Apr 13, 2020, 8:30 pm
Last edit by: beltway
AA does not charge any fees to change an award ticket, or to cancel an award ticket and redeposit the miles and refund any taxes and fees. This policy applies to all award tickets booked with AAdvantage miles on AA flights as well as all partner carriers.
In order to be eligible for a refund of the miles and taxes/fees you must cancel the award before the first flight on the itinerary departs.
For most awards canceled at aa.com the miles and taxes/fees are automatically refunded, however in some cases you may still have to call to have an agent manually process the redeposit and refund. Typically if you do not see the miles automatically redeposited within a few minutes you will have to call.
AA policy (see "Manage Your Award Travel" section)
In order to be eligible for a refund of the miles and taxes/fees you must cancel the award before the first flight on the itinerary departs.
For most awards canceled at aa.com the miles and taxes/fees are automatically refunded, however in some cases you may still have to call to have an agent manually process the redeposit and refund. Typically if you do not see the miles automatically redeposited within a few minutes you will have to call.
AA policy (see "Manage Your Award Travel" section)
Award Change and Miles Redeposit Fees, Issues, from 1 Jul 2020 (consolidated)
Feb 8, 2022, 6:03 am
#301
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: WAS/TYO
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP (3MM), DL PM, BONVOY TITANIUM, HYATT GLOBALIST, HILTON DIAMOND, IHG DIAMOND AMB, et al
Posts: 5,913
I almost always have to call in lately for partner awards cancelled online but, to their credit, the miles redeposit almost instantly once I get can get to an agent.
-FlyerBeek
-FlyerBeek
Feb 9, 2022, 3:41 pm
#303
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: XNA
Programs: AA Gold, AS, HA, CX, AF, BA, UA, HH
Posts: 164
I believe that awards that have never been changed in any way and are solely on AA metal are automatically refunded. If you changed an AA flight then you have to call, and if the award includes a partner airline then you usually have to call. At least that is how it has worked for me since they introduced the free cancellation.
Feb 10, 2022, 3:20 pm
#304
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: RDU
Programs: AA EXP; Marriott Titanium; Globalist
Posts: 376
Explanation by Furby would make sense in my recent experience since I had a partner award on JAL which I cancelled and then had to call in to get the miles redeposited and taxes refunded.
Feb 11, 2022, 11:33 am
#305
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: LHR
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 160
I believe there was another recent thread about this, so just to add the same data point:
Cancelled 2 QR partner bookings in January and never received the miles back, even after several (long hold) calls with promises they would return "in 24 hours" and then "30 minutes." The Twitter team had them back in my account in under an hour from my DM!
Cancelled 2 QR partner bookings in January and never received the miles back, even after several (long hold) calls with promises they would return "in 24 hours" and then "30 minutes." The Twitter team had them back in my account in under an hour from my DM!
Feb 13, 2022, 12:12 pm
#306
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Chicago
Programs: World of Hyatt Explorist; Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 280
May need to cancel a web special award trip from U.S. to an international destination (booked on AA.com and all flights are on AA metal). Do I need to cancel within 30 days of travel for full redeposit of miles/fees or can you cancel right up until the date of travel?
Feb 14, 2022, 6:00 pm
#307
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SFO or OAK
Programs: AA 1MM GLD, Hertz #1 Gold, bunch of other programs w/no status
Posts: 1,454
I canceled an international award one day before the flight. No issues.
Feb 15, 2022, 10:44 am
#308
Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 7,875
So when I called in after cancelling an award ticket the agent said someone needs to manually ask the miles to go back to your account, and it'd take 15-20 minutes (which was correct, after she did it).
However, the email states:
However, the email states:
- Booked with AAdvantage® miles, and your trip is eligible, we’ll reinstate your miles automatically. Check your account.
Mar 5, 2022, 6:51 pm
#309
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Chicago
Programs: World of Hyatt Explorist; Bonvoy Platinum
Posts: 280
Just following up on my previous post, I cancelled both of my one-way international web special flights and the award miles were immediately redeposited into my account. Should I expect to receive a credit to my card for the taxes/fees spent when booking as well? I read that some fees may not be refunded?
Mar 6, 2022, 3:04 pm
#312
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
This happened to me a few months ago and it took weeks of pestering twitter with a status until they finally reappeared. Each time it was a "we've contacted aadvantage for you" reply. Not sure why it took so long, but eventually the miles came back.
Apr 2, 2022, 5:30 pm
#313
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,723
I also recently cancelled a few OW partner awards online and even after two calls to AA, no miles appeared despite assurances from phone agents. The AA Twitter team fixed it for me in a matter of minutes, I just had to supply them with the PNRs and AAdvantage account numbers.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Apr 2, 2022, 5:47 pm
#314
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,723
Canceled a mixed QR/QF award ticket online but the miles have yet to redeposit. I think the QF segment is causing trouble. I dmed @AmericanAir on twitter as some suggested but haven't heard back. The phone agent takes forever to reach. Would I have better luck and a shorter wait time calling an overseas AA office, like their Australia office?
Apr 3, 2022, 9:09 am
#315
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,518