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Cancelling Flight Tickets? Here’s How to Avoid the Steep Cancellation Charges

​You might have heard your relatives discussing a hefty fee charged for cancelling their flight tickets. At the same time, you might have heard some uncle boasting about the low deduction fee for a train ticket. We all know that with airlines tickets the cancellation fee is too heavy and it can go as up as 100% fee deduction. 

A ticket can be booked 3 months before the travel date. Airlines offer good discounts on early birds tickets.  This allows people to get the same ticket at a much cheaper rate. With early date tickets, there is a chance of some future emergency due to which you might have to cancel the ticket. This is often the case as a lot of people cancel their tickets booked online. The refund in these cases is very low due to the penalties imposed by airlines. 

A study confirmed that almost 9% of flight tickets booked through MakeMyTrip are cancelled or rescheduled. On PayTm, this figure lies between 10-15%. According to the rules and regulation, if a person does not check-in for the flight 45 minutes before the departure time, the total amount can be fortified, except some government fees. This means that the person will lose out on almost all the money on the ticket. 

The rules implemented by the Government of India for a refund on flight tickets are:

  • Cancellation charge can’t be more than the base charge plus the fuel surcharge
  • All the taxes must be refunded
  • Passenger Service Charge and User Development Fee must be refunded
  • The refund process should be free

    • Even after this, people look for ways to bring down their losses from ticket cancellation. Here are a few ways by which you can reduce all your losses through ticket cancellation.

    Zero Cancellation Offer


    There is a wide range of sites through which the person can opt to book a flight ticket. Many of these sites offer a Free Cancellation Offer. Sometimes these free cancellation offers come with a little amount of fee. The person has to pay this fee to be eligible for this offer. You must compare these offers as they differ from site to site. All these offers depend on the route of the journey, date of travel, and many other factors. 

    Do look for the terms and conditions. Sometimes the amount is refunded only when the flight is cancelled 3 hours before the booking. While with some site it is extended up to 1 hour. 

    Travel Insurance


    The other simple way to save on the cancellation charges is by getting travel insurance. Travel insurance covers many other things apart from cancellation charge. This includes loss of baggage, medical expense. Travel insurance is generally a fraction of total trip. 

    Though it depends on insurers to insurers as the rules and regulations might differ. If you are going to travel it is also important to get travel insurance online​. The time pandemic is not safe and one must browse through various travel insurance plans.