HappyFares Refund Policy

This policy explains how much you get back, when, and where the money goes. The Booking Terms explain how to cancel or change a booking.

1. In short

• Your refund is worked out from what you actually paid for the ticket, after any discount.
• From that we take the airline's cancellation charge and our HappyFares fee (Rs 400 per traveller, Rs 600 on an Easy Refund fare), once each.
• Our fee is taken from the refund due. If the refund due is less than our fee, no refund is paid, and we never ask you to pay the difference (section 2).
• Seats, meals, baggage and other extras are not part of that amount, and the convenience fee is shown separately. If you cancel, these are not refunded, except as section 3 says.
• The convenience fee is refunded when your ticket could not be issued. If the airline cancels, we keep one fee only, never both (section 5).
• Refunds normally go back to the payment method you used (section 8).

2. How a cancellation refund is worked out

Start from the amount you paid for the ticket itself, after any discount or promo code. Seats, meals, baggage, other extras and the convenience fee are not part of this amount. Then take off, once each:

1. the airline's cancellation charge for your fare (shown in the fare rules when you booked);
2. our HappyFares fee: Rs 400 per traveller, or Rs 600 per traveller on an Easy Refund fare.

Where the law caps a charge, the cap applies. A HappyFares fare or service that promises a more favourable refund (Easy Refund, Smart Saver, 24-Hour RefundGuard) applies under its own terms instead of this formula (section 9). Nothing is deducted twice.

If the refund due is less than our fee. Our fee is taken from the refund due. If the refund due is less than our fee, no refund is paid, and we never ask you to pay the difference. For example, if only Rs 200 of taxes is due back to you and our fee is Rs 400, no refund is paid and you owe us nothing.

If the airline's free window applies. If the airline's own fare rules give a free cancellation window (for example within 24 hours of booking) and you use it, we pass on everything the airline refunds and keep our one fee, as on any cancellation.

Example (one traveller, an example only; your fare rules show your real figures):

The seat (500) and the convenience fee (300) are not refunded here, and they are not taken off a second time. The government taxes and airport charges inside your fare are always refundable, even on a non-refundable fare. If the airline keeps the whole base fare, you still get those back.

3. What is not refunded

• The convenience fee, once the ticket is issued, except as section 4 says.
• Seats, meals, baggage and other airline extras when you cancel the ticket yourself. Whether an extra is refundable depends on the airline's terms and the law. We help you claim a refund where a paid extra was not supplied, was charged wrongly, or becomes refundable because the flight changed or was cancelled. This does not limit a remedy for a failure that was ours.
• The fee for a HappyFares service, where its terms say so (Add-on Terms).
• The value of a promo code: it reduced what you paid, so it is not paid back.

4. When the ticket is not issued, or one leg is not confirmed

If we cannot issue your ticket, we cancel the booking and send back everything you paid within 24 hours, including the convenience fee and any extras. Your bank or payment partner may take a few more working days to show it in your account.

On a trip booked as separate tickets, if one leg is not confirmed, we refund everything you paid for that leg, including its convenience fee, within 24 hours. The confirmed leg stays booked.

5. When the airline cancels or changes your flight

If the airline cancels your flight, or changes it and you choose a refund, you get back the fare, taxes and fees, and any extras on that flight. We keep one fee only, never both: the convenience fee if you paid one, otherwise our HappyFares fee. Both are shown to you before you pay, our HappyFares fee in the fare rules before you book and the convenience fee on the payment step. On an Easy Refund fare, the whole fare comes back with no cancellation fee (Add-on Terms). Any compensation the airline owes you is paid by the airline; we help you claim it.

6. No-shows and unused tickets

If you did not travel and did not cancel, you can still claim the government taxes and airport charges (such as the User Development Fee, Airport Development Fee and Passenger Service Fee). Ask us. Asking within 30 days of the travel date helps us act promptly, but your right does not end after 30 days. For a ticket bought through a travel agent, the DGCA requires the airline to complete the refund within 14 working days (section 7). An airline's delay does not extend that deadline in the rules, but some foreign airlines take longer in practice, in our experience up to 90 days. Our HappyFares fee is taken from the refund due, and if what is due is less than our fee, no refund is paid and we never ask you to pay the difference (section 2).

7. How long a refund takes

The airline's part. For a ticket bought through a travel agent, the DGCA requires the airline to complete the refund within 14 working days. Some foreign airlines take longer, in our experience up to 90 days. If the airline has not done so by then, we treat the refund as overdue, take it up with the airline's Nodal Officer, and tell you where it stands. You can also complain on AirSewa (airsewa.gov.in).

Our part. We pay you within 7 working days of the airline refunding us. We tell you when we have paid, and your bank or payment provider then takes the time below. After we pay, it usually reaches you:

• UPI: the same day;
• cards: within 2 days;
• net banking and wallets: 5 to 7 working days;
• Snapmint: back to your Snapmint account.

When we cannot issue your ticket, we send the refund within 24 hours of cancelling the booking, and your bank or payment provider then takes the time above.

Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays. We use "working days" in all our terms. A refund is held as a credit for future travel (credit shell) only if you choose that.

Track a refund at www.happyfares.in/#track-refund, on WhatsApp, or at help@happyfares.in with your booking reference.

8. Where the money goes

Refunds normally go back to the card, UPI ID, bank account, wallet or Snapmint account you paid with. If that is not possible, for example because the account is closed, our payment partner may refund to another account in your name, if you ask us in writing and after the checks the Reserve Bank of India's rules and the partner's process require. We do not send a refund to anyone else. Tell us if your original payment source is closed or unavailable.

9. Our own services

Easy Refund (our own fare), and Rapid Refund Sure, Smart Saver, 24-Hour RefundGuard, Fare Lock and our other services, have their own refund rules in the Add-on Terms. Where one of them promises a more favourable refund, that promise applies according to its own terms, and not the formula in section 2. You cannot receive the same refund twice under overlapping products or airline refunds. Where a service pays you faster than the airline, we pay you first and claim the airline's refund ourselves.

If one of our own services fails through our fault, for example a JetSet VIP Care callback we miss, or Visa Assistance we do not deliver in time, we refund its price within 7 working days without you asking. If Web Check-in Assist is not done through our fault, we refund its price and the airline's airport check-in fee (Add-on Terms).

10. If something is wrong with a refund

If a refund has not reached you when it should, or the amount looks wrong, tell us with your booking reference. If you are not satisfied with our answer, our Grievance Redressal page explains the next steps.