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Changes to the Azure reservation exchange policy

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Exchanges will be unavailable for all compute reservations - Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances, Azure Dedicated Host reservations, and Azure App Services reservations - purchased on or after January 1, 2024. Compute reservations purchased prior to January 1, 2024 will reserve the right to exchange one more time after the policy change goes into effect.

Microsoft launched Azure savings plan for compute and it's designed to help you save broadly on predictable compute usage. The savings plan provides more flexibility needed to accommodate changes such as virtual machine series and regions. With savings plans providing the flexibility automatically, we’re adjusting our reservations exchange policy.

Note

Exchanges are changing only for the reservations explicitly mentioned previously. If you have any other type of reservation, then the policy change doesn't affect you. For example, if you have a reservation for Azure VMware Solution, then the policy change doesn't affect it. However, after January 1, 2024, if you exchange a reservation for a type affected by the policy change, the new reservation will be affected by the no-exchange policy.

You can continue to use instance size flexibility for VM sizes, but Microsoft is ending exchanges for regions and instance series for these Azure compute reservations.

The current cancellation policy for reserved instances isn't changing. The total canceled commitment can't exceed 50,000 USD in a 12-month rolling window for a billing profile or single enrollment.

A compute reservation exchange for another compute reservation exchange is similar to, but not the same as a reservation trade-in for a savings plan. The difference is that you can always trade in your Azure reserved instances for compute for a savings plan. There's no time limit for trade-ins.

You can continue to use and purchase reservations for those predictable, stable workloads where you know the specific configuration and need or want more savings.

Learn more about Azure savings plan for compute and how it works with reservations.

Diagram showing the exchange policy timeline.

Example scenarios

The following examples describe scenarios that might represent your situation.

Scenario 1

You purchase a one-year compute reservation sometime between the month of October 2022 and the end of December 2023. You can exchange the compute reservation one more time through the end of its term, even after December 2023. Before January 2024, you can exchange it under current policy. However, if the reservation is exchanged after the end of December 2023, the reservation is no longer exchangeable because exchanges are processed as a cancellation, refund, and a new purchase.

You can always trade in the reservation for a savings plan. There's no time limit for trade-ins.

Scenario 2

You purchase a three-year compute reservation before January 2024. You exchange the compute reservation on or after January 1, 2024. Because an exchange is processed as a cancellation, refund, and new purchase, the reservation is no longer exchangeable.

You can always trade in the reservation for a savings plan. There's no time limit for trade-ins.

Scenario 3

You purchase a one-year compute reservation on or after January 1, 2024. It can’t be exchanged.

You can always trade in the reservation for a savings plan. There's no time limit for trade-ins.

Scenario 4

You purchase a three-year compute reservation after on or after January 1, 2024. It can’t be exchanged.

You can always trade in the reservation for a savings plan. There's no time limit for trade-ins.

Scenario 5

You purchase a three-year compute reservation of 10 quantities before January 2024. You exchange 2 quantities of the compute reservation on or after January 1, 2024. You can still exchange the leftover 8 quantities on the original reservation after January 1, 2024.

You can always trade in the reservation for a savings plan. There's no time limit for trade-ins.

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