Originally published on March 4, a lot has changed in the last 10 days with Coronavirus flight cancellation and change policies. With the continuing spread of COVID-19, numerous airlines now have Coronavirus flight cancellation & change fee waivers. In this article, we'll look at which airlines are waiving fees to change or cancel flights. We'll also lay out the policies and dates covered by the waiver, as these vary by airline. If you're worried about your trip and want to know whether you can cancel or change your flights without a hefty penalty, you're in the right place.
Updated April 1, 2020Each airline is setting its own policies. Regions they're covering, dates covered, and other details are not uniform. Additionally, these policies cover tickets issued by that airline. If you booked through Expedia, Kayak, etc., then you'll need to contact the point of sale, not the airline.Here are the current airlines waiving fees because of Coronavirus / flight cancellations and changes related to it.
Southeast Asia's popular discount airline, Air Asia has their policy here. Fees are waived for cancellations/refunds if you cannot travel (ex: you can't enter the country of the destination or your flight is canceled). They're allowing free changes to push back your flight any time within 180 days. The third option is a voucher valid for 365 days.
The Air Canada policy was published March 11. Change fees are waived one time per ticket, and the same fee waiver applies to canceling for a voucher applied to future travel. Higher fares will be charged, but a lower fare will not receive reimbursement. It specifically mentions award bookings as being included, also.
Air France allows travelers to amend trips in different ways, depending on booking dates and your travel destination. Tickets booked in March can be changed without fee one time each. Prior bookings can be changed or canceled for free if travel is scheduled prior to May 31, 2020. Refundable tickets will receive refunds; non-refundable tickets receive a 1-year voucher.
Canada's Air Transat is also waiving fees. They will charge any fare difference, if higher. The waiver is valid for one change of dates and/or destination.
Alaska Airlines' policy is called their "peace of mind policy". They will deposit your original payment into a credit for use on a future booking. If the new fare is higher, you'll pay the difference. Award bookings are specifically mentioned as also covered. If your original flight was non-refundable, you can receive a voucher for future travel. Refundable tickets obviously can be refunded.
Alitalia is covering flights extensively, given that they're based in Italy. If the airline cancels your flight, you are eligible for a full refund. If the flight is not canceled, the following applies.
American Airlines' updated policy is found here. It splits coverage into passengers who booked before March 1 and passengers who book between March 1-31, 2020. See the relevant policies below. Their original policy specifically said award bookings were not covered, but this language has been removed as of March 13, 2020.
The Austrian Airlines policy is here. All bookings are covered and have fee waivers for rebooking. New travel must occur within 2020, and original fare conditions are waived for this flexible policy. Any increase in fare will be added and charged.
Announced on March 4, Avianca Airlines' policy is in the terms here. It offers a single change for free on tickets booked during the promotion period. This doesn't waive the cancellation policy of your ticket, so this is a change waiver but not a refund fee waiver. The waiver only applies to flights operated by Avianca and its subsidiaries, not partner flights. It also only applies to bookings made from the U.S. and through Avianca, not travel agencies or third-party sites.
Brazilian airline Azul has their policy here. (Unfortunately, they haven't posted it anywhere in English.) All prior and new bookings through September have change fees waived. There's no specified number, but assume it's only 1 change fee that's waived. Azul has a $150 cancellation fee PLUS $150 refund (if you choose cash and not a voucher) fee, so I wouldn't speculatively book with them if you aren't sure about still taking the trip before the end of September.
The British Airways "book with confidence" policy covers new bookings from March 3-May 31, 2020. It waves change fees on these bookings, whether you're changing the date, destination, or both. However, a fare difference, if applicable, will apply at rebooking. For flights to China, British Airways says they haven't made any decisions for future flights. The following waivers apply for Hong Kong & Italy. While British Airways was previously allowing cancellations & full refunds for flights involving China, they've scrapped that to just allow changes to dates / locations without a change fee. The refund option was cut.
The Cabo Verde Airlines policy is here. It covers new bookings through April 30, 2020. It waives change fees but has a short window in which to complete the travel. For flights to Italy only, there is an additional option to cancel/refund the ticket, and Italy flights have no fare difference. All other flights will charge fare difference (if any) and follow the refund policy at the time of booking.
