With domestic flights opening up with one-third capacity effective 25th May 2020, travellers are looking for reassurance on refunds in case they need to cancel their flights amid COVID-19 concerns. To reduce this travel anxiety, AI-based travel app ixigo has announced the launch of ‘ixigo assured’ fares – allowing a full refund guarantee upto Rs. 5000 for cancellations made by travellers, for any reason whatsoever, prior to their date of departure.
The ixigo assured option is available on all new bookings made on or after 22nd May 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 the flexibility of cancelling their domestic travel plans starting from a price point of just Rs.399 per passenger.
Commenting on the launch, Aloke Bajpai, Co-founder & CEO, ixigo said, “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 / red zones. 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 travellers planning to book a flight in the next few weeks are looking for a fully refundable booking option for their travel. ixigo assured is the product anxious travellers were craving for.”
Rajnish Kumar, Co-Founder & CTO, ixigo added, “We conceived, partnered, developed and launched this product within a record span of 3 weeks, as soon as it became evident that travellers would increasingly face a dilemma while booking their next trip as soon as flights resume. 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 upto Rs. 5000, ‘ixigo assured’ also provides a travel insurance cover for trip delays (upto Rs. 10,000) and baggage loss (upto Rs. 5,000). “ixigo assured” also provides emergency accidental hospitalization for Rs.3 Lakh Sum Insured and medical emergency evacuation for Rs.1 Lakh Sum Insured.
