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How to Claim AWS SLA Credits (Step-by-Step)

If AWS misses an uptime commitment, you may be eligible for Service Credits. Here’s the fastest way to confirm a breach, package evidence, and file a clean claim.

A
Amine Afia@eth_chainId
5 min read

AWS offers Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for most paid, generally-available services. If AWS misses the Monthly Uptime Percentage commitment for a service you used, you can usually request a Service Credit (a billing credit applied to future invoices).

Before you file: eligibility + common exclusions

  • Paid + GA services only: free-tier and non-GA services typically don't qualify.
  • Architecture matters: many AWS SLAs require a qualifying setup (e.g., multi-AZ deployment).
  • Exclusions apply: misconfiguration, customer-side failures, and events outside AWS control are generally excluded.
  • Credits are the remedy: SLA credits typically don't cover consequential damages—just a percentage of the affected service charges.

Step-by-step: how to file an AWS SLA credit request

  1. Confirm the incident: check AWS Service Health Dashboard and your AWS Personal Health Dashboard for the service/region.
  2. Collect evidence: timestamps (UTC), region, impacted resources (instance IDs, bucket names), plus CloudWatch metrics/logs showing errors (5xx, timeouts, connection failures).
  3. Open a billing support case: AWS Console → Support Center → Create case → Account and Billing.
  4. Use clear wording: include "SLA Credit Request" in the subject and describe each incident window precisely.
  5. Submit on time: AWS typically requires the request by the end of the second billing cycle after the incident.
  6. Track and verify: if approved, the credit appears as a billing credit on a future invoice for that service.

What to include (so it gets approved faster)

Operational proof

CloudWatch graphs, alarm screenshots, error logs, and exact start/end times (with timezone). Mask secrets and customer data.

Billing context

Billing month, affected service + region, account ID, and the qualifying configuration (e.g., multi-AZ).

Copy/paste template (AWS)

Subject: SLA Credit Request – [Service] – [Region] – [Month Year]

Hello AWS Support,
We are requesting a service credit under the AWS [Service] SLA for [Month Year].

Account ID: [123456789012]
Service / Region: [EC2] / [us-east-1]
Incident windows (UTC):
- [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] to [HH:MM] – [symptoms: 5xx/timeouts/unreachable]
- [YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM] to [HH:MM] – [symptoms]

Affected resources: [instance IDs / ARNs / bucket name]
Evidence: [CloudWatch metrics/log excerpts attached], showing errors during the windows above.

We believe the Monthly Uptime Percentage for this service fell below the SLA commitment.
Please review and apply the appropriate service credit to our account.

Thank you,
[Name / Role]

Two gotchas that void claims

  • Missing the deadline: file within the SLA window (often ~60 days after the incident month).
  • Non-qualifying setup: if the SLA requires multi-AZ or other redundancy and you weren't configured that way, the credit may be denied.
Filed Under
AWS
SLA
Credits
Billing

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