Is it Cheaper to Cancel a Flight or Change It? 9 Top Airline Change/Cancel Policies & Fees
With everything that’s going on in the world concerning the coronavirus, you may have an upcoming vacation that you are considering canceling or postponing.
My upcoming trip to Yosemite in May is one of them. Fortunately, I booked through Southwest and am familiar with their change/cancel process.
But some of you may be booked with an airline you aren’t super familiar with.
You may be wondering, is it cheaper to cancel a flight or change it.
In this post, I will cover the flight change, cancellation, and refund policies for Southwest, Delta, United, American, Frontier, Allegiant, and JetBlue Airlines.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through a link, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read full disclosure here.
Is it cheaper to cancel a flight or change it? This post will cover flight cancel/change policies & fees of 9 commonly used US airlines.
- Canceling or Changing a Southwest Flight
- NEW Southwest Coronavirus Update
- Canceling a Delta Flight
- Changing a Delta Flight
- Delta Same-Day Flight Changes
- Canceling an American Airlines Ticket
- Changing an American Airlines Flight
- Canceling a United Airlines Flight
- Changing a United Airlines Flight
- Canceling a Frontier Flight
- Changing a Frontier Flight
- NEW Frontier Coronavirus Accommodations
- Canceling an Allegiant Flight
- Changing an Allegiant Flight
- Changing and Cancelling an Alaska Airlines Flight
- Changing or Canceling a JetBlue Flight
- Cancelling a Spirit Airlines Flight
Southwest Airlines
Canceling or Changing a Southwest Flight
Southwest does not charge a fee for canceling or changing your flight!
You can cancel or change a flight as long as it’s at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.
When changing a flight, if you change to a flight that is more expensive, you will have to pay the difference in airfare.
If the new flight costs less, you will be refunded the difference or it will be held for future use in the form of a reusable travel fund.
The reusable travel fund is for the originally ticketed passenger and must be completed by the expiration date, which is typically one year from the date of the original booking.
When cancelling a flight, as long it’s at least 10 minutes prior to scheduled boarding time, the money you spent on your ticket can be used for future travel.
If you cancel your flight within 24 hours of booking, you will receive a full refund in the original form of payment.
All of this is very easy to do online and I have done it several times. I usually book with points and when I cancel a Southwest flight booked with points, they are back in my account within a day.
Note: You can only change a Southwest flight one time. To avoid being unable to change your flight again, cancel your flight(s) then rebook.
NEW Southwest Coronavirus Update
As Southwest Airlines has stated above, cancelled airfare can be used towards a future flight if it’s within one year of the original purchase.
Travel funds that expired March 1, 2020 through May 31, 2020 will now expire June 30, 2021.
Also, any flights cancelled between March 1, 2020 and May 31, 2020, those funds will not expire until June 30, 2021.
Southwest seems to understand that this coronavirus is not going away any time soon and is making accommodations accordingly for their customers. This is one of the reasons Southwest is my favorite airline!
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Delta Airlines
Canceling a Delta Flight
If canceled within 24 hours of booking, there is no fee to cancel your flight, even if you bought a nonrefundable ticket.
When canceling a nonrefundable ticket >24 hours of booking, fees start at $200. The remaining value of the ticket will be available as an eCredit that must be used within 1 year from when the ticket was issued.
There is no cancelation fee for canceling a refundable ticket. The refund will be in the form of the original payment.
Click here for instructions on how to cancel refundable and nonrefundable flights on Delta.
Changing a Delta Flight
UPDATE:
Delta has waived change fees permanently for tickets purchased for flights originating from North America to anywhere in the world, excluding Basic Economy fares. They are also waiving all change fees for tickets purchased from March 2020 through March 30, 2021. Difference in fare will still apply.
Refundable and nonrefundable tickets must be changed within 24 hours of departure of the original flight.
For a nonrefundable ticket, fees start at $0-$500 and you must pay the difference in airfare.
When changing Delta flights on a refundable ticket, there is no change fee, but you must still pay the cost difference of airfare.
Delta Award Tickets must be changed within 72 hours of departure of the original flight. They have waived the change fee for Award flights!
Delta Same-Day Flight Changes
Delta allows some same-day flight changes for domestic flights. Same-day means you are changing your flight within 24 hours of departure of the original flight.
The fee is $75 whether you fly confirmed seat or standby. Basic Economy tickets are not allowed same-day flight changes. Some refundable flights are not charged this fee.
If flying standby, the fee is only charged if you are able to board the new flight.
Delta does not allow changing of an original connecting flight to a nonstop flight.
This fee is waived for Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Medallion Members.
Click here for more info on changing a same-day Delta flight.
American Airlines
Canceling an American Airlines Ticket
Canceling refundable and nonrefundable tickets will receive a full refund if booked in the past 24 hours and it was booked >2 days prior to departure. The cancelation will be refunded in the original payment form.
Nonrefundable tickets can only be refunded if canceled within 24 hours of booking.
Depending on fare rules, a nonrefundable ticket may be able to be used for future travel if the future trip begins within 1 year from the issue date of the original ticket.
Refundable tickets are totally refundable in the original form of payment.
Click here to request an American Airlines refund.
Changing an American Airlines Flight
UPDATE:
American Airlines has waived their change fee for all tickets except Basic Economy. That being said, you can only make a change to your trip once. This fee waive applies to domestic and short-haul international flights, as well as some long-haul international flights.
