Missed your award flight? What a no-show costs

The forfeiture line, program by program

Every program below separates two events that look alike from the airport: cancelling an award shortly before departure, and simply not turning up. The first is a cancellation, priced by the program's change and cancellation rules. The second is a no-show, and the terms treat it far more harshly. The table quotes each program's own clause as printed on its official terms page, so the wording, not a summary of it, decides each row.

Two columns matter more than the rest. The deadline column is the last moment a cancellation still counts as a cancellation. The later-flights column tells you what happens to the return or connecting flights on the same ticket, which is where a family trip can lose far more than the one flight it missed.

Aeroplan: two hours, then nothing comes back

Air Canada's Aeroplan Flight Reward Policy puts the line in section 21. Cancellations "can be made at any time up to 2 hours prior to departure", and a member who cannot travel "must cancel at least 2 hours before flight departure, or the Flight Reward ticket will be forfeited." The next sentence closes the door: forfeited tickets "are no longer valid for travel or Points reinstatement." Section 20 sets the same 2-hour line for changes, so rebooking at the gate is not a way around it once the mark has passed.

Before the line, the cost of cancelling depends on the fare option chosen at booking. Section 27 prints the fees in Canadian dollars, per ticket, and the policy adds that "the most restrictive cancellation fee will be assessed" when one Flight Reward mixes fare options. Fees "may be waived for eligible Elite Status Members" and "may be subject to applicable taxes."

The cash side follows section 13, which says cancellations "may provide a refund of taxes, fees and charges on any unused value of travel, except for taxes and fees which are non-refundable by law." That wording is tied to a cancellation. For a forfeited ticket the policy says nothing about taxes either way, so a traveler who misses the line should ask Air Canada in writing about the tax portion rather than assume it is gone or assume it is owed. The Aeroplan partner awards guide covers how the same fare options look on partner flights.

Atmos Rewards: free redeposit until the doors close

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines share one contract of carriage, revised August 25, 2026, and Rule 7(C) holds the no-show clause. A passenger who "does not notify Alaska prior to a flight's departure that he/she is unable to travel on their confirmed flight" is a "No Show" passenger, "all segments associated with the reservation are automatically canceled and all funds or points used to purchase the ticket are forfeited, subject to the terms of Rule 17." Rule 17 is the refund rule, and its path for refund-restricted tickets applies when the reason for not traveling is "through no fault of your own", which an overslept alarm is not.

The Atmos Rewards terms make the before-departure side unusually cheap. "No service fees apply to replace, extend, or exchange award tickets, and to redeposit points into the member's account, however any partner award booking fees are non-refundable even if the award ticket is cancelled." The terms then add that the "No show policy is applied in accordance with normal rules", which points straight back to Rule 7(C). Travel on award tickets is also "subject to the tariff, contract of carriage, ticket terms and travel re-accommodation policies of the operating carrier", so a partner-operated flight on an Atmos award may carry that partner's own rule as well.

So the Atmos gap between the two events is the whole award. Notify Alaska before departure and the points redeposit with no service fee, minus any partner booking fee already paid. Fail to notify and the points, the cash and every later segment go together.

Delta: the first flight decides what the miles are worth

Delta's rules come in three layers, and each one answers a different part of the question. The contract of carriage, last modified August 18, 2026, sets the no-show rule in Rule 14(C), "Failure To Appear": if you fail to appear for any flight "without changing or canceling your ticket prior to departure, Delta may cancel your reservation for all remaining flights in your itinerary. Except where required by law, there will be no remaining value to your ticket."

The SkyMiles Program Rules add the second layer, under "Partially Used Award Tickets": "Once travel has commenced on an Award ticket, the Award is considered used. Mileage will not be credited back to the account for the unused portion of the ticket." That sentence matters for a round trip. Once the outbound is flown, the return is already beyond a mileage redeposit, so missing it costs the miles whether or not you call.

The third layer is the generous one. Delta's Travel with Miles page says that for travel originating in the United States and Canada, "Members may change or cancel Award tickets for travel without a redeposit or change fee, excluding Delta Basic experiences", and its fee table lists "Award Ticket Redeposit / Reissue" at no fee for general members and every Medallion tier. For trips starting elsewhere, the page warns that Delta Basic award tickets "may be non-cancelable or non-changeable." The Delta flights with bank points guide shows which bank currencies reach SkyMiles in the first place.

