We only occasionally get to use reward miles, after years of carefully piling them up, and have reward travel booked on Virgin Atlantic, BOS-LON in early June. However, I suspect that my husband's employer might try to get him to cancel this long-approved-in writing vacation for a non-emergency reason (long story that would take up too much space.)

I can't seem to figure out in what circumstances there would only be a change fee, and in what circumstances I would lose 25% of miles. The language in the T&C is confusing, as I am not a true "frequent" flyer or well versed in the terminology. (Though I always purchase "cancel for any reason" travel insurance, I was unable to cover reward travel, thus my concern.)

Can anyone clarify the situation for me? What must I do in order to incur ONLY fees and not the huge miles hit? Help!