Floods fail to derail package tour plans

Poor reimbursement on cancellation

One possible reason could be the poor reimbursement in store for passengers when bookings made through such packages are cancelled at the last minute.
Altogether 16 tourists have cancelled their tickets for the `Goa Special package’ run by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), leaving from Bangalore on October 7. On the other hand, 41 of the total of 57 tourists who had booked for the sightseeing trip will be undertaking their journey, according to Chief Regional Manager of  IRCTC, S Gagarin.

 As per rules of IRCTC, if a ticket booked under package tour is cancelled 15 days prior to the journey (excluding date of departure), Rs 100 will be deducted from the fare; if the cancellation is done between 8 and 14 days of the journey (excluding date of journey) 25% of the package cost will be deducted; if the cancellation is done four to seven days before travel date (excluding journey date), 50% of the package cost would be deducted. In case, the cancellation is done within four days (excluding date of journey) the entire amount would be deducted which means the passenger forfeits all the amount paid for the package. On the reason for the paltry reimbursement, Gagarin said that apart from the Railways, hotel operators, cab operators and tour guides were involved in making the package possible.  “IRCTC has to pay all of them regardless of whether the tour is run or not.”

Meanwhile, passengers of a recent package tour to Shirdi  had a delayed return due to the cancellation of Karnataka Express.