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific is offering a Coronavirus flight cancellation and change policy found here. Updated on March 23, they are covering paid and award bookings with travel dates through May 31, 2020. Tickets must have been booked before March 23, 2020. You can change travel dates or destination without fee.
The Delta Airlines policy is here. Delta has updated its policy several times in the past 2 weeks. The latest iteration is higher fares are charged, and lower fares receive the difference as a Delta voucher. Any bookings made in March can be changed once without a fee. Travel before May 31, 2020 to affected areas also has a one-time waiver. Different booking dates apply by region.
The Ethiopian Airlines policy is here. Updated on March 16, the policy applies to all of their flights leaving Ethiopia. All flights through June 30, 2020 are covered for changes without fees, but any increase in fare will be charged.
Published on March 9, the Finnair policy is here. Bookings made in March & April 2020 are covered by the waiver policy and have no change fees. It covers original travel dates through November with no specified limit on new travel dates. There is no mention of charging a fare difference, no mention of award travel, but it does say it only applies to Finnair-operated flights.
Saudi Arabia's discount airline Flynas has their policy here. It covers all new and previous bookings with flights during the affected period listed below. You will be charged if the fare is higher fare at the time of change. Fees are waived for the first change only.
Brazil's GOL is waiving change and cancellation fees, as well as cancelling on-board snacks & closing their airport lounges. Here are the relevant dates on their fee waivers. If your new fare is higher, you must pay the difference. Also, it's important to note that GOL has a cancellation fee AND refund fee. The refund fee is not waived if this wasn't in the original ticket type you purchased. There's no refund fee if you choose a voucher; the fee applies to cash refunds only.
The Hawaiian Airlines policy is here. Hawaiian has suspended their flights to ICN airport in South Korea until April 30, 2020. Rebooking your travel by October 31, 2020 will allow you to waive change fees and not pay a fare difference. Travel after October 31, 2020 will have a fare difference, if applicable. They also have a fare waiver program for bookings made in March 2020.
The Iberia policy applies to flights to any flights on Iberia or its subsidiaries. You can rebook and/or reroute onto other flights with Iberia. You can rebook or request a voucher for future travel.
Low-cost airline IndiGo is based in India, and their policy is here. The policy covers all bookings and all travel within March 12-31, 2020. Any increase in fare will be assessed.
JetBlue's policy can be found here. They will cover all existing bookings with travel dates through April 30, 2020. They are also covering the first change fee on bookings made March 6-31, 2020 for travel through September 8, 2020. Bookings made February 27-March 5 have a waiver period through June 1, 2020. Additionally, cancellations to receive a voucher for original fare value are possible. Voucher validity is 1 year.
Kenya Airways allows the most changes but has the shortest time window. Announced March 10, Kenya Airways states their policy here. All bookings made through March 31, 2020 have TWO (2) change fee waivers. It applies to intercontinental travel (out of Africa) and all fare types, so award tickets should be covered. Fare differences will be charged if higher but not refunded if lower.
KLM updated their policy on March 20. All travel is now covered in their waiver, due to increased travel restrictions. You can rebook to later dates, change destinations, or cancel for a voucher valid for future travel. Travel set after December 1, 2020 will charge fare differences, if applicable.
The Lufthansa policy saw huge changes on March 6. It now includes prior bookings, as well. Also added on March 6 is a change fee waiver for bookings made through the end of March. Original booking conditions on covered flights are waived. Itinerary changes are not allowed under the fee waiver, and fare differences are applicable. Flights to the U.S. under the travel restrictions may be canceled. That invokes different rules.
The Norwegian Air policy is here. It covers all existing bookings with travel through August 31, 2020. It also covers their booking waiver period of March 6-22, 2020.There's a more limited policy covering flights only within Nordic countries, as well, but this larger policy covers flights beyond that region. Destination changes can be made with date changes, and higher fares will be assessed if applicable.
Announced via email and online, the Coronavirus flight cancellation and change policy is here. Change fees are waived for up to 2 changes on bookings made March 6-May 31, 2020. Applies to Oman Air-operated flights only.
