South African Airways Cancellation Policy

The purpose of this article is to create a guidebook for passengers, and travel agencies to have a clear understanding of the South African Airways cancellation policy with regards to their flight booking.

When applying for a refund or cancellation, the SAA passengers always have a concern they were unaware of the refund and cancellation terms and conditions that applied to their flight booking. 

With this article, many of the passenger’s concerns and uncertainties can be prevented at the first point of purchase. Therefore, it is our responsibility to clearly explain not just the conditions of the fare rules associated with the booking, but the cancellation rules , and the refund guidelines pertaining to the applicable purchase.

Therefore, it is very important to have a clear understanding of the SAA cancellation policy that is attained between the airlines and the passengers. This will not only improve the cancellation processing workflows but also exchange good customer relations. 

South African Airways Flight Cancellation Rules

All flight reservation booked can be cancelled online and refund will be granted as per the South African Airways cancellation policy as follows – 

• SAA flight cancellation policy would be applicable on all fare rules, refundable as well as nonrefundable fares. 
• Any amount deducted is based on the time at which the cancellation is requested and the status of your flight booking. 
• To cancel the confirmed flight booking more than 48 hours in advance of the scheduled departure of the flight, 10% of the fare subject to the minimum SAA flight cancellation fee shall be deducted. 
• To cancel the confirmed South African Airways reservation between the 48 hours and 12 hours prior to the scheduled departure, a minimum of 25% of the fair value alongside the cancellation fee will be charged.
• If the confirmed ticket is cancelled between the 12 hours and up to 4 hours before the scheduled departure, 50% of the fare subject to the minimum SAA cancellation fee shall be deducted. 
• The airline allows flight cancellation up to 4 hours in advance of the scheduled departure. 
• In the event where the flight is cancelled from the source to the destination, a full refund of the fare on confirmed e-tickets will be automatically credited back to the account from which the booking was made. 
• No flight cancellation fee will be levied and the wholly unused fare would be refunded back to the passenger due to the late commencement of the flight by more than 3 hours. 
• Any sort of request to void the booking applied by the passenger or person may incur a cancellation fee.

South African Airways 24 Hour Cancellation Policy

As per the South African Airways cancellation policy, the airline offers a full refund if a passenger is bound to  cancel the flight booking within 24 hours of purchasing the ticket. To get the full refund, you need to fulfil the following conditions – 

• The departure date must be booked at least 168 hours in advance. 
• The flight must be booked through the official reservation portal or through contact South African Airways reservations team over phone call. 
• The operated flight must be with South African Airways.
• The SAA cancellation policy is not applicable to any of its interline or code-agreement partner flights. 
• The reservation must not include 10 or more passengers, and is subject to the group contract.
• Within 24 hours, passengers can also request South African Airways flight change. 
• The booking needs to be cancelled or changed  within the 24 hours.
• The 24-hour cancellation does not apply to the reward miles ticket or any discount or promotional fare.

How to Cancel a South African Airways Flight?

You can perform the flight cancellation on the South African Airways operated flight, and must be purchased through direct sales channels such as flysaa.com, airport ticket counters or through customer service. 

South African Airways Cancellations Online

To make a South African Airways flight cancellation, you can do so via the Manage Booking section before the scheduled departure time. Please note that the flight cancellation is subject to the above-mentioned conditions. Please refer to the steps to request the flight cancellation – 

• Browse flysaa.com and log in to the Manage Booking section. 
• Click ‘Cancel’ for the particular booking that you want to perform the flight cancellation.
• You will be redirected to the Refund Summary page. The refund amount would be displayed after assessing the SAA flight cancellation fee.
• Once your payment is settled, the airline will cancel the flight booking and process the full refund. 
• The airline will process the refund in the original method of payment in 7-10 business days. 

SAA Flight Cancellations through Phone

If you need to claim  refund on the cancelled flight, or holding a group reservation, or need to cancel the flight due to no-show, feel free to reach the South African Airways customer service for cancelation.

South African Airways Refund Policy

As per the South African Airways cancellation policy, to expedite the refunds, the airline have appointed the customer care representatives who must ensure that the passengers must fairly compensation for all cancellation, and in accordance with the policy as follows – 

• The airline’s refund process requires all the documentation, and must contain all unused portions of the booking as refund.
• The airline’s administration fee would be applicable for all the refund requests. This is not to be confused with the SAA cancellation fee. 
• The validity of a flight ticket for an international flight is 1 year and 6 months for domestic travel. Any flight booking whose validity has expired is not eligible for any refund.
• Passengers can claim a refund on the unused part of the booking if the flight is cancelled by the airlines, and is attributed to the following reasons –
  • Cancellation of a flight by the South African Airways.
  • Flight is delayed for 3 or more hours.
  • The airline fails to operate a flight as per the agreed schedule.
  • The airline fails to stop at the destination or the stopover in which the passenger holds a confirmed reservation and is issued with the South African Airways. 
• In case of a non-refundable fare, a refund is applicable to the unused airport taxes and fees in the form of travel credit. 
• The airline will offer the refund to the person who paid for the flight booking upon the presentation of the satisfactory proof of transaction or payment. 
• Passengers can claim a refund on the unused flight segments in the event of a death of a co-passenger or an immediate family member. You need to submit the copy of the death certificate, and a certified declaration that the person requesting the refund is an immediate family member.

SAA Cancellation Fee

As per the South African Airways cancellation policy, the change fee is applicable on the fares that are refundable and can be cancelled outside 24 hours of purchase, such as  – 

To conclude with, in this article, we have given the complete details of SAA cancellation policy and the cancellation procedure that passengers will have to follow if they want to cancel their booking because of any reason. We have covered almost all the possible questions that one may get confused with. From the way of calculating the refund amount, to the process of applying for it, we have discussed everything in a way that everyone can easily understand.

Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs