Credit where due: AF's award ticket refund policy is tops
 

I'm sure this has been mentioned in other threads, but I'd like to shine a light on AF's approach to award ticket cancellations: full refund of your FB miles and of the taxes/surcharges.

I had used 62,500 FB miles to get a one-way award in business for my brother, SFO-CDG. Turns out he can't make the trip. No worries on the miles or the $ charges. I sent an email canceling the reservation. Email back confirming. Miles and $ returned to me, as though it never happened.

If only all airlines did this. United makes this sort of thing cumbersome and expensive.

Bravo, Air France!

No cancellation fees where charged either? Or was this a flex ticket?

62.5k miles sounds too few for a flex award. (I just checked - a one-way Flex starts from an eye-wateringly high 187,500 miles)

A €45 cancellation fee should have been levied. If you check the amount refunded, and compare it to the amount originally paid, you will almost certainly see that this charge was levied.

But maybe they did forget. Please get back to us!

I thought it was a full refund, but I'll double check when I return home.

You likely had a full refund but on top of that you have to pay a €45 change/cancellation fee.

However for the E45, I still think you have great flexibility with Classic award flights! You can cancel or change your flight as close to 2 hours before departure.

Which paid fare allows that kind of flexibility when it comes to cancellations?! And when you want to change your ticket, then mostly the 'change fee' alone is a couple hundred euro's.

So thumbs up either way I say ;)

Wow! Sounds great!!! I hope it was a full refund. For AA, the redeposit fee is $150. :/

If you're a Flying Blue Gold or Plat member, do these 45 euro cancellation fees get waived?

No.

I just cancelled a Flying Blue classic award and got a full refund in miles and fuel surcharges/taxes/fees only because I cancelled it within 24 hours of booking. I didn't know that was the policy. It is true though that after 24 hours, there should be the 45 euro redeposit fee, but I guess at times they forget?

For classic awards you indeed have to pay a fee of €45 if you cancel. In The Netherlands you do have a 'cooling off' period of 24 hours. Within these 24 hours of a booking, you can make a cancellation and get a full refund. This also counts for normal paid tickets. Even tickets that are not changeable/cancellable, but the rule is strictly within 24 hours of booking!

The 24-hour cooling period is the policy imposed by DOT for any plane ticket in USA, paid or award. It also applies in some other countries or airlines.

I just wanted to confirm again that cancellation of Classic Awards within 24 hours of making them are free of charge.

I just had reason to cancel an award ticket made yesterday (a "flash sale" came up last night, so I preferred to use a revenue ticket and keep the miles for something else).

Because I cancelled within 24 hours, the €45 change/cancellation fee was waived.

It is worth writing FB applies this policy also with award flights booked on FM/MU/CZ.
I did not check on other ST airlines.

U

And your ticket did not originate from USA or NED?

Flying Blue only has 3 type of Awards - @PromoAwards (which cannot be changed or cancelled), Classic Awards (which are subject to a €45 change/cancellation fee) and Flex Awards (which can be cancelled or changed for free).

The €45 fee only applies to Classic Awards.

Classic Awards are available on all partners. As such, the identity of the carrier should be meaningless. Either a €45 change fee is due for a change/cancellation (from 24 hours after the booking was made) or it is not - the carriers involved shouldn't matter.