be avoided, as it can (and probably will) void any further flights on the same booking with no possible avenue for a refund.
In many cases, penalties for no-shows and late cancellations aren’t to be found anywhere, except to say they are ‘not permitted.’ That suggests you’d be forfeiting all the points and money paid.
You (usually) won’t get expired points back
In most cases, expired points are not refundable or able to be reinstated (here’s the exception for Qantas). So booking a flight a year into the future with points that are about to expire, with the intention of cancelling said flight won’t get you anywhere.
Once again, some airline COVID-19 policies may override this and offer extensions for points about to expire.

Changes might not always be possible after your journey commences
For the most part, fees and charges might be different if your journey has already begun. That would be the case if you have started your trip and now want to change your return flight. In some cases, if your journey has begun, you can’t make voluntary changes to any further flights without forfeiting your points entirely.
Changes that require a ticket to be re-issued are not permitted within 24 hours of departure or once travel has commenced.
– Qantas website
Faced with an involuntary change or cancellation mid-way through your trip? In that case, the airline should help you out while waiving all fees.
How can I minimise change and cancellation fees?
Being that reward flights often need to be booked a fair way in advance, it’s not uncommon for them to need to be changed.
1. Give your loyalty to an airline with low fees
This is certainly easier said than done, but still worth thinking about.
In the case of buying miles though, your decision could certainly be swayed by how costly it may be to change any award redemption. Any money saved from buying those miles could easily get swallowed up by a simple change.
Remember the fare conditions are based on who the miles are with, not who you fly with. If you’re buying American Airlines AAdvantage miles and flying Qantas, you’re still bound by AA’s rules and fees.
2. Change, don’t cancel
For some airlines, the changing of flights is free, while cancellation will incur a fee.
In the case of KrisFlyer, date changes are free as long as you’re travelling on a more expensive Advantage award with Singapore Airlines or SilkAir and aren’t wanting to change the destination.

3. Wait until the last minute to cancel
If the airline has a considerable schedule change, you may be due a full refund if you elect not to accept the change. This is obviously different between airlines and not something to rely on. However, it could work so long as you’re happy for your points to be tied up until the last minute.
And this only works if you don’t need the miles from the cancelled booking to make another, of course.
4. Book return flights as separate reservations
Depending on your itinerary, it may be worth booking your outbound and return segments separately. If you book in this fashion, you avoid the risk of inadvertently cancelling your return flight if you’re a no-show. This also means you can change your return booking after your journey commences.
There is a downside to doing this. If you need to change both your outbound and return journeys, you’ll be slugged with fees twice.
5. Ask and you may receive
You never know your luck, and there’s never any harm in asking for a fee waiver. You may have more success with a waiver in the case of a change (especially if you had a good reason), as opposed to a cancellation.
With COVID-19 travel disruptions, change and cancellation fee waivers apply to many scenarios so be sure to ask.
Summing up
Reward booking change fees vary greatly between airlines. There’s certainly an argument for taking this into account when choosing which airline to give your loyalty to.
In some cases, it may not even be worth the trouble of cancelling the trip if you deem your points to be worth less than any cancellation fee. Don’t forget that a no-show can nullify the rest of your travel, though.
With COVID-19 still affecting the travel industry, albeit in a much smaller way than a few years back, many airlines have generous fee waiver policies. In the US, American Airlines and United Airlines are examples of airlines that have also permanently abolished change fees for domestic US bookings, which is a great outcome.
How has your experience of cancelling reward flights during the COVID-19 pandemic been? Let us know in the comments below.
This article was originally written by Matt Moffitt.
We have noticed that on VA’s website (not VFF), it states only bookings created before 30/April/2021 can enjoy the fee waived until Jan22. Not sure if the policy still applies to the new tickets?
Thanks.
https://www.virginaustralia.com/au/en/plan/fare-types/velocityrewardseat/
“Velocity will waive fees for any changes and cancellations you make for travel up to 31 January 2022, for reward seat bookings made by 30 April 2021.”
I may have to change a reward booking in the new year at short notice. I’m using the last of my Etihad points to book Virgin Australia domestic economy Mel- Per.
Any insight into what happens if you change an award booking at short notice but there is no further award availability left?
In my case, last week I redeemed 78k Qantas points for a business class ticket from SYD to TOK for travel in May 2020.
If I was to change my flight date (not cancellation) say in Oct 2019 but still maintain the same business class seat, would I need to pay for the difference in points when the new rates come into effect 18 Sep?
Hope this makes sense?
Thanks
If you make any changes from 18 September 2019, you will be subject to the new points requirement.
Thanks in advance!
Also, if it is possible to cancel one person off an itinerary for velocity award bookings where multiple people are booked?
Note that there is no discount for booking a return trip with Velocity Points, so best to book two one-ways in the future in order to increase flexibility.
If I book an Etihad Guest seat with my Velocity points (through the Velocity call centre), and then need to cancel it – do I lose all the costs of the taxes & fees? These can be really high for business/first bookings (like $1500 AUD) hence it’s so important to know what I’m up for here.
I’d be OK with losing 10% of the points and paying a $150 fee, but not sure about this.
Thanks so much in advance.
Exception: Reward Seats on itineraries to, from or via the United States
Does this mean flights booked to/from the USA cannot be cancelled to get the points back?
I have a confirmed booking SIN – BCN 10/9/17 Economy (70k pp), however this morning i noticed Prem Econ. same flight, same details only diff is an upgraded class at a cheaper rate.
So when i called this morning (on hold for 20min) they promised to call back to assist me in reserving this prem. econ flight (i needed time to check forum re costs of changing class etc). They never did call me back, so i call them just now.
So Prabu tells me that this is indeed not the cost of the flight, that is the cost of an upgrade. Despite me willing to send him screenshots of the flight details and after a 30min robust conversation where he
wants me to ‘rationally undersand that SG does not have pre. econ cheaper than economy’ & that he is adamant that I am, ‘at best incorrect’ he ‘updates’ his position to finally agree with me.
OK so, prem econ. flight SIN – BCN is now 62,500, but im told that i have to forfeit the point diff, 7500 points per person PLUS $28 SGD PP.
The result – in THIS experience SG really really let me down, at best.
But also the ‘cost’ of changing an award flight is not just monetary but also point difference EVEN if the class is cheaper than the originating one
Nett result is Im feeling a little scammed and raw.
Moral of the story it really depends who you get at SG…
This week, I had to change an existing First Class Suites booking from Singapore to Hong Kong (37,500 KrisFlyer miles) to Business Class (27,500). KrisFlyer will not refund you the difference in miles (10,000), so you have to cancel the existing booking for a $30 USD fee, wait about a week for your miles to be refunded into your account, and then make the new booking.
That is the best way to avoid losing the miles difference but the availability for the new seat may disappear in the meantime – that’s the risk.
Cheers
But unless you are a student/ unemployed/ have no job/ other hobbies, the opportunity cost of having to spend multiple hours on the phone (on top of the research work you’ve done to find the best flights and availability for your desired flights!) quickly eats up the whole point of using miles, which is flying comfortably for less! Your time has a value, maybe it’s wiser to spend a little bit more but save a few hours?
As a data point, I’ve found Alaska Airlines hotline extremely easy to reach (usually less then 2 minutes waiting time) and the agents have all been very competent so far (I redeemed for CX J longhaul after purchasing Alaska Miles as recommended here).
Although it’s probably obvious (and is in the terms and conditions if you read enough of them), Velocity Award seats on partner airlines are always treated as International when it comes to cancellation even if the flight is, strictly speaking, domestic (JFK-LAX on Delta or Virgin America, for example).