Flight ticket purchased with discount coupon... Flight canceled but asked to pay fees? [Heotdari Economy]

(40) Check Refund Policy Details When Booking Airline Tickets

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When booking airline tickets through global OTAs (Online Travel Agencies), it is important to carefully check the refund policies. While online travel platforms offer discount coupons that allow for cheaper purchases, there is a high possibility of having to pay fees when requesting refunds or itinerary changes.

Online travel communities are flooded with complaints from consumers who faced difficulties with refunds or itinerary changes after booking tickets through OTAs. One consumer booked a ticket from Agoda to fly with Eastar Jet to Chiang Mai but had to pay a total refund fee of $48 (about 63,000 KRW) due to a schedule change. The booking confirmation stated, "The selected ticket itinerary is changeable, but a change fee of $14 (about 18,000 KRW) per ticket applies," but in reality, the refund fee was $24 per one-way ticket, including a $10 Agoda service fee. He said, "I was unaware of any additional fees beyond the $14 stated in the contract confirmation," and added, "The process of exchanging emails with Agoda to understand the reason was stressful."

Even if the airline changes the schedule, if the consumer booked through an OTA, a refund fee is required. If the issue is not due to the OTA's fault, the originally promised service may have limitations. For example, Trip.com guarantees the price difference if the ticket booking fails or is canceled due to platform error and the ticket price increases. However, if the ticket is not issued due to flight operation changes, they do not guarantee the price difference even if the ticket price rises in the meantime. Agoda's refund policy also states that they are not responsible for flight delays, cancellations, or scheduled flight changes (including failure to provide change notifications from travel suppliers).

According to data received by Kim Hyun-jung, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Korea Consumer Agency, a total of 3,411 overseas OTA-related damage relief applications were filed from 2019 to August this year. The number decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic but surged rapidly after the endemic phase. In 2021, there were 241 damage relief applications, which increased to 498 in 2022 and 820 in 2023. This year alone, by the end of August, 846 cases have already been recorded.

Global OTAs refer to platforms that allow online reservations for various travel products such as hotels, airline tickets, and rental cars. Representative platforms include Trip.com, Agoda, Expedia, Booking.com, and Hotels.com. Looking at the number of damage relief applications by platform, Trip.com ranks first with 1,332 cases, followed by Agoda with 1,109 cases. These two platforms account for 71.5% of all cases. Next are Airbnb (366 cases), Booking.com (265 cases), Hotels.com (236 cases), Expedia (96 cases), and HotelsCombined (7 cases). Among the types of damage cases, 58.7% involved excessive contract cancellation penalties when canceling or changing reservations (2,005 cases). This was followed by withdrawal of subscription at 492 cases (14.5%) and contract non-fulfillment at 466 cases (13.6%).

Professor Kim Si-wol of Konkuk University's Department of Consumer Studies emphasized that "discounts always come with restrictions." Professor Kim said, "It is important for consumers to fully understand the refund policies stated in the terms and conditions," and added, "Global OTAs should also highlight issues that consumers commonly complain about or find inconvenient on their websites so that they are easily noticeable."