Jet Airways allows free ticket cancellation within 24 hours of booking

Jet Airways on Friday said it has decided against charging any fee for cancellation and date change requests within 24 hours from passengers who book their tickets through the airline's website.

The waiver can be availed only within 24 hours of booking a ticket, the private carrier said in a release.

Till now Jet Airways was charging Rs 5,000 for cancelling an international journey ticket and Rs 3,000 for changing the journey date.

For the domestic sector, the fee for cancelling or changing the date of journey stood at Rs 1,750.

The new initiative allows passengers to amend or cancel their booking without any penalty fee by simply using the "manage booking" facility, the airline said.

The move comes in the face of increasing competition in the full-service aviation segment, particularly after national carrier Air India joined the 27-member global airlines club Star Alliance and Tata-SIA joint venture Vistara launched its service in the country recently.

In case of a change in the booking while the penalty fees will be waived off, any additional amount due to the increase in fare will be applicable, Jet said, adding the "manage booking" facility can be accessed for bookings up to one hour prior to the departure of a domestic flights and up to three hours for an international flight.

"Guests can now enjoy peace of mind with the freedom to change or cancel one's travel itinerary within 24 hours of booking by simply using manage booking on our website. This new initiative is another step towards our customer-centric approach to offer substantial convenience and ease," the airline's Senior Vice President for Commercial Gaurang Shetty said.

As part of its initiatives, the private sector airline had earlier rolled out a new online meal-booking service for its first class and premier customers, besides enhancing onboard entertainment services.

The new service 'Book My Meal', which is available on all international flights of Jet Airways, offers passengers a wide variety of meal options, both in vegetarian and non-vegetarian categories.