Last updated: 31 October 2026.
Whether you get money back from Emirates, and how much, depends on the fare conditions shown before you buy. They are available under "Fare conditions" during booking. Cheaper fares are often non-refundable or carry a cancellation charge, while flexible fares cost more.
7 daystypical US refund processing time after the refund form
24 hourspenalty-free refund window for US bookings made 7 or more days ahead
1 yearvalidity of a credit note (EMD) after an online change
CAD 400 to 1,000Canadian delay compensation by hours late
Cancelling and changing
- Use Manage Booking on emirates.com. When online changes are allowed, a link to change the booking is shown. If not, contact the Emirates contact centre, or your agent if you booked through one.
- Charges depend on the fare conditions. The site shows any penalty or extra tax before you confirm, and you pay any higher fare for the new flights online.
- An online change applies to everyone on the booking. Changing a single traveller means contacting Emirates or the agent. Seats, special meals and services can be changed per person.
- Partly used tickets can often be changed online.
- Seat and meal choices for a changed leg are lost and must be picked again. Chauffeur-drive bookings tied to a changed flight are cancelled and have to be rebooked (12 hours ahead in the UAE, 24 hours elsewhere).
- Spelling errors in a name can be corrected until the first flight departs, or at any time after a legal name change. Tickets cannot be transferred to someone else.
- If a change leaves you owed money, such as unused taxes, Emirates emails a credit note (EMD). It is valid for one year and can pay for future Emirates travel or be exchanged for a refund.
Asking for a refund
- Cancel the ticket in Manage Booking and complete the refund form. If the link is missing, use Emirates' online ticket refund request form.
- Tickets bought online are refunded only to the card used. Agency bookings are refunded through the agent.
- Processing time depends on the market. For bookings from the USA it is around seven days after the form is sent; for India, pages quote about 15 to 30 days, depending on the page.
- US-origin bookings made seven or more days before departure can be cancelled with a full refund in the first 24 hours (the clock starts when the booking is made, not when the ticket is issued).
- A refund on a partly used ticket may be small and not in proportion to what you flew, so changing the booking can be better.
- Paid extras (a chosen seat, extra legroom, an upgrade) are not returned with the ticket. Each needs its own refund request.
When Emirates cancels or delays your flight
Emirates publishes detailed rules for flights to and from Canada; other regions follow their own laws, for example the EU, UK and India notices on its site.
- Delay or cancellation of 3 hours or more within Emirates' control: you are placed on the next available flight leaving within nine hours; failing that, within 48 hours, or from a nearby airport with transport provided. If you refuse the options, the unused part of the ticket is refunded, and the whole ticket if travel no longer serves its purpose.
- Outside its control: rebooking within 48 hours, or a refund of the unused ticket.
- Care: when the disruption is Emirates' fault and you were told less than 12 hours ahead, and have waited two hours, you receive meals and refreshments, a way to communicate and, if needed, a hotel with transfers.
- 3 hours to under 6 hours
- CAD 400
- 6 hours to under 9 hours
- CAD 700
- 9 hours or more
- CAD 1,000
- Claim within one year through Emirates' Customer Affairs team. It replies within 30 days.
- No Canadian compensation is due if you were told 15 or more days ahead, or were already compensated for the same event under another rule.
- If Emirates bumps you for a cause it controls, you may choose an Options Voucher or money, CAD 900 for a delay under six hours, CAD 1,800 for six to nine hours and CAD 2,400 beyond that.
Questions travellers ask us
Is money returned on a non-refundable fare?
Only if the fare conditions allow it. Read them before you buy, because certain tickets cannot be refunded.
Where does the refund go?
Back to the card used for an online purchase.
How long is the credit note valid?
One year from the date of the change.
Baggage Allowance is an independent information site and is not part of Emirates. Check the airline's own pages before you travel.
3 questions and answers
please be noted that i booked a return ticket for the dates of 21 September from DXB Dubai to ISB Pakistan & 02 of October from ISB Pakistan to Dubai on 11th of September from a ticket agent shop. now because of some issues i am not able to travel so please give me information & cancellation fees for the above ticket.
Please note that we are not associated with the Emirates airline in any way. Please contact the airline directly or the travel agent, whoever booked ticket, for cancellation and refund matters.
please mention the route of travel as well.
Since tickets were booked with the agent, he/she is the person whom the airline will listen to. It is also important to know whether you were carrying a refundable ticket or not. You have the right to ask for the details of the amounts being deducted by the airline and can surely challenge it with the appropriate authorities (courts/consumer courts).