How to cancel an American Airlines flight?

In this guide, we’ll run through everything you need to know on how to cancel an American Airlines flight. This includes who to contact, whether you’ll be eligible for a refund, and how to claim it if you are. We’ll also quickly look at what to do if the airline cancels your flight.

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How to cancel an American Airlines flight - your options

If you can no longer make your flight, here’s what to do. You have two options for canceling your flight¹:

• Call the reservations team on 800-433-7300 from within the US and Canada. This line is available 24/7. You can also find numbers for customer support in other languages here.
• Visit aa.com and cancel your booking online. You’ll need your 6-character flight confirmation code to locate your booking. Then, you can follow the onscreen prompts to cancel it.

Once you’ve successfully canceled your flight, you should receive email confirmation from American Airlines.

Through either of the options above, you may also be able to amend the details of your flight (e.g. date, destination, passengers). This could be preferable to canceling it altogether.

Is it possible to cancel an American Airlines flight and get a refund?

You should find it pretty straightforward to cancel your American Airlines flight. But the big question is - will you get your money back?

Whether or not you’ll get a refund depends on your ticket type, and when you booked.

Refunds for flights canceled within 24 hours²

American Airlines will give you a refund for all ticket types if you cancel within 24 hours of making your initial booking. This gives you a chance to change your mind. For example, if you booked the wrong flight or your plans suddenly change. The 24-hour refund policy only applies if you bought your ticket at least 2 days before departure.

It’s important to note that there may be deductions from your refund. This may include a service charge if you booked through the reservations team, along with any sale-imposed non-refundable taxes.

You’ll need to contact the Reservations team or try canceling online at aa.com.

If you booked your flights through a travel agency, you’ll need to contact them for your refund.

Refundable tickets²

If you have a refundable ticket for your flight, you can request a refund online or by contacting the Reservations team. It takes around 7 days for payments to be refunded to a debit or credit card.

Non-refundable tickets²

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to get a refund for a non-refundable ticket - unless you cancel within the first 24 hours.

The only exceptions to this are in the following circumstances:

• One of the passengers passes away
• There’s a schedule change of more than 4 hours, and you decide not to travel
• There’s a schedule change of 90 minutes or more within 72 hours of your original departure time - and you decide not to travel.

If any of the above apply, you can request a refund here. You may need to provide supporting documents if asked.

You may also be able to apply the unused value of your ticket towards a future flight, as long as it’s within a year of the original ticket’s issue date².

Is there a cancellation fee?

American Airlines doesn’t charge cancellation fees. However, some fees may apply if you decide to amend your booking rather than cancel it altogether. For example, there’s a $75 - $150 fee³ for same-day changes to your flight booking.

What happens if American Airlines cancels my flight?

If the airline cancels your flight, it will rebook you on the next suitable flight with available seats⁴. You can use the American Airlines app, visit aa.com, or use a kiosk in the airport to find information about your new flight details.

If the offered flight isn’t suitable, or you can’t make it, you can contact customer services to find out about your options for getting a refund.

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And that’s pretty much it - all you need to know on how to cancel an American Airlines flight.

We’ve looked at the quickest and most convenient way to cancel, and your options for getting a refund. Plus, what happens if the airline cancels your flight rather than you initiating the cancellation.

If you’ve only just booked or have a refundable ticket for your AA flight, you should be able to cancel and get your money back. Otherwise, you may be better off amending rather than canceling - or you could be left even more out of pocket.

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Sources used for this article:

1. Nerdwallet - How to cancel an American Airlines flight
2. American Airlines - Customer service FAQs
3. American Airlines - Optional service fees - ticketing
4. American Airlines - Delayed or canceled flights
5. Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing: Only Pay for What You Use for the most up-to-date pricing and fee information.
6. Country restrictions apply.
7. Eligibility is subject to verification of customer's identity.

Sources checked on 11-Jan-2023.