United shocked the airline industry when they announced they would permanently eliminate change fees on domestic flights.
Of course given that United sold lifetime Club Memberships, lifetime Silver Wings Memberships, and awarded lifetime million miler benefits which they didn’t honor as promised, I’ll take “permanently” with a huge grain of salt. The change will last as long as they want it to last, and not a day longer.
But part of the strategy may be to get more people to buy up from basic economy fares to standard economy fares, as basic economy fares are excluded from the free changes. If that’s successful then the change may indeed stick around.
Of course Southwest never charges change fees, refunds the residual value when switching to a less expensive flight, and they don’t sell basic economy fares. Even with the competition eliminating some fees, Southwest is still a step ahead of everyone else.
At any rate, each of the airlines’ policies have many nuances, so I’ve collected them in the chart below for comparison sake. Of course these are all subject to change, but this is how things stand now.
This chart applies to tickets purchased in 2020, for travel anytime:
| Ticket type | Alaska | American | Delta | Hawaiian | JetBlue | United |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid tickets worldwide, including basic economy | No change fees. All funds can be deposited into Alaska Wallet so that no value is lost. | No change fees. Voucher issued for residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. Voucher issued for residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. Voucher issued for residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. All funds can be deposited into JetBlue TravelBank so that no value is lost. | No change fees. Request an electronic travel certificate as a refund so that you don't lose any residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. |
| Award tickets worldwide | No change or redeposit fees. | No change or redeposit fees. | No change or redeposit fees. | No change or redeposit fees. | No change or redeposit fees. | No change fees. Redeposit fees waived if award is cancelled 30+ days prior to departure. |
This chart applies to tickets purchased in 2021:
| Ticket type | Alaska | American | Delta | Hawaiian | JetBlue | United |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid basic economy worldwide | Changes not allowed. | Changes not allowed. Starting 10/1 basic economy can purchase upgrades, priority boarding, or preferred seating, and elite benefits will apply. | Changes not allowed. | Changes not allowed. | Change fees waived on purchases through 2/28/21. Afterward, TBD. | Changes not allowed. |
| Paid tickets in the US | No change fees. Alaska has not yet announced if the residual value will be lost when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. Voucher issued for residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. Voucher issued for residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. You will lose residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | Change fees waived on purchases through 2/28/21. Afterward, TBD. | No change fees. You will lose residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. |
| Award tickets in the US | Alaska awards can be changed or redeposited for free. Alaska has not yet announced the policy for partner awards. | No change fees. Redeposit fees waived if cancelled 60+ days before departure. | No change or redeposit fees, except basic economy awards. | No change or redeposit fees. | Change and redeposit fees waived on purchases through 2/28/21. Afterward, TBD. | No change fees. Redeposit fees waived if cancelled 30+ days before departure. |
| Paid tickets to Canada | No change fees. Alaska has not yet announced if the residual value will be lost when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. Voucher issued for residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | Regular change fees apply. | Hawaiian doesn't fly to Canada. | JetBlue doesn't fly to Canada. | Regular change fees apply. |
| Award tickets to Canada | Alaska awards can be changed or redeposited for free. Alaska has not yet announced the policy for partner awards. | No change fees. Redeposit fees waived if cancelled 60+ days before departure. | Regular change fees apply. | Hawaiian doesn't fly to Canada. | JetBlue doesn't fly to Canada. | Change or redeposit fees waived if done 30+ days before departure. |
| Paid tickets to Mexico or Caribbean | No change fees. Alaska has not yet announced if the residual value will be lost when making a change to a less expensive flight. | No change fees. Voucher issued for residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | Regular change fees apply. | Hawaiian doesn't fly to Mexico or the Caribbean. | Change fees waived on purchases through 2/28/21. Afterward, TBD. | No change fees. You will lose residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. |
| Award tickets to Mexico or Caribbean | Alaska awards can be changed or redeposited for free. Alaska has not yet announced the policy for partner awards. | No change fees. Redeposit fees waived if cancelled 60+ days before departure. | Regular change fees apply. | Hawaiian doesn't fly to Mexico or the Caribbean. | Change and redeposit fees waived on purchases through 2/28/21. Afterward, TBD. | No change fees. Redeposit fees waived if cancelled 30+ days before departure. |
| Paid tickets elsewhere in the world | No change fees Alaska has not yet announced if the residual value will be lost when making a change to a less expensive flight. | Regular change fees apply. | Regular change fees apply. | No change fees. You will lose residual value when making a change to a less expensive flight. | Change fees waived on purchases through 2/28/21. Afterward, TBD. | Regular change fees apply. |
| Award tickets elsewhere in the world | Alaska awards can be changed or redeposited for free. Alaska has not yet announced the policy for partner awards. | Change or redeposit fees waived if done 60+ days before departure. | Regular change fees apply. | No change or redeposit fees. | Change and redeposit fees waived on purchases through 2/28/21. Afterward, TBD. | Change or redeposit fees waived if done 30+ days before departure. |
| Standby Fees Worldwide | Regular standby fees apply. | No fees on paid, basic economy, and award tickets. | Regular standby fees apply. | Regular standby fees apply. | Regular standby fees apply. | No fees on paid, basic economy, and award tickets. |
So, which airline did it best?