Southwest: ten minutes, split by fare bundle

Southwest's Fare Information page measures its deadline in minutes. Every bundle is eligible for cancellation "without a fee", and "failure to cancel a reservation at least 10 minutes prior to original scheduled departure may result in forfeited travel funds." What happens to points past that line depends on the bundle, and the page words it differently for each.

Every bundle's description carries the same warning: to receive a credit "you must cancel your flight at least 10 minutes prior to the flight's original scheduled departure time. If you do not cancel, your points and funds may be forfeited." The Choice Preferred and Choice Extra descriptions add that for travel booked with Rapid Rewards points, "if canceled, points will be returned to the Rapid Rewards account holder who booked the ticket. If you do not cancel, your funds will be refunded as a Transferable Flight Credit." The page prints that sentence next to the forfeiture warning without reconciling the two, and neither promises the points once the 10-minute line has passed. The safe reading on every bundle is that points are at risk past the line.

Same-day changes run on the same clock. To change flights or join same-day standby, Southwest says you "must change your flight or request to be added to the same-day standby list at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of your original scheduled flight or the no-show policy will apply." On the app or mobile web, the request must be made 60 minutes before a new domestic flight or 90 minutes before a new international one.

One Basic rule bites families in particular. For round trips, "if one or both flight segments is booked with a Basic fare, cancellations are only permitted if either a) both flight segments are canceled or b) the Basic fare segment(s) is upgraded." A household that wants to keep the return while dropping the outbound cannot do it on Basic without paying to move up. The Southwest points from bank transfers guide explains where Rapid Rewards points come from if the balance is being topped up from a bank.

KrisFlyer: a no-show fee of USD 100 to 300, on top of the redeposit fee

Singapore Airlines writes the most explicit no-show clause of the group, and prices it on a separate service-fees page. The KrisFlyer terms say passengers on award tickets, upgrade awards or redemption tickets "with a confirmed reservation who fail to show up for the flight will be considered a no-show. A no-show fee may be charged." The terms then say KrisFlyer miles of "completely unused" award tickets "may be redeposited for a fee provided the KrisFlyer miles and the ticket are valid at the time of redepositing. Any taxes will be refunded."

Two limits follow in the same paragraph. Miles "cannot be refunded for partially used award tickets, upgrade awards and redemption tickets", so a round trip with the outbound flown cannot recover the return's miles. The KrisFlyer service-fees page prints both: a no-show fee of USD 100 in economy, USD 200 in premium economy and USD 300 in business or first, charged on top of the redeposit fee of USD 75 on a Saver award or USD 50 on Advantage. Its own example is an economy Saver no-show that is then refunded: USD 100 plus USD 75, or USD 175, plus USD 25 if the redeposit is done through an office or the phone line.

The redeem page does print one fact that helps with planning: "Round-trip award tickets are available at twice the number of KrisFlyer miles as one-way award tickets." Booking two one-ways therefore costs nothing extra in miles, and it keeps the outbound and return on separate tickets, which limits what a missed flight can drag down with it.

Virgin Atlantic: the 24-hour cliff comes before the airport

The Flying Club terms, effective from October 30, 2024, contain no no-show clause at all for reward seats. What they do contain, in clause 4.2.2, is a cliff a full day before departure, which in practice decides the same question. A cancellation fee of £70 applies to flights originating in the UK, US$100 to flights originating in the US, and the local equivalent of US$100 elsewhere.

Cancel "more than 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the outbound flight" and "100% of the Virgin Points will be re-credited to the Member's account, together with any applicable passenger taxes, fees, charges and carrier imposed surcharges, less the cancellation fee." Cancel inside 24 hours and "no Virgin Points or carrier imposed surcharges will be refunded. Any applicable passenger taxes, fees and charges will be refunded, less the cancellation fee." The terms also close the obvious workaround: changing the date within 24 hours and then cancelling "will be considered as a cancellation within 24 hours."

The same split applies once the outbound is flown: "there will be no refund of Virgin Points or carrier imposed surcharges" for a cancelled return, though taxes for the sector not flown come back less the fee. Because a no-show is at least as late as a within-24-hour cancellation, the practical deadline for keeping Virgin Points is the day before, not the morning of. Carrier surcharges are the other loss, and the award taxes and carrier surcharges guide shows how large that line can run on a London itinerary.

