Slashing Ticket prices and Increasing Cancellation Charges

Airlines in India are trying to lure in passengers during the off season by offering them discounts and good deals on the tickets. Last week IndiGo began IndiGo began offering air tickets starting from Rs 1,178. This was followed by discounts from other airlines too. GoAir, Vistara, AirAsia, Air India and SpiceJet have all huge discounts to get passengers on board. In the last week of March, GoAir announced fares starting from Rs 1,299 for passengers travelling between June 23 and October 31. This was the second discount offered in the week. The first offer had fares starting from Rs 999. Full service carrier Vistara too offered 20% discount on premium economy and business class, while state-run Air India also participated in the price cut. Even Jet Airways slashed fares up to 50 percent on domestic and international flights.

But on the other hand airlines have increased the cancellation charges by 50-100%. This means passengers now will be charged a higher fee who cancel their tickets 2-48 hours before departure. Cancellation charges of Rs 1,250 per passenger per segment will be charged if the cancellation is made 30 days prior to departure, whereas if you cancel your tickets 7-30 days prior to the departure a cancellation fee of Rs 1,500 will be charged. Cancellation made 48 hours to 7 days before departure will have to shell out Rs 2,000 while for 2-48 hours before departure, a cancellation charge of Rs 2,250 will be charges. (all these will be charge per segment)

Earlier the cancellation charges were Rs 1,500 per passenger on domestic routes.

The above fees will apply for bookings that are made on or after 1 April 2015 only. For any bookings made before this date, the old Fees (Rs 1,500 for Domestic and Rs 2,000 for International) will continue to apply.