Qantas Raising Domestic Change & Cancellation Fees

By Matt Graham
Qantas Boeing 737-800s at Brisbane Airport
Qantas will raise its change and cancellation fees later this month. Photo: Matt Graham.

Qantas will increase its fees to change or cancel a domestic flight on 30 July 2025.

Currently, when you book an Economy Red e-Deal ticket with Qantas, there is a $99 penalty to change the date or time of the flight, in addition to any fare difference. There’s also a $99 fee to cancel an Economy Flex ticket for a refund, or to change the name on the ticket.

The Qantas website shows most of these change and cancellation fees at the time of booking:

Qantas SYD-OOL Economy fare inclusions
The current inclusions with Qantas’ domestic Economy fare types. Screenshot from the Qantas website.

New Qantas domestic change and cancellation fees

For bookings made on or after 30 July 2025, all of the fees mentioned above will increase to $110, including GST. On tickets with a point of sale outside of Australia, the fee will be $100 as GST is excluded on these bookings.

From the same date, Qantas is also increasing the change fee, name change fee and cancellation fee on domestic Premium Economy Saver bookings from $99 to $110. (Qantas offers Premium Economy on QF5/6 and QF33/34 between Sydney and Perth.)

There are no changes to other fare conditions, nor to fees on Business Class fares.

Domestic Qantas tickets issued before 29 July 2025 will still attract the current, lower change and cancellation penalties. However, if a ticket purchased before 29 July is changed after this date, any subsequent changes will result in the higher $110 fee.

Qantas last increased change and cancellation fees on domestic tickets in March 2017. It had announced in September 2024 that it would increase these fees from $99 to $119 on 9 October 2024, but the airline ended up delaying that particular price increase indefinitely after a public backlash.

Changes to Qantas seat selection fees

Qantas is also making a range of minor changes to seat selection fees from 17 July 2025, which you can read about on the AFF forum.

Leave a comment or discuss this topic on the AFF forum
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eminere Sep 13, 2024 #1

Direct link to the FAQ document from Qantas: Changes to Qantas fees

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FlyingKangaroo Sep 13, 2024 #2

Really a shame when you compare it to the States, where even the bottom-barrel low cost carriers have done away with them. Not surprising, of course.

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CaptJCool Sep 13, 2024 #3

Really a shame when you compare it to the States, where even the bottom-barrel low cost carriers have done away with them. Not surprising, of course.

Well at least they have worked out that whe. You ask passengers to self-service, you don’t need to charge them for their own labour ….

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FlyingKangaroo Sep 13, 2024 #4

Well at least they have worked out that whe. You ask passengers to self-service, you don’t need to charge them for their own labour ….

Given it's almost impossible to make even basic flight changes via QF's IT, I suppose that's a fair point: it costs them money to force people to call in and painfully talk their reps how to do something we can't do ourselves, so I suppose we're on the hook for that cost. 🙃

It took me over an hour and a half last week to change two Y-class redemptions to J-class on the same flight. Just painfully difficult.

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CMA222 Sep 13, 2024 #5

The new CEO says that QF is "changing for the better" ! I think she meant "changing the fees because it is better for QF" to charge more to move my bundle of rights from one aspiration but not guaranteed fight to another aspirational but not guaranteed flight.

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Lynda2475 Sep 13, 2024 #6

Changes due to QF cancelling or materially changing time of flight will still be free. It's only change of mind changes.

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SYD Sep 13, 2024 #7

Given it's almost impossible to make even basic flight changes via QF's IT, I suppose that's a fair point: it costs them money to force people to call in and painfully talk their reps how to do something we can't do ourselves, so I suppose we're on the hook for that cost. 🙃

Have you tried for a revenue ticket? Pretty straightforward.

It took me over an hour and a half last week to change two Y-class redemptions to J-class on the same flight. Just painfully difficult.

That would be a different change regime anyway but I’ve been able to change reward bookings online. Obviously, subject to reward seat availability.

Wouldn’t changing from X to U be a cancel and rebook anyway?

No idea what the deal is for CR+ changes and not about to find out anytime soon!

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FlyingKangaroo Sep 13, 2024 #8

Have you tried for a revenue ticket? Pretty straightforward.

That would be a different change regime anyway but I’ve been able to change reward bookings online. Obviously, subject to reward seat availability.

Wouldn’t changing from X to U be a cancel and rebook anyway?

No idea what the deal is for CR+ changes and not about to find out anytime soon!

It can be pretty straightforward for revenue tickets, if: 1) the flight hasn't been previously changed (as I've had several instances where schedule changes have randomly resulted in that option subsequently greyed out); and 2) you're only trying to change the date. If I recall, it was possible to change origin or destination in the past, but bizarrely around Covid this disappeared and has never returned.

In this case, once again only the day could be changed, which was fine, except (and perhaps it was because I was looking on the same day and there is only one flight between SYD-JNB) the change tool gave me a nondescript error when selecting the same day. I had to call in, and it was treated as a change, not a cancel and rebook.

Qantas' IT is woeful, and I don't think that's a hyperbolic or controversial statement. The US carriers are the gold standard in my opinion when it comes to self-serve options, but QF is definitely towards bottom of the list of the many carriers I fly regularly.

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SeatBackForward Sep 13, 2024 #9

How much of that $20 increase will go to improving the skills of their call centres?

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VPS Sep 13, 2024 #10

How much of that $20 increase will go to improving the skills of their call centres?

I think that is called wishful thinking

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