Toronto's regional airline Porter Airlines has their Coronavirus flight cancellation policy here. Their policy is a fee waiver period during March 2020. One free change is permitted per ticket. Cancellations are also allowed, which receive a voucher for the same value, valid for 1 year.
Updated on March 26, Qantas published their information via email and this page. International bookings made during March 2020 will have one change fee waiver per ticket. Any difference in fare will be charged, and this covers only travel through June. The following also applies to all bookings:
Announced on March 6, the Qatar Airways policy is here. A fare difference may apply. Any travel through June 30, 2020 is covered, no matter when it was booked. If you can't find new dates that work for you, you can change your ticket to a voucher that's good for one year.
Scandinavian airline SAS updated its policy on March 15 and again March 16. They state they are suspending the majority of their flights and will contact passengers to reschedule or refund. They are still operating limited flights within Europe and operating almost normally within Scandinavia. They're also offering the following change fee waiver on a booking period at present.
The Singapore Airlines policy is found here. it has been updated numerous times. The latest iteration still charges fare difference after the change, if applicable. Everything else has changed, such as extending ticket validity to prevent expiration while waiting for a new time to travel.
Remember that Southwest never charges change fees. If you need or want to change, you can do so at any time. Changes must be completed more than 10 minutes before your flight departs.
The Swiss policy is here. Cancelled flights have the option of a full refund. Otherwise, the "one free change" policy applies. Swiss states all existing bookings with travel dates through April 30 are considered on hold, not to be flown, and needing rebooked.
Updated on March 13, Turkish Airlines' policy is here. It now applies to all bookings made before March 31, 2020. If your new fare is higher when changing, fare difference will be charged.
United Airlines' policy can be seen here. Note that they are waiving fare differences if your changes include the same routes and fare class for affected destinations. If you change your starting or ending points, or if your travel is not to one of the affected destinations, the change fees are waived but a difference in fare will apply. A fare difference also applies if you reschedule your trip to after June 30, 2020. Additionally, United is waiving change fees on any bookings made between March 3 and March 31, 2020. As of March 10, they've made another update: if your travel is March 9-April 30, 2020, and your ticket was booked before March 2, 2020, then you can change for no fee. This applies to domestic and international flights.
As seen here, Virgin Atlantic has canceled flights to China until April 19, 2020 and created a waiver for rebooking on flights to/through Italy. The Virgin Atlantic policy on Coronavirus flight cancellations and changes also allows for rerouting to a new destination without a change fee. However, there may be a fare difference for this or for travel after the covered period.
Spain's Vueling has their policy here. It applies to any flights March 13-31, 2020 but promises that continued impacts of Coronavirus flight cancellations and changes in travel will be re-evaluated as necessary. Change fees are waived once, but fare differences will be charged.
Canada's WestJet Airlines has their policy here. They have separate change policies for bookings prior to March and bookings made in March 2020. An additional option of cancelling to receive a 1-year credit voucher also exists for prior bookings. The differences in Coronavirus flight cancellation policies are highlighted below.
If the airline cancels your flight, not you choosing to cancel, this changes things. While the above policies are nice for those wanting to change, if your flights are canceled you should be able to ask for a refund. The airline will offer you rebooking on another flight. However, you can ask for cancellation / refund if the airline cancels your original flight and changes your schedule significantly. Policies on this vary by airline, but don't be afraid to ask for a refund if the airline cancels your original flight and wants to change your itinerary.
The COVID-19 situation is growing and evolving. As things change, we will work to keep this article updated. If you're thinking about changing your travel plans because of health concerns, it's helpful to know that many airlines now have Coronavirus flight cancellation & change fee waivers. This can save you significant money, depending on the particular airline and its fees.
It's not just airlines offering change fee waivers. Amtrak is allowing changes to reservations for no fee. Hyatt is extending status and free night awards related to travelers affected by Coronavirus. Even Shawn is making some travel changes, because of the spread of COVID-19. If you're wondering whether you'll pay for changes related to a Coronavirus flight cancellation, I hope this information helps.
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