FlyerfolioMiles and membership
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Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review

FREQUENT FLYER GLOSSARY

What is an award redemption fee?

An award redemption fee is a charge an airline programme adds to an award booking, to a later change or cancellation of that booking, or to the return of miles to a member's account, on top of the miles the award itself costs. Programmes publish these charges as service fees or in a fee schedule, and they appear alongside — not instead of — the taxes, fees and carrier charges that come with the ticket. [2] [3] [1]

Facts checked: 18 October 2026

Key takeaways

  • An award ticket can carry several kinds of charge at once: a programme fee for issuing or servicing the redemption, taxes and carrier charges attached to the itinerary, and separate charges for changing, cancelling or redepositing the miles. [2] [3]
  • KrisFlyer prices redemption charges by award type and, for no-shows, by cabin, and states that fees are cumulative where more than one change or service is used. [2]
  • The amounts are set by each programme and can be changed; American says required miles and fees are subject to change with or without notice. [1]

Three charges that sit on one booking

Programme fees. Qantas Frequent Flyer requires members to pay, in addition to the Qantas Points needed for a Reward, any other amounts quoted at the time of booking — including applicable taxes, fees and carrier charges — and any applicable Reward Assistance Fees. [3] Singapore Airlines charges a nominal fee for certain ticket and membership-related changes, payable in US dollars or the local currency equivalent, or with KrisFlyer miles for selected functions. [2] That option to settle a charge in miles rather than cash is one of the overlaps covered in cash and miles.

Taxes, fees and carrier charges. These are the amounts assessed for the journey rather than for the redemption service. American's AAdvantage terms make the passenger or member responsible for applicable immigration fees, surcharges (whether enacted by a governmental authority or otherwise), departure fees, departure taxes, security fees, federal inspection fees, passenger facility charges and other taxes, fees and surcharges assessed by authorities or by airline partners. [1] Qantas names "carrier charges" among the amounts payable on top of points at booking. [3] For background on that category, see the guide to airline award taxes and surcharges and the entry on fuel surcharge.

Change and cancellation charges. These are triggered by what happens after the booking exists. At American, changes or cancellations before ticketing carry no charge unless otherwise stated; after the original ticketing, additional miles or fees may apply for each ticket and are due when the ticket is reissued. [1] Qantas says a change to a Reward requires any additional points or money for the new booking, a Change Fee, any additional applicable taxes, fees and carrier charges, and, where applicable, a Service Fee. [3] The practical order of operations is set out in the award ticket change checklist and in ticketing time limit.

How programmes publish the amounts

KrisFlyer. Singapore Airlines lists redemption ticket charges for awards and upgrades issued on Singapore Airlines by award type: changing the date costs USD 25 on a Saver award and nothing on Advantage or Access; changing route, cabin class, award type or adding a stopover costs USD 25 across all three; changing date, route, flight or carrier on partner airlines incurs a charge on Saver and is marked "Not Applicable" for Advantage and Access; and redepositing miles costs USD 75 on Saver and incurs a charge on Advantage and Access. [2] No-show charges are set by cabin instead: USD 100 in Economy, with charges applying in Premium Economy, Business and First. [2]

Offline service charges. Singapore Airlines adds USD 25 or 2,500 KrisFlyer miles for selected services handled offline by a Singapore Airlines office or reservations hotline, including redemption ticket bookings, redemption ticket changes (including redepositing miles), redemption upgrades and certain membership services. [2] Where multiple changes and services are used, online or offline, the applicable fees are cumulative. [2]

Qantas and American. Qantas handles the amounts through a separate Fee Schedule rather than in the main terms, and reserves the right to change its ticketing, service charges and other fees. [3] American's AAdvantage terms state that any additional fees applying to each award ticket are payable by credit card, but the terms page checked does not list the amounts themselves. [1]

Exceptions and limits

  • Waivers. Singapore Airlines waives the offline service fee for transactions that cannot be performed online, and for all PPS Club members and supplementary cardholders. [2]
  • Partly flown tickets. No change of route, cabin class or award type is allowed for partially used tickets issued on Singapore Airlines, and no changes at all are allowed for partially used tickets issued on partner airlines. [2] American will not reinstate partially used awards, and expired tickets are not reinstated either. [1]
  • Stacking. Singapore Airlines applies the no-show fee in addition to any other applicable fees; its own example is an Economy Saver award where the member does not show and later requests a refund, producing USD 100 plus USD 75, or USD 175. [2]
  • Conditions on a redeposit. The miles, the award tickets (marketed as Saver and Advantage) and the redemption tickets (marketed as Access) must be valid, and the tickets must be completely unused. [2] American reinstates mileage for wholly unused awards when the reservation is cancelled before departure and the ticket has not expired. [1] See award reinstatement.
  • Currency and fare rules. Payments made in local currency are converted at the exchange rate provided by Singapore Airlines. [2] Qantas defines the refundable proportion of an unused flight reward segment by reference to the original fare value, less any cancellation or refund fee set out in the applicable fare rules. [3]

Sources

Sources checked on 18 October 2026. Programmes other than AAdvantage, KrisFlyer and Qantas Frequent Flyer — including British Airways, United MileagePlus, Delta SkyMiles, Flying Blue and Aeroplan — are not covered here.

  1. AAdvantage terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026
  2. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer service fees, checked 18 October 2026
  3. Qantas Frequent Flyer terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026