Airline Waive Change & Cancellation Fee Due to Coronavirus

We have seen how contagious and harmful the COVID-19 is right from the outbreak. And with the increase in the number of infected people all around the globe, the condition has become worse. The complete market has gone hayway and has majorly impacted the travel industry and not to forget, customers are facing great losses. So the outbreak has led to the cancellation of many flights both domestic and international. As a result airline waive change & cancellation fee due to coronavirus

Obviously we can’t deny the fact that airlines are understanding the travelers problems and taking necessary actions to overcome the situation. As a result it gives a sigh of relief to the passengers. Many airlines around the globe have already changed their policies regarding cancellation, change, refund and rebooking of the tickets. 

Here are some of the updates which we have received from the airlines (within India) who have made changes to their policies. You must go through these and this will be useful to you.

Indigo Airlines

Indigo Airlines was the first airline to waive change & cancellation fee due to coronavirus.

As per the update – 
IndiGo Airlines waives-off change fees on existing and new domestic and international bookings made till March 31, 2020 

• No change fees for flights already booked between March 12, 2020 – March 31, 2020 
• Zero change fees for bookings made between March 12, 2020 – March 31, 2020

Fare difference if any will be applicable.

Mr. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “We understand that some passengers are concerned about committing to travel, given the current coronavirus issue. To take this anxiety away and make their travel hassle-free, we are waiving our normal change fees on all travel during the next two weeks and for all new bookings made in that period. This will enable our customers to book their flights at affordable fares, with the flexibility of rescheduling, without change fees, if needed. Whilst the corona virus is a very serious challenge for us all, we believe that measures such as this will help alleviate its effect on India’s travel.”

Air India

Air India was the second to rescue their customers.

The Airlines has decided to permit One Free Change for the passengers to postpone any international or domestic bookings made to/from areas with a risk of exposure.

Applicability:

• All Existing Bookings with travel date till 30th April and New bookings booked till 31st March 2020.
• Modifications allowed on all bookings till 72 hrs prior to departure.

Ticket Must be Reissued On or Before 31MAY 2020.

Other Information:

• Change Fee will be waived for One Instance only – any subsequent changes will be subject to normal reissue fee. 
• In case of non-availability of same fare level, difference of fare will be charged. 
• Tickets can only be reissued by the agency that originally issued the ticket. 
• In case of re-routing, applicable difference of fare will be charged. 

Spicejet

Spicejet has also taken measures to ease your travel.

As per the updated policy the airlines will not charge any change fees:

• On existing bookings for travel between 12th and 31st March, 2020.
• On new bookings for travel between 12th and 31st March, 2020.
  

Fare difference will apply. 

The Airline announced the update on twitter.

Go Air

Zero cancellation and rebooking fee offer can be availed if done up to 14 days before departure, GoAir said in the statement

GoAir said that they will not charge any fee on cancellation or rescheduling of tickets booked till April 30 amid the coronavirus scare.

This applies for all bookings made between March 8 and April 30 and for the travel period between March 8 and September 30.

The customer will have to pay the fare difference when rescheduling a flight.

“We looked at what could be going on in the consumer’s mind right now especially in the prevailing uncertain situation. It emerged that the freedom to reschedule flight tickets without any strings attached was the biggest concern,” Managing Director Jeh Wadia said.

Vistara

Because of the COVID-19, Air Vistara has waived cancellation and rescheduling charges for bookings made on or before March 1.

Fare difference will be applicable if any. 

Air Asia:

In general, the airline has not yet spoken about any waiver for change or cancellation of the flight but has mentioned about the refund. You can check out the list and see if you are falling under one of those.

As per the airlines – For those whose travel plans are affected by the restrictions or cancellations, below is the list of  refund categories related to Covid-19 which you can submit via AVA; 

1. Flight to / from Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR & Macau SAR
2. Covid-19 Voluntary Cancellation
3. Nationals restricted to travel
4. Japan Domestic Voluntary Cancellation
5. AirAsia Cancelled my Flight

The chart is here. 

The above mentioned airlines have already press release and announced officially regarding the update in their policies. In short this has made this process hassle free for all travelers but as a traveler you definitely need to invest a bit of your time on these policies. Now with the change in the policies, make sure you take all the necessary precautions and travel safe. So such initiative deserves applause for the airlines who have come forward and waive change & cancellation fee due to coronavirus.

So make your plans accordingly. Please connect with us on our facebook page to tell us what you think about this.