The difference in airfare still applies.
Click here to find your reservation. Once that is pulled up, click on the “Change Trip” option to see the options available for your ticket.
United Airlines
Canceling a United Airlines Flight
If you booked a United flight within the past 24 hours and is >1 week prior to departure, your ticket MAY be eligible to have change or cancellation fees waived.
Click here to request a refund.
Most United tickets are nonrefundable. If canceling a nonrefundable flight, the value of the ticket can be applied towards a new ticket (if used within 1 year of original ticket purchase) for a fee.
If canceling an award ticket, click here for information on service fees.
Changing a United Airlines Flight
When changing a United flight, fees can vary and some tickets are not able to be changed. Their website is not straightforward with this information.
Via their mobile app or website, you can log in to your itinerary and click Change Flight.” This will show you if you are eligible to change flights, if there is a change fee, and the airfare difference between the flights.
You cannot change Basic Economy flights but you can cancel within 24 hours of booking if >1 week prior to departure.
Frontier Airlines
Canceling or Changing a Frontier Flight
Frontier has what is called the “WORKS” that can be purchased at initial booking.
The WORKS allows you a full refund (includes price of the WORKS), a great plane seat, 1 free carry-on, and 1 free checked bag.
Without the WORKS, carry-on and checked bags are nonrefundable.
You will receive a full refund if purchased within the past 24 hours and the flight is >7 days from departure.
Click here to request a refund.
FRONTIER Miles members can fly standby on an earlier or later flight on the day of the original flight for no fee.
UPDATE:
Frontier has recently altered their flight cancel/change policies. The fees are based on when you booked your flight. See their site for more details on cancelation and change fees.
Allegiant Airlines
Allegiant offers what is called “Trip Flex.” This will allow you to avoid most cancellation and flight change charges. It is currently $8-$20 per person, per flight.
Canceling an Allegiant Flight
Flights canceled within 24 hours of booking (with departure at least 7 days away) will get a full refund in the original form of payment.
If you purchased Trip Flex, you are not charged a cancellation fee but must cancel at least 1 hour prior to the departure of the flight.
With TripFlex, cancellations after 24 hours of booking will receive a credit voucher that can be used towards future travel (travel must be COMPLETED within a year of the initial booking).
The amount of the voucher depends on differences in fare, how far in advance the trip is, and if you purchased travel protection at booking. You will able to see the total amount before finalizing any changes.
Without Trip Flex, the cancellation/flight change fee is $75 per person, per flight.
Booking fees and carrier charges are non-refundable, regardless of whether you purchased Trip Flex.
Changing an Allegiant Flight
Changes to Allegiant flights must be made at least 7 days from departure. Without TripFlex, there is a change fee of $75 per person, per flight and you must pay the fare difference.
See their Terms & Conditions page for more information.
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Alaska Airlines
Changing and Cancelling an Alaska Airlines Flight
You can receive a full refund if you cancel your Alaska flight within 24 hours of purchase.
Most non-refundable tickets can be canceled for a credit certificate. A service fee may be applied and you must pay the difference in airfare.
UPDATE:
For all flights purchased through March 31, 2021, cancel and change fees are waived! For tickets purchased on or after April 1, 2021, change fees are permanently waived on Main and First Class tickets. Saver fare tickets cannot be changed but can be canceled and their value used for future travel. Saver fares purchased on or after April 1, 2021, cannot be changed or canceled.
Click here for a full table of Alaska Airline flight change/cancellation fees.
JetBlue Airlines
Changing or Canceling a JetBlue Flight
UPDATE:
JetBlue is waiving change/cancel fees for all flights purchased by February 28, 2021. However, if you change or cancel via phone, you will be charged a $25 fee per person. Make changes online to avoid this cost. See this page for the up-to-date policies and fees based on which ticket you purchased.
You can receive a free cancellation and full refund if canceled within 24 hours of booking and if the departure is at least 7 days away.
For Blue Basic tickets, changes or cancellations are not permitted.
The Same-Day change fee is $75 per person
Nonrefundable tickets can be canceled and a credit received to be used towards future travel (must travel within 1 year of the original purchase date).
Historically the policy has been:
Blue, Blue Plus, and Mint tickets are eligible for changes/cancelations for a fee, plus the change in airfare.
Blue Extra, Blue Refundable, Blue Plus Refundable, Blue Extra Refundable, and Mint Refundable are eligible for a cancellation/changes without a fee, but you must pay for any change in airfare.
I’m not sure if they plan to go back to this policy after February 28th or not but I will keep this post updated with the latest!
See their flight changes, cancellations, and standby page for more details.
Spirit Airlines
Cancelling a Spirit Airlines Flight
UPDATE:
Spirit is waiving all change and cancellation fees for flights booked by February 28, 2021. If canceling a flight, you will receive a full refund credit to be used for future travel.
Cancellation is free if made within 24 hours of booking and flight departure is greater than 7 days out.
Before this new policy, if you changed or canceled your flight via their website, there was a fee of $90.
So, is it cheaper to cancel a flight or change it? As you saw, it all depends on the airline.
Hopefully this post provided you with information regarding cancelling or changing your flight. And it may help you decide who to book a flight with in the future. Fortunately, it seems that most airlines are being more flexible with the policies!
