Can you cancel the return leg of an Avios redemption flight after flying outbound?

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As it was a slow news day yesterday, I thought I would dig out an interesting story which we first ran a couple of years ago and which highlights a quirk when it comes to cancelling Avios reward flights.

A reader had flown to Australia with his girlfriend for an extended trip. They decided to stay for an even longer period and no longer needed their return flight.

Sydney Opera House

The couple had paid 250,000 Avios for a Club World redemption to Sydney, using a British Airways American Express 241 voucher.

Don’t ask how he managed to snag the seats, given how tough Sydney is to get. He didn’t say!

The outbound had been flown. They wanted to cancel the return flight and get 125,000 Avios back. The BA agent said ‘No’.

Was this correct?

My first thought was that the agent was wrong.

Return Avios tickets were notoriously inflexible once the outbound was flown, which was silly as there were rarely savings to be made booking 2 x one-way versus a return.

About seven years ago, however, BA changed their policy. You can now CHANGE the date or time of your return Avios flight after the outbound has been flown. I have done this myself. It is a handy feature if a better-timed flight opens up at the last minute, or your trip is going very well or very badly.

It seemed logical to me that full cancellation would also be possible. I was wrong.

You cannot CANCEL the return leg of an Avios ticket, after the outbound has been flown, for a refund.

When should you book an Avios flight as a return?

So, you may well ask, what is the point of booking Avios flights as returns, given that I have less flexibility? Here are a few reasons:

Because you’re using a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher so you don’t have any choice – one voucher cannot be used to book 2 x one-way flights on separate tickets

Because you are flying to a country where BA has higher surcharges than the UK – the USA is a prime example. Booking 2 x one-way flights means that you pay a mix of the UK and US fuel surcharges and, overall, you pay more than booking a return starting in the UK.

Can you cancel one way Avios redemptions

In other cases, consider booking 2 x one-ways – you may even save money

Booking a trip as 2 x one-ways gives you added flexibility to cancel or change the return leg.

It can, in some cities, also save you a substantial amount of money.

Hong Kong, for example, has banned airline surcharges on trips which depart from the city.

If you book a return redemption from London, BA adds surcharges to both legs. If you book as 2 x one-way flights, you only pay surcharges on the oubound.

This is how it works in practice, saving you £164:

Return Club World peak redemption London – Hong Kong:

180,000 Avios + £592

2 x one-way Club World peak redemptions London – Hong Kong:

Outbound: 90,000 Avios + £393
Inbound: 90,000 Avios + £35
Total: 180,000 Avios + £428

Note that, due to a BA website bug, the £35 charges figure for the return leg only shows on the final payment screen.

But don’t forget ……

Booking a redemption as 2 x one-way flights has one snag.

If you need to cancel, you will be hit with double the cancellation fees. The Hong Kong ticket above would cost £70 per person to cancel rather than £35.

You need to take a gamble on whether the saving in surcharges – or the ability to cancel your return flight without having to fix a return date – is worth the risk of doubling your cancellation fee.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

lcylocal says:

23 Sep23 September 10:01

Is a change of airport within the same zone possible after the outbound has been flown, if the availability is there? Say you were booked New York to London, but fancied returning from DC instead?
- Dani says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 10:25
  
  Yes, you can change any airport within the zone. Pay and difference of taxes.
- Colin MacKinnon says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 12:37
  
  Rob, is there a list of zones anywhere?
  
