How to Change an American Airlines Flight

American Airlines completely revamped its flight change policy in recent years, eliminating change fees on most domestic and international flights (except basic economy tickets).

For those wondering how to change an American Airlines flight, here’s what you need to know to make it a smooth process.

American Airlines flight change policy

Like most airlines, American Airlines has flight change and cancellation policies.

American’s flight change policy is as follows:

• No change fees for all domestic, short-haul international and select long-haul international flights as long as you are not flying basic economy.

• Basic economy fares purchased are nonrefundable. They’re also non-changeable, with one exception (more on that below).

• This includes flying standby if you want to fly an earlier flight to the same destination on the same day for all domestic flights.

» Learn more: The best airline credit cards right now

How much does it cost to change an American Airlines flight?

The great news for travelers is that it won't cost anything to change an American Airlines flight in most scenarios. Keep in mind that you will have to pay any increase in the fare for your new ticket.

You can use the value of your ticket toward the new fare, and you can even change the ticket's origin and/or destination. If the new fare is lower than your purchased fare, you'll be able to use the difference in value toward a future flight.

If you purchased travel insurance, you might be able to get reimbursed for the cost of a new flight if you must make a change due to a covered reason.

If your trip originates in Europe (except Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania), you can change your ticket for a fee. This includes basic economy tickets.

How to change my flight on American Airlines

For flights booked with cash

Changing your eligible American Airlines flight that you paid for with cash is fairly straightforward. You can access your purchased flight either by logging into your American AAdvantage account or by inputting your name and six-digit record locator at aa.com.

Once you select the flight that you'd like to change, navigate to “Change trip” and follow the prompts to select a new flight. You can also choose to cancel your American Airlines flight.

For flights booked with points

Changing an American Airlines award flight follows the same process as changing a flight paid for with cash. You can change an eligible trip online.

There's no charge to change an American Airlines award flight, though you'll need to pay any additional miles that are due for your new flight. If your new flight costs fewer American AAdvantage miles, the difference in miles will be redeposited into your account. If you've used miles to upgrade a flight, you cannot make changes.

» Learn more: The complete guide to American Airlines AAdvantage

Final thoughts on changing your American Airlines flight

American Airlines doesn’t charge a fee for changing most flights, and most flights outside basic economy are able to be changed. You'll simply need to pay the difference in fare. If the fare of your new flight is less than your original flight, you'll get the difference back as a travel credit to use on a future flight.