Less than 30% got flight cancellation refund amid pandemic: Survey
A survey conducted by Local Circles found that though over twice as many citizens were able to get a flight or hotel booking refund due to third-wave related cancellation as compared to the second wave, the majority still ended up losing money to airlines, hotels, travel websites and agents.
The survey that received more than 20,000 responses from citizens residing in 332 districts of India found that of those who cancelled travel due to the third Covid-19 wave, only 29 per cent were able to get a full refund from airlines and 34 per cent from hotels.
To a question on how did the cancellation process worked for the flight travel that you had booked for January-March 2022, 29 per cent said travel agent and/or airline accepted cancellation and refunded full amount, 14 per cent said the money was not refunded but they booked the flight for a later date.
On an aggregate basis, of those who cancelled flight tickets due to the third wave of the Covid wave, only 29 per cent were able to get a full refund from airlines/travel agents. The survey for this query received 10,151 responses.
A similar survey was conducted during the second wave of the pandemic, about 12 per cent of citizens who had booked travel were able to get a full refund due to the cancellation of flights.
In response to a query about hotel stay during January-March 2022, 34 per cent said travel agent and/or hotel accepted cancellation and refunded full amount”, 13 per cent said the cancellation was accepted by only partial amount was refunded. Another 13 per cent said travel agent and/or hotel accepted cancellation and refunded a very small amount, another 13 per cent said travel agent and/or hotel did not refund anything but rebooked the ticket for a later date. 27 per cent said the travel agent and/or hotel did not refund anything and they lost the entire booking amount.
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