Finnair Award Flight Changes and Cancellation Cover: What’s Actually Included

Quick answer: Changing a Finnair award ticket booked with Avios costs €50, whether you’re changing the date before or after your trip has started, and Avios can’t be used to pay that fee. Separately, Finnair Cancellation Cover is an optional add-on that refunds your ticket and prepaid extras if sudden illness, an accident, a death, or a pregnancy complication (up to the 36th week) stops you from flying, but it’s only available with Economy or Premium Economy bookings, not award tickets.

These two topics get lumped in with general date-change questions a lot, but they’re specific enough to deserve their own explanation, especially since a lot of what’s published about them online is either outdated or just wrong.

 

What It Actually Costs to Change an Award Ticket

If you booked with Avios through Finnair Plus, changing your flight date costs €50, according to Finnair’s own conditions for bookings. This applies whether you’re changing the ticket before departure or, after your trip has started, changing the return flight at the latest one day before it’s due to fly.

A few details worth knowing:

• Avios can’t be used to pay this fee. It has to be paid in cash or by credit card, even though the original ticket was booked with points.
• Cancel more than 24 hours before departure, and your Avios go back into your account. Taxes, other passenger fees, and any Avios that have already expired are not returned.
• Partially used tickets aren’t refunded. If you’ve already flown one leg of the trip, that portion isn’t eligible for a refund.
• Travel extras aren’t transferable to another passenger and generally can’t be changed once purchased.

If you booked your award ticket through customer service rather than online, there’s also an additional charge, 500 Avios for a one-way award and 1,000 Avios for a round trip, on top of the flight itself. Booking directly online avoids that extra cost.

Gold and higher Finnair Plus tiers get this fee waived. If you hold Gold status or above, the €50 award change fee doesn’t apply to you, though the cancellation fee below still does. It’s one of the more overlooked perks of reaching Gold tier if you fly award tickets regularly.

 

Cancelling an Award Ticket Outright

Changing dates is one thing, cancelling the ticket entirely is another, and it follows a similar but distinct fee structure. Cancelling a Finnair Plus award ticket costs €50 per ticket, with the remaining value, meaning your taxes and passenger fees, returned to you.

Timing matters here. If you cancel before the ticket has been redeemed and notify Finnair Plus by the weekday before your journey, your Avios go back to your account without triggering the cancellation fee in some cases; once the ticket has actually been issued, the €50 fee applies to get your Avios back. Given how easily this distinction gets lost, it’s worth confirming directly with Finnair Plus customer service exactly which stage your booking is at before assuming either outcome.

 

A Cash Ticket Cancellation Has Its Own Similar Fee

Slightly confusingly, a €50 service fee also applies to paid (non-award) ticket cancellations on Classic, Light, and Superlight fares when you process the refund through Finnair’s online refund form. This is separate from the award ticket fees above, it’s the standard cost of requesting a refund on a restrictive cash fare outside the 24-hour window. Finnair’s average handling time for these requests is around 7 days, though some cases take longer.

 

What Travel Extras Refunds Actually Depend On

Travel extras like extra baggage, seat selection, or meals are generally non-refundable, but there are real exceptions: if Finnair wasn’t able to actually provide the service you paid for, if your specific ticket type allows refunds, if you’re cancelling within the 24-hour window on a booking made 7+ days before departure, or if you’re covered by Cancellation Cover. Outside of these situations, don’t expect a refund on extras just because your plans changed.

 

Finnair Cancellation Cover: What It Actually Pays For

Cancellation Cover is an optional add-on you purchase alongside an Economy or Premium Economy booking. It’s not travel insurance in the broader sense, and it can’t be added to a booking after the fact, only at the time you book your flight.

What it covers, according to Finnair’s Cancellation Cover terms:

• The price of your flight ticket if sudden sickness, an accident, or a death, either your own, another passenger’s on the same booking, or a close family member’s, prevents you from travelling.
• Prepaid travel extras: extra baggage, seat selection, pre-ordered meals, Finnair Lounge access, and other Finnair-provided add-ons.
• Pregnancy-related complications, specifically up to the end of the 36th week of pregnancy. Complications after that point aren’t covered.

Finnair defines “close family member” fairly broadly here: a spouse or common-law spouse, your own or your spouse’s children, your own parents, siblings, and grandparents, or your spouse’s parents, siblings, and grandparents.

What it doesn’t cover:

• The cost of a new ticket if you end up needing to rebook
• The Cancellation Cover fee itself, or any service fee charged at booking
• Cancellations for reasons other than sickness, accident, or death, such as missing vaccination or travel documents
• Simply changing your mind about travelling

One detail that trips people up: Cancellation Cover isn’t available on Finnair Classic award flights. If you booked with Avios, this add-on generally isn’t an option for that ticket. And it’s genuinely free for children under 2 years old, so there’s no reason to skip adding it for an infant on the booking.

 

How to Use Cancellation Cover If You Need It

If something happens that qualifies, you’ll typically need to go through Manage Booking, submit a refund request, and provide documentation, medical certification for illness or an accident, or the relevant paperwork for a death or pregnancy complication. Having that documentation ready before you start the process tends to make it move faster.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How much does it cost to change a Finnair award ticket?

€50, whether you’re changing it before departure or, after travel has started, changing the return flight at least one day before it’s due to fly.

Can I pay the Finnair Avios ticket change fee with Avios?

No. Finnair requires this fee to be paid in cash or by credit card, regardless of how the original ticket was booked.

Does Finnair Cancellation Cover refund a new ticket if I have to rebook?

No. It covers your original ticket and whatever prepaid extras qualify, but a replacement booking is on you.

Is Finnair Cancellation Cover available on award tickets?

No, it’s not available for Finnair Classic award flights. It can only be added alongside an Economy or Premium Economy cash booking.

Does Gold status waive any Finnair Plus fees?

Yes, Gold and higher tiers get the €50 award ticket change fee waived, though the separate cancellation fee still applies.

Is there a fee to cancel a Finnair cash ticket, not just an award ticket?

Yes, a separate €50 service fee applies to refund requests on Classic, Light, and Superlight fares processed through Finnair’s online refund form.

Does Finnair Cancellation Cover cover pregnancy at any stage?

Only up to the end of the 36th week. Complications after that point aren’t covered under this policy.

Is Finnair Cancellation Cover free for anyone?

Yes, for children under 2 years old.

 

Final Word

Award ticket changes and Cancellation Cover are two of the more misunderstood parts of flying Finnair, mostly because a lot of what’s published about them gets the details wrong or leaves out the exceptions that actually matter. The €50 change fee applies regardless of when you’re changing an award ticket, and Cancellation Cover is genuinely useful for the specific situations it covers, sickness, accidents, deaths, and pregnancy complications, but it’s not a general safety net for whenever your plans change. If you’re weighing your options on an upcoming Finnair booking, our Finnair flight date change policy guide covers how cash-fare flexibility works by ticket type.