You’ve seen it all over the news…so I’ll save you the gruesome details. Here at Points With a Crew, we just want to make sure our reader base knows what to do with upcoming travel plans. Have a trip planned soon? Double-check the flexible policies below if you need to change anything.
The virus, which originated in China, is quickly spreading around the world in early 2020. Hopefully, your vacation can continue as planned. But if not, you might be able to save some money on the changes! The travel industry is adapting to COVID-19 fears in real-time, so the information below is subject to change. Make sure you check with your airline! It’s also a good idea to check with your government…
I should also add that this is not an exhaustive list, simply a compilation of the emails and news I’ve seen lately. If you have a policy you’d like me to add, just let me know in the comments!
Domestic Airlines are Waiving Change Fees Across the Board
American Airlines – Waiving change fees on tickets purchases March 1st, 2020 or earlier for travel between March 1 and April 30, 2020. When changing your flight, the new travel must start by December 31st, 2020, or within 1 year of when the ticket was initially issued (whichever is earlier). You may still owe any fare difference on the new flight, and you should be able to change everything online in your American Airlines account.
Alaska Airlines – No change fees if your original travel dates are between March 9 and March 31, 2020, you can change your flight to any time until February 28, 2021. Tickets must be changed or canceled prior to the departure of your original flight. There are also no cancellation fees for the same time period (March 9-31), so you can stock up your Alaska Airlines wallet for future use.
Delta Airlines – Delta is waiving change fees for customers traveling through April 30 if the ticket was issued on or before March 9, as well as customers purchasing flights throughout the month of March. A difference in fare may still require additional payment.
Frontier Airlines – Customers may make a one-time change to their itinerary, or cancel, if (1) they have tickets issued prior to March 10, 2020 with original travel dates between March 10 and April 30, 2020, or (2) they have tickets issued March 10 through March 31, 2020 for any travel. The newly changed travel must be completed by November 9th, 2020, and you’ll be responsible for any additional cost in the ticket price. If you choose to cancel your flight, you’ll have 90 days to use the funds (in the form of a voucher linked to the customer name) toward booking a future flight. You’ll have to call (801) 401-9000 to make changes or cancellations.
Hawaiian Airlines – Hawaiian is allowing a one-time change per ticket for free on any flights booked between March t-31, 2020. Voluntary changes made to the origin, destination, and/or via/stopover point will be permitted without a change fee, however, any applicable fare difference will apply. If your ticket was issued on or before March 9th, 2020 HST for travel between March 1, 2020, HST to April 30, 2020, HST, you can also get one change per ticket with no charge.
JetBlue Airlines – All change and cancel fees for travel through April 30, 2020, are waived, regardless of when you purchased your ticket. There are also no change or cancellation fees on new flights booked through March 31, 2020 for travel until September 8, 2020. Unless you booked a refundable fare on JetBlue, your money will be deposited into your JetBlue travel bank.
Southwest Airlines – Southwest boasts no change fees, ever! No special policies here as a result, but there have been some additional boosts to customers given the 737 MAX8 issues earlier in the year. Other than that, business as usual at Southwest.
United Airlines – For tickets issued March 3 through March 31, 2020, customers will be permitted to change free of charge to a flight of equal or lesser value up to 12 months from the original ticket issue date. United is also waiving change fees for all tickets issued on or before March 2nd with original travel dates of March 9th through April 30th, 2020. You’ll be responsible for any increased fare for the trip. If canceling your ticket, you can retain the value of the ticket to be applied to a new ticket without fee for travel up to 12 months from the original ticket issue date.
Waived Change Fees for International Airlines Too
Avianca Airlines – $0 change fees, difference in price for changed flights may apply. Tickets to or from North America or Europe must be purchased between March 4th and 31st, 2020 with travel through December 31, 2020. The newly changed itinerary must be completed by December 31, 2020. Only one change is allowed per ticket and it must be at least 15 days before departure. This is valid on flights operated by Avianca, TACA, TACA Peru and LACSA.
