Airline Cancellation Policies 101

How many times have you made a flight booking online, missed catching it and dreaded the complicated airline cancellation policies more than actually feeling bad about not making the trip? It happened with me recently. I booked a flight to Goa to celebrate my birthday but then my ‘timely’ friends decided to throw a last-minute party in my honour! I was stuck (yet again) with details of my Jet Airways web check-in and the complicated maze of cancellation policies. Sigh!

That’s when I decided, no more. Having researched at length and spoken to travel experts, I have realized that it’s easier than you think. Sharing this new found wisdom with everyone.

Broadly the cancellation policies applicable on airfare in India are:

• For most airlines, cancellation requests should be placed at least three hours before the scheduled departure of the flight
• In addition to the date change fee, any fare difference is paid by the customer
• In some cases, a cancellation and rebooking might be cheaper than opting for a date change. The airlines don’t refund or adjust the money if the new fare you are rebooking to is cheaper than the one that you previously booked
• Cancellation fee ranges from INR 200-1000, depending upon the airline you’ve booked with
• When travelling out of the country, don’t forget to take travel insurance which covers cancellation situations

Cancellation policies for Domestic Airlines:

Airline	Charge incurred for Date Change*	Charge incurred for Cancellations*
IndiGo	1000	1000
SpiceJet	1000	1000
Go Air	1000	1000
Air India (Business Class)	Nil	210
Air India (Economy Class)	999	210-999
Air India Express	450	Non-refundable
Jet Airways (Economy Class)	500-1000	700-1000
Jet Airways (Business Class)	200-900	500-900

*All figures are in INR.

Note: Each airline has specific cancellation guidelines and the above mentioned rates are approximations. Visit the official airline website for further details.

Now that you have the cancellation policies crystal clear, why worry about missing that Air India flight or perhaps one of Indigo’s even when IndiGo’s PNR status has been generated, right? Go ahead and enjoy the ride!