Air passengers say they are finding it difficult to get refunds for cancelled trips. Refunds come into the picture not just when passengers cancel tickets, but also when airlines cancel flights. Many airlines are offering credit, asking passengers to use it to book tickets again.
Reality check
Metrolife called several airline offices in Bengaluru to ask about their cancellation policies. Vistara offers options both on cancelled flights and cancelled tickets, giving customers time till March 2021 to book again.
For all flights cancelled by Vistara, customers can either fly on an alternative date free of any additional charges until June 30 on the same sector or extend the validity of their booking until March 31, 2021, to fly to any domestic destination. Fare differences will apply.
In the case of passengers cancelling tickets, Indigo gives refunds after applying a cancellation fee.
Passengers lose Rs 3,500 if tickets are cancelled in the last three days before the travel date. If flights are cancelled, Indigo refunds the full fare. On Spice Jet, if a ticket is cancelled within 48 hours of travel, the cancellation fee charged is Rs 3,500.
Nishant Pitti, co-founder of ticket aggregation site EaseMyTrip, says, “In the case of Indigo and AirAsia, irrespective of the date of booking and nature of cancellation, we are giving a full refund. AirAsia had given the option for travel companies to give credit shell to the customers or credit to agent — we chose the latter.”
Resort bookings
Resort owners are now promoting staycations against lockdown bookings. Ramesh Ramanathan, CMD, Sterling Holiday Resorts, says, “When we contacted customers who had to cancel their stay during the lockdown, 70 per cent were willing to return. All of them are driving to the resort and not taking public transport.”
Companies are also promoting holiday insurance that covers flight cancellation, accidents and loss of bags.
Travellers’ woes
In January, software engineer Gautami Tagare had booked her tickets for a Thailand trip in August. But when pandemic hit the island and flights were cancelled, she changed her destination to Mauritius. Now, that plan is also on hold.
“For a while, the travel agents weren’t responding to phone calls. They finally responded to an email confirming that the trip had to be cancelled and the money will be given back as credit that can be used to travel till next year,” she says.
She feels a refund makes better sense in a pandemic. “I won’t be travelling anywhere, even within the country,” she says. Praveen Prem, freelance consultant, had planned to travel to Jaipur for a friend’s wedding. “It was in August; now it has been postponed to December. My airline has been nice enough to refund the money after levying a cancellation fee,” he says.