A brief guide to Air India ticket change policy – 2021

Cancelling airline tickets for some unforeseen reason may not be a surprising thing to those who have had a lot of air travel. But what can be bothering most of you is the tedious process of claiming a refund which is quite unknown to many. To make your airline ticket booking process more hassle-free, Air India has come with a flexible refund policy. The updated ticket refund policy of Air India will not only help you to reschedule your flight within a short time but also receive a timely refund. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about the refund, the next time you need to cancel airline tickets owing to unwanted situations. Want to know more about the Air India ticket change policy? Well then, read the guide below and you will know.   

Things to know before applying for an Air India ticket refund 

If you have booked an Air India ticket and have wished to cancel the same for a refund due to some issues, then go through some of the important things that are mentioned below:

• An Air India ticket is entitled to a refund provided you submit either a totally unutilized or partially utilized ticket of yours within one year after the expiry of its validity. 

• If you have done the payment of your Air India ticket booking in cash, then a cheque with the refund amount will be sent to your address that is specified during the time of booking. In case of making the payment by debit/credit card, the refund amount will be credited to your account. 

• The transaction of the refund amount cannot be processed to any other bank account other than the one registered. However, if you want to transfer the refund amount to any other card account, then you need to instruct your card issuing bank for the same.  

• For modifying/cancelling Air India tickets, visit their website and go to the My booking section for cancelling or modifying your flight reservation. In this section, you can submit either your totally unutilized ticket or partially utilized ticket for a refund. 

• Any cancellations and modifications that are made online through their website will be processed automatically. Any dues that are left to be refunded will be done following the modification/cancellation rules of Air India. However, do note that an online refund is not possible before 48 hours of your departure. 

• If you reschedule an Air India flight, then the fare difference will be refunded to you as per Air India’s rebooking charges. You will get the refund through the mode of payment that you have used for booking. 

• Air India flight tickets that are cancelled/modified with the reservation office or call centre cannot be further cancelled/modified online.

• In the case of a single PNR that has multiple passengers booked on it, modifying such reservation will affect all the booking. Also, it is not possible to cancel any single person’s booking on such a ticket. 

Cases in which tickets are applicable for a refund

Downgraded flight – If you come across a situation in which your flight is downgraded for some reason or the other, then you can make a claim for your refund. In such instances, you need to submit your ticket jacket along with your boarding cards to the refund sections of the Air India Airline. A claim can also be made in case you are downgraded and transferred to another airline. The refund, in this case, is treated as a transportation credit and the same can be claimed only by sending a message to the respective airline.  

Health issues – You can cancel your travel in case of health issues. In such a case, you can claim a refund for your Air India flight reservation. The refund is processed based on the fare rules of Air India. Also, do note that the refund amount is calculated based on the current fare of the flight.  

Expired ticket – You can ask for a refund even in case of the expiry of your Air India ticket. In order to claim your refund, you need to do so within a year from the expiry of your ticket date. Therefore, before making such a claim, make sure that it is well within the said period. 

Partially Unused Ticket – In case of refunds for partially used tickets, the charges for one way travel and taxes are deducted from you and the rest of the amount is sent to your account. However, do note that in case of booking the tickets at high discount rates the partially used ticket of Air India will be non-refundable. To avoid confusion regarding such issues, it is always better to check the fare policy of Air India before making the reservation.    

Be it rescheduling your flight or making a cancellation, claiming the refund has got a lot easier with the flexible travel policy introduced by Air India. The company covers most of the Indian cities, offering great discounts on busy routes like Mumbai to Nagpur flights, Kolkata to Bangalore flights, Delhi to Mumbai flights and more.