Later flights on the same ticket go with the missed one

The most expensive part of a no-show is often not the flight missed but the flights after it. Alaska's Rule 7(C) cancels "all segments associated with the reservation" automatically. Delta's Rule 14(C) says Delta "may cancel your reservation for all remaining flights in your itinerary." Earlier in the same paragraph, Alaska's rule says it "may cancel all reservations (whether or not confirmed) and seat assignments held by such Passenger for continuing or return space."

Picture a round trip on one award ticket where the outbound is missed and the travelers decide to buy a cash flight out and still use the award home. Under both contracts the return seat may no longer exist by the time they reach the airport for it. The fix is a phone call or an app change before the missed departure, telling the airline the outbound will not be flown and asking what happens to the return. Alaska's own wording is direct: a passenger who must change an itinerary "must contact Alaska prior to a flight's departure to determine how this may affect the Ticket and remaining travel."

These clauses are written per passenger: "your reservation", "such Passenger". None of these clauses says what happens to the other people on the same booking when one of them fails to appear. A family where only one member will miss the flight should cancel that one passenger before departure, which the guide to cancelling an award flight walks through for a shared reservation, rather than wait to see how the system treats the rest.

Deadlines to hold when plans fall apart

Put the clauses side by side and the decision rule is short: cancel or change before the earliest line that applies to your program, even if there is still a chance you will make the flight. A cancellation can usually be rebooked if a seat still exists; a forfeiture cannot be undone. The table gives the last safe moment as each program prints it, what cancelling at that moment costs, and what crossing it costs.

What a missed family trip costs, priced three ways

The three cases below use assumed prices and do not describe seats on sale. Each case is a family of two adults and two children, every one holding a full-price seat. The inputs price every seat, children included, at the same points; KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic both say children pay the full adult points price, and other programs should be checked on the booking screen.

Aeroplan, Economy Standard round trip. Inputs: four tickets at 35,000 points each, so 140,000 points, plus CAD 110 in taxes per ticket, CAD 440 in all. Cancel online more than 2 hours out: the fee is CAD 150 per ticket, so 4 × 150 = CAD 600, and the 140,000 points return along with the refundable part of the CAD 440. Through the Contact Centre the fee is 4 × 175 = CAD 700. Had the family booked Flex, the online fee would be 4 × 75 = CAD 300, and on Latitude nothing. Miss the 2-hour line: 140,000 points forfeited, and the policy promises nothing on the CAD 440.

Virgin Atlantic, economy round trip from the US. Inputs: 20,000 Virgin Points per person, so 80,000 points; US$300 in carrier imposed surcharges per person, US$1,200 in all; US$120 in passenger taxes per person, US$480 in all. Clause 4.2.2 does not say whether the US$100 fee is per passenger or per booking, so the cautious input is US$100 per passenger, US$400. Cancel more than 24 hours out: 80,000 points back, and 1,200 + 480 minus 400 = US$1,280 back in cash. Cancel inside 24 hours, or fail to fly: 80,000 points and US$1,200 in surcharges lost, with at most 480 minus 400 = US$80 of taxes back on a cancellation. Waiting one extra day moves 80,000 points and US$1,200 from the recovered column to the lost column.

Delta, Main Classic (Main Cabin) round trip from the US. Inputs: 50,000 miles per person, 200,000 miles in all, with US$22.40 per person in taxes. Cancel before the outbound departs: 200,000 miles redeposited with no fee. Fly the outbound, then all four miss the return: under the Program Rules no mileage is credited back for the unused return, so the return's share is lost whether or not anyone calls. Miss the outbound itself without cancelling: Rule 14(C) allows Delta to cancel the return as well, and the ticket has no remaining value except where law requires, so all 200,000 miles are at risk from a single missed flight.

The fee against the points: a break-even you can compute

When a cancellation costs a fee, the useful number is the fee divided by the points it saves. In the Aeroplan case, CAD 600 recovers 140,000 points: 600 ÷ 140,000 = CAD 0.0043 per point, or 0.43 Canadian cents. Paying the fee is the better choice unless you would value those points below 0.43 cents each on the next trip you plan to book with them. Through the Contact Centre, 700 ÷ 140,000 = 0.50 cents per point.

The Virgin Atlantic case runs the same way with a cash bonus attached. The US$400 fee recovers 80,000 points and US$1,680 in cash surcharges and taxes, so cancelling in time pays you money back on top of saving the points. There is no realistic valuation at which waiting past 24 hours comes out ahead.

