Cancellation & Refund

Governing law is unspecified. This draft distinguishes carefully between voluntary cancellations, involuntary airline disruptions, and ancillary/service-fee refunds because DOT rules, airline rules and agency fees do not operate in exactly the same way.

The safest travel-agency refund page is one that separates: first, the airline’s fare rules; secondly, the agency’s own service fees; thirdly, who was the merchant of record; and fourthly, whether the cancellation is voluntary or caused by airline disruption. The U.S. DOT now requires ticket agents that are the merchant of record to provide prompt refunds upon request when airlines cancel or significantly change flights and the customer declines the alternative; the same rule fixes the original-form-of-payment timing standards. DOT also says the airline 24-hour reservation/refund requirement does not automatically apply to OTA or travel-agent sales, so any OTA-style 24-hour cancellation handling has to be framed as the agency’s own service practice or as dependent on the airline’s rules. Airline websites echo the same split: Delta and American both direct customers who booked through an agent to contact the agent for agent-sold tickets or products. Publishing separate post-ticketing fee tables and clearly explaining that agency fees are additional to airline penalties is a recognised best practice for travel agencies.

ReservationEase is operated by Hydra Travels Inc. ReservationEase is an independent travel agency and not an airline. Hydra Travels Inc facilitates the sale of airline inventory and may provide both online self-service booking and optional assisted support. Airline tickets, airline schedules, aircraft changes, baggage handling, fare-family restrictions, no-show consequences and many refund rights are controlled by the operating or ticketing airline, not by Hydra Travels Inc. Hydra Travels Inc does, however, control its own service fees, its own refund-request handling process, and refunds of amounts that Hydra Travels Inc is required to return when it is the merchant of record.

This page explains how voluntary cancellations, voluntary refund requests, involuntary airline disruptions, future credits, waivers, ancillary-service refunds and Hydra Travels Inc service-fee reversals are handled. It should be read together with the Post-Ticketing Service Fees page, Taxes & Fees page and Fare Disclosure page. Where those pages refer to “our fees”, they refer to Hydra Travels Inc’s own service fees only and not to airline penalties, fare differences, airport charges or government charges.

A voluntary cancellation is a cancellation requested because the customer chooses not to travel, changes plans, cannot meet their itinerary, or wishes to replace the booking with another service. An involuntary cancellation or involuntary refund scenario is one caused by the airline or by another protected event recognised in applicable law or airline policy, such as airline cancellation, significant schedule change, certain class-of-service downgrades, or in some cases serious communicable-disease restrictions. These two categories are treated differently, and customers should not assume that a right applicable to one automatically applies to the other.

For airline-disruption cases, if Hydra Travels Inc is the merchant of record for the airfare and a refund is due because an airline cancels or significantly changes a flight and the traveller rejects the alternative provided, Hydra Travels Inc should process the airfare refund in the original form of payment within the timing required by applicable law. The U.S. DOT benchmark is seven business days for card payments and twenty calendar days for other payment methods. Where the airline rather than Hydra is responsible for a particular automatic ancillary refund, such as some checked-bag or service-not-provided cases, Hydra Travels Inc will assist with documentation and routing of the request but cannot accelerate a carrier-controlled decision beyond the limits of its authority. [9]

For voluntary cancellations, the underlying airline fare rules remain the starting point. Many fares remain non-refundable; some are cancellable only for future credit; some are refundable but with airline deductions; and some low-cost-carrier bookings may require direct handling with the airline. Even where a voluntary refund is allowed, Hydra Travels Inc may charge a separate post-ticketing processing fee for the work of reviewing the request, validating fare conditions, contacting the airline where needed, obtaining waivers, updating records and returning amounts that are actually approved. Hydra Travels Inc will never describe its own service fee as a government fee or an airline tax, and any agency fee will be quoted separately or included in the total shown before payment.

