Flight Cancellation: What You Need to Know

We seem to get charged for everything these days. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a breathing tax in Nairobi…and while on the topic of ‘hewa’, have you ever had to cancel an air ticket last minute? Or make changes, or simply got late for your flight? If so, you were most likely hit with a fee that can be frustrating.

In this post, we will get down to the details of why they exist and try to understand why they’re imposed.

Cancellation: So when you make a reservation, the airline holds a seat for you and turns away other passengers to honour your reservation. When you cancel, it is difficult for the airline to guarantee that the seat will be occupied in time. Hence, a fee is deducted by the airline from the original fare you paid, to compensate for the lost revenue.

Changes: Usually cheaper than cancellation fee, this is an amount charged for a voluntary adjustment of your original flight itinerary. I.e., date, time, or cabin. While the airline is generally happy to accommodate these changes, it might come with so many adjustments made on their end, which might require compensation for the additional work that goes into these changes.

Fare difference: This is a change in ticket price from the original paid fare to a higher fare. Usually caused by a variety of factors like original fare not available, fuel price change or fluctuation in demand.

No-Show: Finally, let’s talk about no-show fees. When you don’t show up for a flight, after making the reservation, the airline loses out on revenue. One example of the things lost is having your meal on board while you are not there yourself…This discourages passengers from simply being late or “forgetting” your flight time/date. It is important to remember that the above fees help an airline keep their doors open and have lower prices for services to be provided.

So next time you are hit with these charges, try and smile, and keep in mind that it is for a good cause. #so.many.places.so.little.time