A value per point only means something against a specific booking. The cash versus points calculator turns a cash fare, a points price and the fees that survive into cents per point for that trip, which is the honest yardstick for whether a CAD 150 fee is worth paying to keep 35,000 points.

When a missed flight is not your no-show

The forfeiture clauses describe a traveler who fails to appear. They are not the rules for a flight the airline delays, cancels or reschedules. The Atmos terms say passengers "whose itineraries are interrupted due to irregular operations while traveling on an Atmos Rewards award ticket will be rerouted by the operating carrier." Virgin Atlantic's clause 4.2.3 says Virgin Points "for Reward seats booked but not honoured will be reinstated" when its own operations are altered or cancelled. A significant schedule change before the trip is a different regime again, set out in the award schedule change refund guide, and a long delay or cancellation on a flight covered by EU or UK rules can also pay cash compensation to an award passenger (four-regime comparison).

Missed connections within one ticket fall under that protection, because the airline sold the connection. A separate ticket does not. A family that positions to a gateway city on a cash flight, then connects to an award ticket issued separately, has no airline responsible for the gap. If the positioning flight runs late and the award departs without them, the award program sees a passenger who did not appear. In that situation the move is the same as any other: call the award program before the award flight departs, explain the delay, and ask to change or cancel while a change is still possible.

Check-in deadlines can create a no-show while the family is standing in the terminal. Delta's contract says a reservation "may be cancelled if you do not comply with all applicable check-in procedures by the check-in deadline" or are not at the gate by the boarding deadline. Arriving at the airport is not the same as appearing for the flight.

Booking a family so one missed flight does less damage

A few booking choices change how much a missed flight can cost, and none of them needs a different program. Separate one-way tickets keep the return independent of the outbound. KrisFlyer prices a round trip at twice the one-way, so the split costs nothing in miles there; on other programs, compare the one-way and round-trip prices before splitting.

Fare options are insurance with a printed price. On Aeroplan, the gap between Standard and Latitude is the difference between CAD 150 and nothing per ticket to cancel; whether paying more points for Latitude up front makes sense depends on how likely the plans are to move, and the bags and seat fees guide prices a fare family as insurance on assumed fares. On Southwest, Basic's round-trip cancellation restriction is the one to avoid when the outbound date is uncertain.

Booking seats you may not use, to hold them, runs into a hard limit. Alaska's contract prohibits creating bookings "to hold or block seats for the purpose of obtaining lower fares, Atmos Rewards award inventory, or upgrades that may not otherwise be available" without Alaska's authorization. A free cancellation policy is for plans that changed, not for parking seats. Families with children on the booking will find the age and pricing rules in the lap infants and kids on award tickets guide, and larger groups in the group award travel playbook.

One more consequence of bank points: once transferred, points belong to the airline program, so anything recovered from a cancellation returns there, not to the bank. A forfeited award therefore loses the transferred points outright, and the when not to transfer guide explains why the transfer should wait until the trip is booked and fairly firm.

The hour you know you will not make it

• Find your program's line: 24 hours for Virgin Atlantic, 2 hours for Aeroplan, 10 minutes for Southwest, before departure for Delta and Atmos.
• Cancel or change before that line in the app or on the website; the phone queue can outlast the deadline, and Aeroplan's Contact Centre fee is higher.
• If only one traveler will miss the flight, cancel that passenger alone and keep the others ticketed.
• If the outbound is lost but the return is still wanted, tell the airline before the outbound departs and ask what happens to the return.
• On a Southwest Basic round trip, remember that one segment cannot be cancelled alone without upgrading it.
• Screenshot the cancellation confirmation, the time, and the points and taxes shown as refunded.
• Check the points balance and the card statement for the tax refund within the program's stated processing time.

The sixty seconds that keep the points

Every rule above rewards the same habit: decide early that you will not make it, and say so before the line. Sixty seconds in the app before the deadline, cancelling or changing the award, is worth the whole points balance on Atmos, Aeroplan and Southwest, and the points plus surcharges on Virgin Atlantic. If the family might still make the flight, the asymmetry favors cancelling and rebooking over hoping, because a cancelled award can usually be found again if seats remain, while a forfeited one cannot. The award booking hub collects the search steps for finding that seat again.