Singapore Airlines hikes ticket cancellation fees by up to 100%

Singapore Airlines has quietly raised its cancellation fees for long-haul flights to Australia, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, in an update that apparently took place towards the end of last month. The revised fees apply across all cabins, and to all ticket types.

So how bad are the changes? Cancellation fees have increased between 28% and 100% (or S$110 to S$130 in absolute terms) and ironically, it’s the most expensive Flexi fares which are seeing the biggest hikes!

For what it’s worth, this only affects commercial tickets. There are no changes to the cancellation fees for award tickets, which remain at US$75 (Saver) and US$50 (Advantage and Access).

Singapore Airlines hikes cancellation fees

For context, Singapore Airlines classifies flights into two bands: short-haul and long-haul.

While this makes sense most of the time, the classification can also give rise to some strange quirks. For example, a Singapore to Dubai itinerary is considered short-haul, but a Singapore to Perth itinerary is considered long-haul, even though Perth is a shorter flight than Dubai!

Singapore Airlines has increased cancellation fees for long-haul destinations, for tickets issued on or after 28 April 2026. For the avoidance of doubt, tickets issued before this date will keep their existing cancellation fees, regardless of travel date.

A few things to note before we look at the changes:

• Cancellation fees apply on a passenger basis, so if you have two passengers on the same itinerary, you pay two cancellation fees
• The fee for cancelling a one-way ticket is the same as a round-trip ticket
• Cancellation fees are quoted in SGD for tickets issued in Singapore, which is what I’ll refer to below. For flights originating from other countries, cancellation fees will be quoted in the local currency, or in USD

Economy Class

Premium Economy Class

Business Class

First Class

Why has Singapore Airlines decided to hike cancellation fees now? It’s purely speculation on my part, but I imagine that with the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, many ME3 passengers are looking to book backup options in case the situation doesn’t improve in time for their flight. By raising cancellation fees, SIA might be aiming to deter “placeholder bookings” which are cancelled at the last minute, leaving empty seats on the plane.

The most restrictive rules apply

You can combine different fare types in a single ticket, but the most restrictive conditions apply when it comes to cancellation. 

For example, suppose I book the following itinerary to Frankfurt, with Economy Value on the outbound leg and Economy Lite on the return leg. 

The entire ticket is treated as an Economy Lite fare for the purposes of cancellation, hence the booking cancellation fee shows “not allowed” even on the outbound SIN-FRA Economy Value leg.

By that same token, if I booked Economy Value on the outbound leg and Economy Standard on the return leg, the cost of cancellations follows Economy Value rules, hence a S$510 cancellation fee instead of S$380.

So why even bother combining different fare types? It could simply be the case that a cheaper fare type isn’t available on one of the legs, or perhaps you want to upgrade one of the legs with your miles. Note that the Economy Standard leg from FRA-SIN can still be upgraded with miles, and accrues more miles than the Economy Value leg from SIN-FRA.

No-show fees may also apply

In addition to cancellation fees, no-show fees may also apply if you do not cancel your flight before the scheduled departure time.

These have not been changed, and range from S$130 to S$400. 

Let me emphasise that unlike hotels, where your credit card is automatically charged if you don’t show up, airline no-show fees are not automatically billed. Instead, they are only charged at the point of rebooking or refunding a ticket. 

For example, suppose I book a return Business Standard ticket from Singapore to San Francisco, and fail to turn up for my flight. My ticket isn’t wasted, because I can still reschedule the flight to a future date within the ticket’s validity period. However, at the time of changing the booking, I will be charged:

• A S$200 change fee
• A S$400 no-show fee
• Any applicable fare differences

If, for whatever reason, you never reschedule or refund your flight, the no-show fee will never be charged.

What’s annoying is that Singapore Airlines has stopped displaying no-show fees on their booking page. This is what it used to look like…

…versus now.

If you want to check the no-show fee, you now need to click on the “Full fare rules and conditions” button after selecting a fare.

No change to short-haul cancellation fees

There have been no changes to the cancellation fees for short-haul flights, which remain as follows.

Economy Class

Premium Economy Class

Business Class

First Class

Change fees also untouched

Singapore Airlines has also not touched its change fees, which remain at the same levels for short and long-haul flights.

Economy Class

Premium Economy Class

Business Class

First Class

Conclusion

Singapore Airlines has significantly increased cancellation fees for long-haul routes on tickets issued from 28 April 2026, with some fare types seeing increases of up to 100%. 

The good news is that short-haul cancellation fees remain unchanged, and there are no adjustments to change fees across the board. Award tickets are also unaffected, so KrisFlyer members do not need to worry about any impact here.

Overall, this looks like a move to discourage speculative bookings, which may have seen an uptick in light of the current Middle East situation.

(Photo credit: Plane’s Portrait Aviation Media)