Recently, I reported on my flight booking experience with the budget OTA “MyTrip,” but there’s actually a follow-up story. This time, I’ll share my actual experience with flight cancellation and refund handling at MyTrip. I hope this information will be helpful to many travelers.
Previous article is here
Introduction: Anxiety-Filled Cancellation Process
Budget OTAs are often criticized for poor customer service during flight cancellations and changes, despite their attractive booking prices. Particularly for services operated by the GotoGate group, including MyTrip and FlightNetwork, I had seen online reviews suggesting that refunds were nearly impossible to obtain. Indeed, various travel forums and social media showed numerous reports of people unable to receive refunds, which made me quite anxious.
In this situation, I found myself needing to cancel a domestic Chinese flight ticket I had purchased due to various circumstances. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a refund at this point, but I decided to contact MyTrip as a last resort to see what could be done.
Initial Communication with Customer Support
Despite my anxiety, I first decided to contact MyTrip’s customer chat. MyTrip’s customer chat connects quite smoothly and provides constant human support, which made a very good impression.
The staff member who responded spoke what seemed like machine-translated language but listened more attentively than I expected. They clearly explained that cancellation fees follow airline regulations, and if the airline issues a refund, that amount would be returned to the customer. While the specific refund amount would depend on the airline’s decision, at this point I had the impression that “surprisingly, their response seems quite solid.”
Negotiations with the Airline
Communication with Spring Airlines, the issuing airline, was simple but smooth
Following my communication with MyTrip, I started email correspondence with Spring Airlines, the airline that issued the ticket. Fortunately, since there were still several days until the flight, I received a response that approximately half the amount could be refunded. The airline also confirmed they would process the refund to MyTrip within 7 days, and at this stage, everything seemed to be progressing very smoothly. The customer service representative also responded courteously, and the entire process was seamless.
Beginning of Confusion: Different Responses from Different Representatives
However, after several weeks passed with no sign of a refund, I contacted MyTrip again, and from that point, the situation rapidly became chaotic. The new staff member I spoke with gave a completely opposite response: “This flight is not eligible for refund.” I wondered if they don’t manage inquiry histories. Even when I explained the content of my previous inquiry, they couldn’t understand, and since the conversation wasn’t progressing, I decided to give up temporarily.
Even more confusing, when I inquired again on a different day, yet another staff member explained, “It is eligible for refund, but we haven’t received the refund from Spring Airlines yet.” Each time I made subsequent inquiries, the representative changed, and with that, the explanation content also changed significantly. One staff member said “Please wait a few more days,” while another declared “MyTrip cannot handle this matter,” and I continued to be confused by these inconsistent responses.
Unexpected Development: Sudden Refund Processing
Just when I was about to give up hope that a refund would ever materialize, about 2 months after starting the cancellation process, something unexpected happened. Suddenly, I received an email from MyTrip. Despite the somewhat unnatural language, it was a notification that they had received the refund from Spring Airlines and completed the refund processing to my card.
Surprised by the unexpected good news. Thank you MyTrip, after all!
When I checked my account, approximately half the amount had indeed been refunded, and the long flight cancellation case came to an unexpectedly positive conclusion. Although I had given up several times and felt frustrated during the process, persistently continuing negotiations ultimately paid off.
Summary: Cancellation Handling at Budget OTAs
From this experience, the following points became clear about cancellation handling at budget OTAs:
1. While responses are not fast, refunds are possible if you don’t give up and continue negotiations
2. Since responses vary significantly by representative, multiple inquiries are necessary
3. Conducting direct negotiations with airlines in parallel can lead to more reliable responses
4. Be prepared for considerable time (about 2 months in this case) until refund
In essence, it seems that unless you actively take action from your side, refunds won’t automatically be processed if left alone.
While this was certainly not a comfortable experience, the fact that I ultimately managed to secure a refund should serve as a hopeful case study for others who might face similar situations. When using budget OTAs, I recommend planning your itinerary with plenty of buffer time, anticipating such possibilities.
※This report is based on experiences as of February 2025. Service content may change without notice, so please check the latest information.
