The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has affected over a million people across the globe in the last 2-3 months. Without any proven vaccine, the Coronavirus continues to disrupt every walk of human life. Read on to know the cancellation policy for flight bookings done through Air Miles.
Coronavirus has brought the whole world to a standstill. In the absence of any established medicine and social distancing being the only preventative option, Governments in several countries are using lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly virus. Understandably, cancellation and rescheduling of travel plans of flyers is disrupting the flight services across the globe.
In these uncertain times, let’s understand how loyalty programs are updating their cancellation policies to adhere to the guidelines of the authorities:
Cancellation of Flight Bookings Done Through Loyalty Points:
Several loyalty programs allow you to book flight tickets by redeeming your loyalty points. The cancellation policy of these tickets usually consists of three components:
- Airline Fee
- Loyalty Redemption Fee
- Convenience and Other Charges
Usually, in case of non-refundable tickets, a flier has to forfeit the loyalty points, taxes, surcharges, airline fees, and other charges. However, for cancellation of refundable tickets, these loyalty programs return loyalty points after deducting a nominal redemption charge per segment.
Policy Updates Due to COVID-19:
Due to ongoing nationwide lockdown on domestic and international air travel up to 14th and 30th April, respectively, loyalty programs are letting them cancel the flight bookings by waiving off loyalty redemption fees and other processing fees. Additionally, several airlines have put their efforts in reducing the stress and anxiety of the fliers by updating their cancellation policy:
Here is a quick summary of the cancellation policy for domestic airlines:
- Air India: For travel between 23rd March and 30th April 2020, you need not pay any No-Show charges. Additionally, the airline allows you to re-book your flights without paying any charges for changing dates, flights, or routes in domestic as well as international flights.
- Indigo: Introduces a credit shell against your PNR for flight bookings done up to 30th April 2020. When you cancel your booking, you can create a credit shell that is valid for 1 year from the date of issuance for booking flight tickets.
- SpiceJet: Apart from waiving off the cancellation fee, SpiceJet allows you to create a credit shell against your travel tickets till 14th April 2020. You can use this credit shell to book tickets for travel on or before 28th February 2021.
- AirAsia: For flight departures up to 31st May 2020, AirAsia allows you to convert the amount for existing flight booking into a credit account, which you can redeem for a new flight booking within a year.
As the world takes a unified stand in fighting the novel Coronavirus, loyalty programs are evolving and updating their policies according to the prevailing circumstances. As a dignified customer, it’s your responsibility to be considerate and supportive while communicating with the loyalty program executives for a hassle-free response of your cancellation requests.