What does it cost to cancel an Avios redemption flight?

What does it cost to cancel an Avios redemption flight?  How do you do it?  These are the questions I want to look at in this article.

One of the key benefits of bookings flights using Avios points instead of cash is that your flight is cancellable and refundable.

You need to follow a couple of rules though, as I will explain.

How do I cancel a flight booked with Avios?

Log in to your British Airways account and go to ‘Manage My Booking’.  (If you did not book the flight, ensure you are logged in as the person who did make the booking. This avoids IT issues.)

Bring up your Avios redemption flight details.  In the options at the bottom of the page is one for cancellation.

Sometimes this does not work properly for reasons no-one understands.  If this happens you need to call British Airways Executive Club.

How late can I cancel a flight booked with Avios?

An Avios redemption flight can be cancelled up to 24 hours before the outbound departure.

Once you have flown the outbound flight, you cannot cancel your return.  More precisely, you can cancel it but you won’t get anything back!

You can change the date and time of your return Avios flight, however, as long as Avios seats are available and you are willing to pay the £35 change fee.

Are there different rules if I booked on a partner airline instead of BA?

No

What does it cost to cancel a flight booked with Avios?

The cost is £35 per person OR the taxes and charges paid, whichever is lowest.

Note that it is ‘per person’, so the cost of cancelling a flight for a family of four will be £140.

If your outbound and return flights were booked separately (ie you have different booking references and separate tickets) then you will need to pay two lots of cancellation fees.

The fee is deducted from the taxes and charges before it is sent back to you.  The refund will go to the credit card used for the original payment.

At the time of writing (February 2024), BA is only charging 50p to cancel a short haul British Airways flight redemption. This is due to long running IT issues. This could be fixed at any point but you may get lucky.

Do I get all of my Avios points back when I cancel a flight?

Yes, you get 100% of the Avios points returned to your British Airways Executive Club account immediately. The cash will take a few days to be returned.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.5 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.