If a customer wishes to cancel within twenty-four (24) hours of booking, that request should be submitted immediately through the channel identified in the booking confirmation. ReservationEase may choose to offer a courtesy handling mechanism for such requests, but customers should understand that the statutory airline 24-hour refund/hold rule does not automatically apply to reservations purchased through third-party agents. Where the airline’s own policy, the ticketing status, the time of purchase and the fare conditions permit a full reversal, Hydra Travels Inc may return the airfare and any refundable agency transaction fee for an eligible request received in time. Where the airline rule does not permit such reversal or the request falls outside the relevant conditions, the booking will be processed in accordance with the fare rules applicable to the ticket sold. [10]

If the customer has already commenced travel, only the unused portion of the ticket may be refundable, exchangeable or creditable, and only where the fare rules permit. Refund values on partially used tickets may be markedly lower than the price originally paid because fare reconstruction is performed under airline tariff and fare-rule logic, not by simply refunding the unused sector price. Hydra Travels Inc may therefore require additional review time and may charge the relevant post-ticketing fee before submitting a partially used refund application.

No-show status is particularly important. If a customer misses a departure without cancelling in advance, many fares lose all remaining value or require airline approval to reinstate. Hydra Travels Inc may help request reinstatement or a waiver, but no reinstatement is promised and any such request is subject to airline approval, documentary support and additional service fees. A no-show request should therefore be submitted as soon as the missed sector becomes known, with any supporting explanation available at the time of request.

Special-case refund or waiver requests may be reviewed for events such as medical incapacity, bereavement, visa refusal, duplicate booking, denied boarding, name correction necessity, certain military orders and severe schedule disruptions. These cases are not automatic entitlements unless required by law or airline rule. Hydra Travels Inc may ask for documentary support and may file or escalate the request on the traveller’s behalf. If the airline declines the waiver or refund, the customer will be told the result and the booking will revert to the applicable fare rule outcome. Hydra Travels Inc’s own special-service handling fee may still apply where substantive work was performed, unless the published fee schedule expressly says otherwise.

Refunds of ancillary sums are also treated separately. If Hydra Travels Inc collected an agency service fee and the related booking never ticketed or the agency is otherwise required to reverse that fee, the agency fee component should be refunded by Hydra Travels Inc itself. If a seat, checked-bag purchase or similar airline ancillary service was not provided and the airline is responsible under applicable law or its own policy, Hydra Travels Inc may assist by gathering receipts, ticket numbers, EMD references or photographs of baggage documentation, but the operating carrier may have the final refund obligation depending on the service and merchant-of-record structure. [11]

Customers seeking a cancellation or refund should use the agency booking reference, ticket number, passenger name and contact email used in the original booking. Hydra Travels Inc may require identity verification before discussing refund values or changing payout details. Refunds are usually returned to the original method of payment unless law or operational impossibility requires another approach and the customer agrees.

If a refund request is denied by the airline, Hydra Travels Inc will communicate the denial together with any practical next step available, such as rebooking using remaining value, applying for an airline future credit, or appealing through the airline’s own support process. If it is Hydra’s own agency post-ticketing fee that is at issue, the customer may dispute the fee through Hydra’s customer-service escalation route.

Draft timeline and responsibility table

Draft legal clause

Voluntary cancellations and voluntary refund requests remain subject to the rules of the airline and the fare purchased. Hydra Travels Inc’s own service fees do not convert a non-refundable airline ticket into a refundable ticket and do not create rights that the airline has not granted.

Visual

flowchart TD
A[Cancellation or refund request received] --> B{Reason for request}
B -->|Airline cancellation/significant change| C[Check merchant of record and refund entitlement]
B -->|Customer voluntary change| D[Check fare rules and ticket status]
B -->|Waiver request| E[Collect documentation and submit if eligible]
C --> F{Refund due?}
F -->|Yes| G[Refund to original payment method]
F -->|No| H[Offer rebooking or airline alternative if available]
D --> I{Refundable, exchangeable or credit only?}
I -->|Refundable| J[Apply airline deductions + Hydra fee if disclosed]
I -->|Credit only| K[Process future credit]
I -->|No value| L[Advise no remaining value]
E --> M{Airline approves?}
M -->|Yes| N[Apply waiver outcome]
M -->|No| O[Advise denial and remaining options]