Travel Tips Trip planning

How to cancel an American Airlines flight: step by step guide

Gert Svaiko

31.01.25

Read time 2 minutes

Booked an American Airlines flight but can no longer travel? You’ll need to know the easiest way to cancel your booking, hopefully without incurring high cancellation fees.

In this handy guide for UK travellers, we’ll show you how to cancel American Airlines flights in a few easy steps. This includes info on cancellation fees and refunds, and what happens if it’s the airline that cancels your flight.

Plus, we’ll give you a hot tip for low fee* holiday spending for when you do eventually make it overseas, the Wise multi-currency account from the money services provider Wise.

Learn more about the Wise multi-currency account 🚀

How to cancel American Airlines flights - is it possible?

Yes, you can cancel a flight with American Airlines. The easiest way to do it is online, where you can change or cancel your booking in just a few clicks.

Simply follow these steps:¹

Go to the American Airlines website (aa.com) and login to your AAdvantage account
Alternatively, select ‘Manage trips’ and enter the lead passenger surname and confirmation code (from your confirmation email) to retrieve your booking
Select ‘Cancel trip’ in the menu
Confirm the changes
You’ll receive an email confirming the cancellation.

If you prefer, you can also contact American Airlines customer services to cancel your booking. Call 0207-660-2300 or 0844-369-9899.²

Bear in mind that there may be cancellation fees to pay, depending on your ticket type.

What to do if you make a mistake when booking American Airlines flights?

American Airlines offers a 24-hour cooling off period after booking, during which you can make changes to or cancel your flights.¹

So if you’ve made a mistake with names, dates or destinations, you can make changes online free of charge (although you’ll have to pay any differences in ticket price). You can also cancel your booking altogether and get a refund.¹

However, you can only take advantage of this 24-hour window if you booked at least 2 days before departure.¹

Will you get a refund for cancelling your American Airlines flight?

You can get a refund if you cancel an American Airlines flight, but it depends on when you cancel and your ticket type.

If you cancel within 24 hours of booking and 2 days before departure, you can get a full refund. But after this time, you can’t get a refund if you’ve bought a non-refundable ticket, such as Basic Economy. Check your confirmation email if you’re not sure what fare type you’ve purchased.¹

You should also be able to see whether or not you’re due a refund when you login to the American Airlines website and start cancelling your booking.

What’s the American Airlines flight cancellation policy?

We’ve looked at what happens if you cancel a booking as a passenger. But what happens if American Airlines cancels a flight?

If the airline cancels your flight, the American Airlines flight cancellation policy states that it will notify you within 30 minutes of becoming aware of an affected flight. You’ll then be rebooked on the next American Airlines flight with available seats, or on one of its partner airlines the following day - all at no extra cost.³

You may also be offered vouchers for accommodation, meals and/or transport, depending on the extent of the delay to your journey.³

You can of course decline the offer of rebooking on the next flight and get a full refund, if your journey is significantly disrupted.³

Get ready for low-fee holiday spending with Wise

If you want a truly international account that works pretty much anywhere, check out the Wise multi-currency account. It's not a bank account but offers some similar features and your money is always safeguarded.

You can open a Wise multi-currency account online and start managing your money in 40+ currencies, including GBP, EUR, USD and many more.

You can also get the Wise card for a one-time fee of £7 to spend in 150+ countries from the moment you arrive. It automatically converts your pounds to the local currency whenever you spend, only adding a tiny, upfront currency conversion fee* – or it’s free if you already have the currency in your Wise account.

Here’s an overview of the main benefits for using Wise:
Fast and easy setup with no physical paperwork Dedicated support for large transfers Sophisticated security and anti-fraud measures Low, upfront, transparent fees* and the mid-market exchange rates Fully trackable transfers Fast transfer times Two-factor authentication and real-time notifications

Sources used:

American Airlines - Reservations and tickets – FAQs
American Airlines - Reservations and ticket changes
American Airlines - Customer service plan

Sources last checked on date: 21-Jan-2025

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.