Air Canada has announced a partnership with Montreal-based travel app and financial technology company Hopper, enabling passengers on eligible non-refundable fare types to cancel for any reason up to 24 hours before their scheduled departure and receive an immediate refund.
For a fee, travellers can now add ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ to eligible non-refundable fare types booked on the Air Canada website. The product is dynamically priced using Hopper’s machine learning models and based on a number of variables, so there’s no standard price.
Depending on the level of coverage purchased, upon cancellation, a refund of 80 or 100 per cent of the original eligible booking is issued immediately to the user's preferred payment method. Cancel for Any Reason is available for Standard, Flex, Premium Economy Lowest and Business Class Lowest fares.
(photo courtesy of Hopper)
“A cornerstone of Air Canada’s customer promise is to offer the best selection of flights at appealing fare levels. We do this by providing a menu of branded fares, each with its own attributes so customers can design their travel to suit their needs,” said Mark Galardo, AC’s EVP, Revenue and Network Planning.
“But we also know that travel plans can change, so we are pleased to partner with an innovative Canadian travel technology partner such as Hopper to offer Cancel for Any Reason, giving customers added flexibility and peace of mind when booking.”
Dakota Smith, President and Co-Founder of Hopper, had this to say: “We are thrilled to partner with Air Canada, which continues to lead the airline industry with innovative new features responding to its customers’ needs in today’s travel environment.
“Through Hopper Cloud, our B2B initiative, we can offer Air Canada a seamless integration with our ancillary products that not only benefit travellers but drive business growth.”
When customers select an eligible fare on aircanada.com, they will be automatically offered the option to choose a Cancel for Any Reason plan for eligible fare types. The option is only available on flights, not vacation packages.
Should they later need to cancel the trip, they can do so on the My Bookings page of the Air Canada website and receive their refund subject to applicable terms and conditions. The Cancel for Any Reason feature is offered in addition to the standard Air Canada Refund and Cancellation Policy.
TravelPulse Canada has asked whether the fee for 'Cancel for Any Reason' will be commissionable to agents. We will update the story when we get a response.
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