How To Cancel Flights on Trip.com and Get a Refund

[Last updated: Thu 15 Jun 2023]

So you’ve purchased flight tickets from the Trip.com website or app, something’s changed, and now you want to get a refund. This happens to the best of us. The first things you need to understand is whether or not the ticket you purchased is actually refundable or not.

How to Check if The Ticket is Refundable

1. First, open up the My Bookings page, just can also find your booking in My Trips if you’re using the mobile app.

2. Click on your booking to open the Booking Details page. You’ll see two buttons labelled “Change Flight” and “Cancel Flight”. But don’t click there just yet. First of all find the “Baggage policies, changes & refunds” link to views the policies for the specific ticket you booked.

3. Scroll down to the “Cancellation Fee” section to get an idea of how much you’re looking at. Typically, Trip.com breaks it down into Before Departure and After Departure. Before departure is probably going to the one relevant to you unless you’ve purchased a very expensive fully flexible ticket. Also check the “notes” section. Here you’ll find any additional feeds that Trip.com charges on top of the cancellation fees. If the ticket you have purchased is non-refundable, for example if it is with a low-cost carrier, then that will be indicated here

4. Go back and click “Cancel Flight”, and Trip.com will display the total fees involved, if any, as allow you to submit the request.

Should I Cancel Through Trip.com or Through the Airline?

Sometimes it is possible to cancel through the airline directly via their website/app or by speaking to their customer service. However most of the time this will not be possible and they will simply direct you to the agency you purchased the ticket from, is this case Trip.com. So we’d always recommend going straight to Trip.com in the first instance.

What If My Flight Consists of Several Separate Flights?

Trip.com will sometimes, like more other online travel agencies, divide your ticket into several separate bookings to get you a separate. These are always specified at the time of booking as “Split Ticketing”. Unfortunately this can complicate things a little bit, as you’ll need to cancel both flights separately, and may be up for two sets of cancellation fees. We’d probably recommend avoiding these tickets if you can, especially for trips where things might change.

How Long Does if Take to Get a Refund?

Typically flight refund requests will take at least a few weeks, although they can take a lot longer in some instances. The refund will be made to your original payment method, e.g. your credit card or Payal account.

Does Trip.com Offer a 24-Hour Free Cancellation Policy?

Unfortunately, Trip.com does not offer this in most markets, for example the US. If you book US domestic flights with locally based sites like Expedia, this rule will typically apply.

Why Is The Trip.com Cancellation Policy Different to The Airline’s Policy

Online travel agencies generally aren’t obligated to sell tickets with the exact same policies as the airline offer. That might mean that the ticket you may purchase possibly has different cancellation policies to the airlines. Usually, this is done so that you can be offered a cheaper ticket. The main thing to remember is to always check the policies carefully when you a booking a ticket.

Who Can I Contact About Cancellation?

Trip.com’s self-service cancellation functionality is quite good so usually we’d recommend that as you first port of call. If you’d rather communicate with a person though, you can do that through their customer support. The good thing about Trip.com’s customer support is there is almost no wait times, something they like to highlight on their own website. You have the option to phone them, email them, or to chat through their service chat feature. For something like a cancellation we’d recommend calling them.

Can I Get a Refund on Flight Booked With Trip Coins?

If you’ve paid with Trip Coins (part of Trip.com’s loyalty program) you’re certainly still entitled to a refund. Just be aware that money is always refunded via the same method you paid with, so if you made full or partial payment with your Trip Coins, then you’ll get those coins back, not cash to your credit card etc.

Why Are Some Flights Non-Refundable?

While many years ago most flights were refundable, most airlines are slowly moving to model with less and less inclusions, at least for the basic tickets. The idea is that airlines can earn more per flight by ensuring that they are making money on each seat, regardless if you’re actually there or not. It also helps to push people into buying their money expensive flexible tickets.

Why Am I Being Offered Flight Credit?

Unfortunately, due to the refund pressures brought by COVID-19, many airlines started to move towards offering flight credit when they cancel their flights rather than a cash refund. In most countries around the world, including the US, this is perfectly legal and there’s not much you can do about it,