TFC Responds. Canceling an award ticket
In recent days I had to, in spite of myself, cancel one of the most difficult award tickets to book and which I had managed [...]
In the past few days I had to, in spite of myself, cancel one of the most difficult award tickets to book and which I had managed to secure in July last year, to fly right in the middle of June.
In this article:
It was a ticket to fly first class with ANA, worth more than 13 thousand euros I had managed to win using points from Virgin Atlantic's loyalty program.
The best bonuses
ANA's First Class is considered the best seat in the world among the few carriers that offer the celebrated First Class and this ticket is also one of the most expensive to book cash.
At the same time, a question from a reader who wanted to know how it works arrived on our Facebook page When you decide to cancel an award ticket.
Each company has its own rules, but there is one certainty: the miles or points used to book it are always returned. In addition, if, due to causes beyond the traveler's control, the ticket has been changed by the company, the ticket can be cancelled without incurring any penalty.
In case it is the traveler who wants to cancel/modify the ticket instead, the rules change from company to company, as is the case on the issue of the mileage recovery we talked about last week.
Many things have also changed because of covid with many companies deciding to eliminate, forever, penalties for cancellations or changes to tickets, so even for award tickets.
The rules of the major airlines
- Air France/KLM 50€
- American Airlines no penalty
- British Airways 42.50 euro penalty
- Delta no penalty
- Emirates no penalty
- Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian 50$
- Qatar Airways is perhaps the most complicated one since it affects both the level in the loyalty program and how early you cancel your ticket. The change can be free or cost up to 100$
- United no penalty
- Singapore Airlines between 50 and 75$
In conclusion
Award tickets fall into the most flexible category. Of course, changes always depend on the availability of an award seat on the new flight, but in case of cancellation you do not lose your points and at most risk a few tens of dollars in penalty.