Travel app Ixigo offers full refund up to Rs 5,000 on domestic flight bookings, launches ‘Assured’ fares

The ixigo assured option is available on all new bookings made on or after May 22 with departure dates within 90 days of the booking date. This move is expected to benefit millions of travellers who may be unsure of booking for a future travel date due to uncertainty on various fronts and seek flexibility of cancelling their domestic travel plans starting from a price point of just Rs 399 per passenger, the company added.

“With the current pandemic situation there is an increase in anxiety and uncertainty among travellers with respect to planning their next trip and movement restrictions in containment zones or red zones,” said Aloke Bajpai, co-founder & CEO, ixigo.

“The constantly evolving state-specific rules complicate this calculus further. Our recent travel sentiment survey, with over 5000 respondents, revealed that nearly 50% of air travelers planning to book a flight in the next few weeks are looking for a fully-refundable booking option for their travel.”

Rajnish Kumar, co-founder & CTO, ixigo added, “As travel demand recovers, we want our users to feel confident and safe and give them a flexible, stress-free booking experience.”

In addition to full refunds of up to Rs 5,000, ixigo is also offering travel insurance cover for trip delays, baggage loss and emergency accidental hospitalisation under this new option.

Though most domestic airlines have been offering credit shells or waivers on re-booking and modification charges over the last three months, ixigo said it felt that there is still a need for options that protect travellers who may want to cancel their bookings and avoid heavy penalties on cancellations.