KLM – no change fees for flights booked by March 31, 2020 for flights departing by May 31st, 2020. Any difference in fare is still applicable. If you change flights, the new departure date for the flight should still be no later than May 31st, 2020. They’re also giving you the option to change your flight to a later date, by receiving a voucher for the full fare amount usable on Delta, Air France, or KLM.
Virgin Atlantic – For bookings made before March 4th, for travel throughout March and April 2020, there will be no change fees. Travel can be rebooked between for anytime from March 9th through September 20th, 2020. If you booked during the month of March, you can also rebook through September 30th, 2020.
Hotels and Rental Car Agencies Have Also Followed Suit
Avis – Avis recently sent out an email informing their customers of increased attention to cleaning procedures. They’re also waiving all change fees, and all cancellation fees for “Coronavirus-related travel bans.” I’m not entirely sure what this means, but you can call Avis at (800) 706 2847 for additional inquiries.
Hilton – In regions affected by government-issued travel restrictions, Hilton will continue to waive change fees or offer full refunds to customers. All reservations (even non-cancellable or Advanced Purchase) scheduled for arrival before April 30th, 2020, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. Any reservation booked between today and April 30th, 2020, for any future arrival date, can be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival.
Hyatt – All existing reservations made before March 13, 2020, that are for arrivals between March 14 and April 30, 2020, can be changed or canceled at no charge up to 24 hours before scheduled arrival. Check out Ross’s post here for more information.
IHG – IHG hotels are waiving cancellation fees for existing and new bookings at all IHG hotels globally for stays between March 9th, 2020 and April 30th, 2020. Any reservation made between March 13, 2020, and April 30, 2020 – for any future arrival date – can be changed or canceled at no charge up to 24 hours before scheduled arrival.
Marriott – Marriott is waiving cancellation fees for hotel stays through March 31st, 2020 for guests traveling to or from the following locations: Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, French Polynesia, Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa, and Italy.
Virgin Hotels – Waiving cancellation fees and deposits for hotel stays through April 30th, 2020 for guests traveling from countries with a Level 2 or Level 3 designation from the CDC.
And don’t forget Amtrak! – They’re waiving change fees on all existing or new reservations made before April 30th, 2020. Amtrak has also temporarily suspended three trains that operate between New York and Washington (trains 2401, 2402, 2403).
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
The question is what about award tickets? Can they be cancelled without a fee?
Great question Tim – in some cases the same policy applies. I’ll start working on a post for award ticket redemptions too!
Thanks! I’ll keep an eye out for it. There have been a few other posts about airline cancellation fees, but no one is talking about awards. I heard yesterday that Aeroplan is giving refunds on awards through Mar 31 – that’s awesome!
As this is called “Points with a Crew”, it would have been good to know about redepositing of points. Afterall, this is a points blog.
Point of information regarding jet blue – they are not charging cancelation fees but are also not giving us our $$s back – instead inserting$$s into a travel bank which must be used within a year.
Good point Jane – I updated the post. JetBlue does have fully refundable fares, but they’re usually much more expensive!
United is charging us to redeposit miles for a Mexico trip we’re cancelling so we’re having to rebook as far out as possible and then we’ll see what happens.
Interesting Pat, are they charging redeposit fees to change the flight? In m experience that should be covered under change fees not cancellation/redeposit fees (if you’re rebooking).
No charge to change flight, but if we want to cancel, then it’s a $125 redeposit fee. I don’t find that especially customer friendly at the moment.
In February I booked a flight on Delta to go to Key West at the end of March using a Companion Ticket which was to expire at the end of May. This week I cancelled the trip by calling Delta’s Companion Ticket hotline, received a full refund (fare , taxes, and fees), had the companion ticket reinstated, and the new expiration date of the companion ticket has been extended to December. Go Delta!
Love it! Kudos to Delta for handling the situation in the customer’s best interest and really helping out here.
Booked a trip for four through Great Vacations. Package deal with flights from Minneapolis to Dublin Ireland with 10 nights lodging and rental car. Flying Iceland Air and leaving on the 18 of May and returning on the 29th of May. Can’t get through to them and I’m wondering if this entire package will be rebooked or will I receive a total refund. Thanks