  (ie Can I move a San Diego flight to anywhere in Mexico?)
  - Lady London says:
    
    23 Sep23 September 19:56
    
    I think flyertalk has that stuff @ColinMacK
  - lcylocal says:
    
    23 Sep23 September 21:28
    
    This might help (in that if they are nearby and the rate is the same then they must be in the same zone):
    
    https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2019/01/09/british-airways-avios-redemption-pricing-by-route-2/
Leo says:

23 Sep23 September 10:50

Rather OT – but would you expect a BA flight sale anytime soon, Rob?
- Rhys says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 10:53
  
  There’s one running at the moment! https://hfp2022.headforpoints.blog/2020/09/06/160-executive-club-tier-points/
Axil23 says:

23 Sep23 September 11:42

You can still cancel a return leg before flying the outbound right?
- Rhys says:
  
  23 Sep23 September 11:46
  
  Yes, up to 24 hours before departure minus the £35 fee.
  - Axil23 says:
    
    23 Sep23 September 14:44
    
    Thank you
  - pauldb says:
    
    23 Sep23 September 20:05
    
    I don’t believe you can strip the inbound leg out of the booking, in case that’s what you meant. You have to cancel the whole return booking.
    - David says:
      
      25 Sep25 September 05:47
      
      Correct. Cancel the whole booking and then book two one-ways; if starting in the US, you save some tax. I’ve just done this using a 2-4-1. HOWEVER, currently you have to wait weeks before BA refund the original fees and taxes, although they refund the Avios the same day; they also charge you the fees for the new tickets immediately, so you’re considerably out of pocket for some time.
MKB says:

23 Sep23 September 13:09

In 2018, I had a 2-for-1 Club World Avios booking from London to Nairobi where we were staying for one week.

A week before the outbound flight, we decided we would return one day early, but the new date had availability in World Traveller only. It was possible that Club seats might be released very close to the return date.

I was unsure of the rules as to whether a date/class change had to be made before flying outbound. Googling revealed differing opinions. The BA terms and conditions also gave contradictory and unclear information. So I called BA to ask.

The BA agent confirmed that I could change the date and class of the return leg now, or wait and do it after flying the outbound, and receive a refund of the difference in Avios, provided there was still at least 24 hours until my return flight and award seats still available. I ended the conversation with “So there is no downside to my waiting until two days before my return flight to make this change, provided there are still World Traveller award seats available at the time?” I was told that was correct.

48 hours before the earlier return date, no Club seats had become available, so I called to do the date change with a downgrade to economy. I went through three agents, who all started by saying this was fine, only to get a “computer-says-no” response in each case: yes, you can change the date and class, but no, you cannot have a refund of the difference in Avios after you have flown the outbound sector. All of the agents were unaware this was the case until they tried to do it.

It took six months of stressful wrangling, and the threat of legal action, before BA refunded the difference in Avios.

The other thing I learned is that, contrary to what they say, not all calls to BA are recorded and telephone agents do not make contemporaneous notes to record the advice they have given the passenger. They had neither. I had to do a data-access request to discover this.
Darren says:

24 Sep24 September 16:59

Hi Rob ,
I missed my outbound flight last year and I was unable to retrieve the Avios for the return flight , was that information correct.
I have since always been buying single tickets , as I know what I am like 😂😂😂
- Rob says:
  
  24 Sep24 September 17:09
  
  Good question. I think you lose the lot on this basis, unfortunately.
  
  In the BMI days you could cancel up to 1 hour before departure which saved my bacon once in a similar situation.
  - Darren says:
    
    24 Sep24 September 18:00
    
    Yes , I nearly made it on time , checkin had closed 5 minutes earlier and I actually managed to create a cancellation before take -off , which generated an automatic response , to which I thought all would be ok.
    Later to find out not ((((
    Anyway that’s my mistake and why personally I hate morning flights
JR says:

24 Sep24 September 18:19

Does anyone know if Iberia allows modification of the return leg after the outbound is flown? They generally have a NO policy towards anything customer friendly , but any experience would appreciated
Jonathan Purvey says:

24 Sep24 September 23:24

My wife and I are also using Amex 241 companion flights to Sydney in Club World . You have to snag them the day of release, 355 days before your outbound and then add a return, again 355 days before. As we are cruising from Sydney to Singapore our return is from there 1 month later. Was meant to be Apr 2020 but rescheduled for Mar 2021 with no problems, just £40 in taxes. May have to push to 2022 at this rate as cruise was main part of holiday.