Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
FREQUENT FLYER GLOSSARY
What is a no-show?
A no-show is a reservation that is neither used nor cancelled before the deadline that applies to it: the traveller does not turn up and does not tell the company in advance. It is an event rather than a penalty — whether anything is charged, forfeited or credited afterwards depends on the fare or rate rules of that particular booking, so the word describes what the traveller did, not what it costs. In frequent-travel terms it matters because credits and status benefits are normally tied to travel actually taken; United's MileagePlus rules, for example, credit miles only for flights actually flown by the member. [7]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- A no-show is the failure to use or cancel a reservation by the applicable deadline; the term names the event, not the charge that may follow it.
- Consequences are separate for airlines, hotels and car-rental companies, and they follow the fare or rate rules of the individual booking rather than a single industry rule. [7]
- United's MileagePlus Rules credit mileage and Premier Qualifying Credits only for flights actually flown, and award neither for flight cancellations. [7]
- For award tickets, United addresses unused travel through change and cancellation rules: a service charge may apply per change or cancellation, and miles are redeposited when an award is cancelled or returned under the applicable rules. [7]
What counts as a no-show?
A reservation is a place held for a named person for a named time, and it can end in three ways: the traveller uses it, the traveller cancels it before the deadline, or nothing happens at all. The third outcome is the no-show. The deadline is the pivot between the last two — the same fact of not travelling is a cancellation if it is communicated in time and a no-show if it is not.
Because the deadline belongs to the booking rather than to the person, two reservations held by the same traveller can produce different outcomes on the same day. Airline tickets take their deadline from the fare rules attached to the ticket, hotel rooms from the rate booked, and rental cars from the rental terms; each of those documents sets its own cut-off and its own consequence. [7]
The event is also distinct from the fee that sometimes carries its name. A no-show fee is one possible result of a no-show, not a definition of it, and the two are worth keeping apart when reading a booking's terms.
How do airline programmes treat a no-show?
In an airline programme, the first effect of a flight that is not taken is usually on earning. United's MileagePlus Rules state that, for air travel, mileage and Premier Qualifying Credits are credited only to individual members and only for flights actually flown by the individual member, and that neither is awarded for flight cancellations. [7] A traveller who does not board therefore collects no miles and no qualifying credit for that flight. [7]
Status benefits extended to other people on the same booking can be affected too. The same rules provide that if a member is no longer travelling on their original reservation, a companion travelling on that reservation is no longer eligible for Premier and other benefits obtained through that member's status. [7]
Award tickets are handled through the change and cancellation framework. United says a service charge may be imposed for each change or cancellation of an award ticket requested by the member, and that when a redeemed award is later cancelled or returned in accordance with the programme rules or the ticketed fare rules at that time, the miles taken for it are redeposited into the member's account subject to a service charge; some awards are not eligible for redeposit of miles at all. [7] Whether miles come back therefore turns on the programme rules and the ticketed fare rules in force, and on the partner's rules where a partner award is involved. [7]
Do hotels and car-rental firms treat a no-show the same way?
Not as a matter of course. An airline seat is tied to a departure that leaves with or without its holder, while a hotel room or a rental car is held for a period of time, so the practical question after a no-show is different: whether the room or the vehicle was held out of use, and what the rate or rental terms say about that. A hotel no-show and a car-rental no-show are therefore read against their own booking documents rather than against airline practice.
The common thread is structural rather than financial. In all three cases the traveller holds something that the company could otherwise have sold, the deadline marks the point at which the company stops waiting, and the booking's own rules decide what happens next. For how those rules work in each setting, see the guides to airline no-shows and missed flights, hotel no-shows and early departure charges, and car-rental cancellation and no-show policy.
Exceptions and limits
- Cancelling is a separate act. United's redeposit of award miles is tied to an award being cancelled or returned under the applicable rules, with the ticketed fare rules at that time forming part of the test. [7]
- Some awards cannot be recovered. Even where a cancellation or return is made, United states that certain awards may not be eligible for redeposit of miles. [7]
- Credits follow the flight, not the booking. Mileage and Premier Qualifying Credits are credited only for flights actually flown by the member, so an unused reservation produces no earning. [7]
- Companion benefits depend on the member travelling. Where the member is no longer travelling on the original reservation, companions on that reservation lose the Premier and other benefits they held through the member's status. [7]
- Terms can change. United reserves the right to change MileagePlus rules, benefits and conditions of participation at any time, with or without notice, even where changes affect mileage already accumulated or the value of status. [7]
Frequently asked questions
Is a no-show the same as a cancellation?
No. A cancellation is communicated to the company before the applicable deadline; a no-show is neither using the reservation nor cancelling it in time. The difference matters because the rules attach different outcomes to each, and United, for instance, redeposits award miles when an award is cancelled or returned in accordance with the applicable rules, subject to a service charge. [7]
Do you earn miles for a flight you did not take?
Under United's MileagePlus Rules, no: mileage and Premier Qualifying Credits are credited only for flights actually flown by the individual member, and neither is awarded for flight cancellations. [7]
What happens to an award ticket you do not use?
United may impose a service charge for each change or cancellation of an issued award ticket, and miles are redeposited when the award is cancelled or returned as the programme and ticketed fare rules allow; some awards are excluded from redeposit. [7]
Does a no-show affect a companion's benefits?
It can. United's rules state that a companion travelling on the original reservation stops being eligible for Premier and other benefits obtained through the member's status once the member is no longer travelling on that reservation. [7]
Sources
Sources checked on 18 October 2026. Hotel and car-rental no-show terms, and airline programmes other than United MileagePlus, are not covered here; the related guides cover hotel no-shows, car-rental no-shows and airline no-show policy.
- United Airlines MileagePlus Rules, checked 18 October 2026