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How to Cancel an Air Canada Flight [Points or Cash Ticket]

BY 

Jarrod West

- UPDATED: April 26, 2021   |    2

1. Travel  / 
2. Airlines

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At times, things happen that are outside of our control that can force us to cancel our travel plans. Unfortunately, the process of canceling a flight can be both expensive and complicated if you don’t know all of your options.

If you happened to book your flight with Air Canada and need to cancel, you’re in the right place! Here’s all the information you need to navigate their cancellation policy and determine what policies apply to your situation.

Cancellation Policies Due to COVID-19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, you can make a one-time change without a fee or cancel your existing booking and rebook later if your original travel is between March 1, 2020 and February 28, 2022.

View the full policy here. If you booked via a third party, refer to your booking provider for its policies.

With cancellation policies due to COVID-19 being ever-changing, for the most up-to-date policies across all airlines, please refer to our COVID-19 Airline Cancellations article.

Air Canada’s Cancellation Policy: Flights Paid With Cash or Points

All customers have 24 hours from the time of their original booking to cancel their reservation without being charged a cancellation fee, regardless of the fare selected.

Basic Economy Ticket

Air Canada will not allow you to cancel a basic economy ticket unless it is canceled within 24 hours from the time it was purchased. However, there are some circumstances where you can cancel and request a refund if Air Canada changes your flight schedule by 2 hours or more, if you have military orders, or if you or your traveling companion dies.

Non-Refundable Tickets

Standard, Flex, Comfort, and non-flexible business or premium economy fares are all categorized as non-refundable.

This means you will be charged a $200 fee to cancel your ticket. After you pay the fee, you can apply the unused value of your ticket toward a future trip as long as your new trip begins no later than 1 year from the ticket’s original issue date and you canceled the original ticket before the departure of the first flight.

Hot Tip:Non-refundable tickets can still be refunded in the event of the death of the passenger or passenger’s traveling companion or because of military orders. Supporting documentation is required.

Refundable Ticket

Latitude and flexible premium economy or business fares are categorized as fully refundable. If you’ve purchased one of these tickets, cancellations can be made anytime before the departure of your flight and the refund will be issued to your original credit card within 7 days (it should appear on your statement in 1-2 billing cycles).

Award Ticket

If you’ve booked an award ticket with Air Canada and more than 24 hours have passed, the cancellation fee is $125 for those who cancel via aeroplan.com and $150 for those who cancel via an Aeroplan contact center.

If you hold Diamond status in Air Canada’s Aeroplan program, those figures drop to $30 for online cancellations and $100 for contact center cancellations. Those with top-tier Altitude Super Elite 100k status with Air Canada will not be charged cancellation fees.

Hot Tip: Looking for even more information about canceling award tickets? Explore our guide on canceling award tickets, including information on over 30 carriers, to learn more.

Air Canada’s Flight Change Policy

As with cancellations, all customers will have 24 hours from the time of their original booking to change their reservation without being charged a fee, regardless of fare selected.

Basic Economy

Air Canada does not allow flight changes for those with basic economy tickets after the initial 24-hour window.

Standard Fare

For Standard fares, after the 24-hour window has passed, Air Canada charges a change fee of $100 for flights that depart in 60 days or less and $25 for flights that depart in 61 days or more. If you’re changing to a more expensive option, you will need to pay the difference in price.

Flex Fare

For Flex fares, after the 24-hour window has passed, Air Canada charges a change fee of $50 for flights that depart in 60 days or less and $25 for flights that depart in 61 days or more. If you’re changing to a more expensive option, you will need to pay the difference in price.

Comfort Fare

For Comfort fares, after the 24-hour window has passed, Air Canada charges a change fee of $25 for flights that depart in 60 days or less and $25 for flights that depart in 61 days or more. If you’re changing to a more expensive option, you will need to pay the difference in price.

Latitude, Premium Economy, and Business Class Tickets

If you purchased a Latitude, premium economy, or business class ticket, you can change your ticket without being charged any additional fee. If you’re changing to a more expensive option, you will need to pay the difference in price. If you’re changing to a cheaper flight, the difference in fare will be refunded to your original method of payment.

Award Ticket

If you need to make a change to your award ticket, you can do so up to 2 hours before the flight departs — but you will be charged a fee depending on the fare class. The fee is $100 per direction for all ticket types. This drops to $75 for those with Aeroplan Diamond status, and those with Altitude Super Elite 100k will not be charged a fee.

Same-Day Change

The Air Canada fees for same-day changes are as follows:

• Basic Economy: not permitted
• Standard Fares: $150 ($100 for routes between Toronto and JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark airports)
• Flex and Comfort Fares: $75 ($0 for routes between Toronto and JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark airports)
• Latitude, Premium Economy, and Business Class: $0
• Award Tickets: $100 per direction for all ticket types ($75 for those with Aeroplan Diamond status, and those with Altitude Super Elite 100k will not be charged a fee)

How to Cancel a Flight With Air Canada

Step 1: Log into your account on Air Canada’s homepage and select Manage Bookings.

Step 2: Select the booking you wish to cancel and click the Cancel Booking link.

Step 3: Once you have confirmed and finalized your cancellation, a confirmation email will be sent to the email you provided at the time of booking, and you’ll receive a voucher for any remaining funds after any potential cancellation fees.

How to Use an Air Canada Travel eVoucher

Electronic travel vouchers are issued in the form of a letter. Within the letter is your 13-digit electronic travel voucher number. Vouchers are transferable, and you can transfer the total or partial value of your electronic travel voucher to another person by calling Air Canada Reservations when you are ready to make a new reservation.

You can redeem your electronic travel voucher when you complete a booking on the Air Canada website by selecting a voucher as your payment method on the payment screen and then entering the voucher number.

Final Thoughts

If you’re worried that you may need to cancel your flight and want to make sure you can get a refund, a refundable ticket is going to be your best, albeit more expensive, option.

Having to deal with canceling a flight can be difficult enough as it is, but knowledge is power (as are credit cards that provide compensation). Be certain to review fare rules closely so that you know what your options are both at the time of booking, and if you end up needing to cancel.