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47 Comments On "Changing An Airline Ticket? Here Is A Chart Comparing Which Airlines Now Allow Free Changes On Paid And Award Tickets!"
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It might help to add that HUCA is required many times to get an ETC on UA
https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=2046.msg2329645#msg2329645
Call?
I’ve had no issues via SMS and Twitter.
Yups, via call, I attached (in DDF) the voice recording of denial and when I called back a nice woman, Janie, a supervisor informed me there was a memo sent around requesting agents limit ETC’s to persistent requests, basically only if customer asks for an exception.
I totally get them, they lose more money on the ETC’s.
Use social media.
Thanx, article is very informative, bokmarked it.
What about Air Canada?
Can I change name on ticket to someone else ?
Depends if you use a voucher/travel bank funds or not.
So I booked an AA award ticket in May 2020 for travel in March 2021 – at the time I don’t think redeposit was free – is it now or am I held to the original rules?
It will be free.
Does anyone know about Avianca lifemiles award ticket ?
What’s the number to SMS United?
32050 shortcode.
Used BA and Alaska to book on AA …how to change or cancel ?
The rules of the ticketing carrier are what apply.
So BA and Alaska rules apply even if flying on AA?
Thanks for putting this together! I have been looking for exactly this type of list a couple weeks ago and will be a good resource. Until the policy changes that is..
You’re welcome!
I’ll try to keep this updated, but post a comment if it needs fixing.
Is that for changes only or also if i want to cancel?
The only time a non-refundable paid ticket can be cancelled for a refund is when there’s a schedule change.
I used a electronic travel certificate for United and I lost the residual value
Nope, that’s not how it works. ETC also has residual value.
So what do I do. It happened twice already
Sounds like you are using future flight credit and not an ETC. Did you request an ETC?
Yes. With a pin code
And it goes to $0 after making a partial redemption?
I’ve redeemed countless ETCs and have never seen that.
Contact United.
I will. Thank you!
This a great must’ve taken you a ton of time to put this together! Question, on UA and AA, with domestic award tickets in 2021, can I change a ticket indefinitely rather than cancel and redeposit? Eventually il use it somewhere. Is there a max number of times or a latest date that it can be changed until? And can I change city pairs or just dates?
Tickets generally have to be used within 1 year. There are some pandemic extensions for 2 years.
Thanks Dan!
I was waiting for such a post, Its great.
Thanks 🙂
Clear and informative as usual. Now it’s time for the int’l airlines to jump on the bandwagon.
Does frontier allow free cancellations now?
If I book a BA operated flight with AA miles in 2020, how will AA treat the huge taxes and fees if I cancel? Do they refund the cash portion 100% as part of the ‘redeposit’?
Can i change an upcoming united ticket to more than 30 days away and then cancel to avoid the change fee?
Shhh 😉
AA redeposit waiver is even in web special?
Yes.
This is fantastic! Thank you. It will be great if you can write a similar post for foreign airlines which are frequently used for award redemptions (British Airways, Air Canada, Avianca, Turkish Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and maybe Air France or Qantas)
so basically, if you use miles you can cancel the ticket and get your miles back, if you book a flight with cash then you can change it for later, but you cannot receive a full refund of the cash?
So basically if I already have a united ETC and I see a flight I might want there’s nothing to lose by booking it bec I can just cancel it back to an ETC, right?
Great Post…,
I have an Explorer Card, if i purchase multiple tickets under my itinerary and i end up not flying (and don’t cancel my ticket) will the carry on bags be waived for the others automatically ?
As always the GURU comes through with an extraordinary post.
Your chart seems to imply that. Is it the case?
Hi Dan,
I booked a united flight through Turkish, do you know if I can cancel?
I didn’t see Your favorite airline Spirit anywhere in your chart.
Thanks for the useful list. In my experience the AA waiver on award tickets only applies to web specials if they are for travel in 2020 — have you seen reports of folks getting bookings for 2021 travel redeposited without a fee?