Are Delta Award Tickets Refundable?

How Flexible is the Delta Award Ticket?

When redeeming your Delta SkyMiles for an award flight, there is always that question that arises—can I get a refund on my tickets in case of cancellation? The answer, it is rather unfortunate, is most often no. Delta Airlines tickets are, as a rule, non-refundable. Nevertheless, possibilities can be opened depending on the type of award ticket, your elite status, and the moment when you decide to cancel it.

Basic Delta Award Tickets

The two most popular award tickets available for booking using SkyMiles are the basic economy or main cabin ticket. These tickets also come with low change and cancellation fee policies. More often than not, they are fully non-transferable; this means if you have to cancel, the said miles will be lost to you. You can ordinarily modify your booking for a charge of USD 150 plus the difference in miles. Such changes are usually required to be made, at least, more than 72 hours before the scheduled time of departure. It is even worse for the basic award; the miles are non-refundable even to Diamond Medallion members, who are the airline’s most loyal customers.

Upgraded Delta Award Tickets

Delta also offers better award tickets in First Class, Delta One business, and Delta Premium Select better economy. Regarding the ticket cancelation policy, it varies depending on your current Medallion Status. For most members with no status or Silver, Gold, or Platinum Medallion status, upgraded awards are non-refundable like the basic economy. However, there are a few more degrees of freedom for Diamond Medallions. Delta: Diamond members can obtain a refund for the awarded First Class, Delta One, or Premium Select ticket within 24 hours of the purchase. This entitles you to 1 day in which you can redeem your option and get the same miles redeposited without being penalized. But this must be noted: after 24 hours, the ticket becomes non-refundable, even if you are a Diamond member of the program.

Using SkyMiles Upgrades

The third choice is to book a revenue ticket and then use SkyMiles upgrades instead of booking an award ticket. There are, however, some policies that come into play when you want to upgrade a paid ticket as a Medallion member or when you are using upgrade certificates. Usually, paid tickets have a lot more flexibility for you if you later decide to change or cancel the flight. However, if you find that you do not require such an upgrade, it is usually easier to have the miles credited back to your account by eliminating the upgrade. You will still have to meet the terms of the fare rules to change or cancel a paid ticket but miles for upgrades are usually more refundable than for awards.

Possible Exceptions

While Delta award tickets are largely non-refundable based on the policies above, there can occasionally be some extenuating circumstances where a partial or full refund of miles is possible after you have booked: While Delta award tickets are largely non-refundable based on the policies above, there can occasionally be some extenuating circumstances where a partial or full refund of miles is possible after you have booked:

Delta misses the mark on the schedule to a large extent or even cancels your flight. This would enable you to change your schedule for free and may involve a recredit of the miles if another flight is not suitable.

A close friend or family member suffers a serious injury or illness or passes away. Delta may make a one-time exception and redeposit miles from a non-refundable ticket in extreme medical emergencies or for death. Here, one would need to provide proof.

The flight experiences a long or no-flight due to adverse weather conditions that are beyond the control of Delta Airlines. However, there are other instances where people got a refund for the miles due to severe operational problems.

This aspect is characterized by a significant disruption of your plans by factors such as bad weather, natural calamities, or security threats that affect your mode of transport. Usually, Delta may make allowances in cases that are very rare and well-documented.

Any of these situations are very specific and would require approval directly from Delta upon request. In most instances, an award ticket comes with the provision that it has to be used or it expires. However, there are always chances in special situations to get the miles back if one is unable to travel because of certain conditions that are not in anyone’s control. It is always advisable to be as fluid as possible when arranging your award tickets, as you may find yourself changing your plans midway.

What About Deposit Fees?

However, when Delta does decide to make an exception and allow SkyMiles to be redeposited from a non-refundable award ticket, there is almost always a redeposit fee charged. Today the fee is fixed at USD 150 per ticket. Therefore, even when you can be offered a refund on the miles used, you will first be charged a processing fee of not less than USD 150. One can hardly ever avoid it.

Maximizing Flexibility

If you want the most flexibility when cashing in SkyMiles, try and book your travel as one-way flights instead of roundtrip trips with Delta. Pricing is the same no matter which way is chosen, but it is easier to manage changes and cancellations flying by direction one segment at a time. You can then at least often utilize at least some of the award if your plans change for part of the trip but not the entire one. Also, it would be wise to make your award travel reservations closer to your intended departure date as much as possible. This provides less leeway for schedule fluctuations between the time you book and when you travel. Consider applying the use of SkyMiles flight upgrades on paid tickets instead for even more flexibility whenever possible in case you may be required to change your reservations after ticketing.

The Bottom Line

Although the Delta award tickets are valuable for the ability to travel on the collected flights or through credit cards, they are not very flexible. You can’t cancel or change your award bookings and get your SkyMiles back unless you are a Diamond Medallion within 24 hours of making a booking on premium cabin awards or if the situation is extraordinary and only a very limited number of times. Delta award bookings are typically associated with a high risk of having miles redeposited. As much as possible, be certain with your travel arrangements for it is a waste of earned miles if you redeem for an award ticket only to change your mind later. This is also handy when one is planning for the award travel that can be changed in the future, and when so doing, consider other forms of transport that can be changed or refunded more easily.

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