Air Canada is partnering with Hopper to make non-refundable fares booked direct with the airline 100% refundable for any reason and for just a small fee paid at the time of booking.
Hopper is perhaps best known to the travelling public as an airfare comparison website, but behind the scenes, the company has been building a travel fintech service called Hopper Cloud, which powers the new Air Canada refund product.
In basic terms, Hopper Cloud allows travel companies to add a suite of services designed to improve the passenger experience but, at the same time, get customers to part with more cash.
Air Canada will integrate Hopper’s ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ solution into its online booking tool, allowing customers to add cancellation refund protection to non-refundable tickets for a small fee.
Cancel for Any Reason will be available through the Canadian edition of Air Canada’s website for Standard, Flex, Premium Economy Lowest and Business Class Lowest fares with the option for either an 80% or 100% refund up to 24 hours before departure.
When customers select an eligible fare on the Air Canada site, they will automatically be given the option to add refund protection for a fee of between $15 and $20. To cancel a flight and receive a cash refund, customers just need to log in to the ‘My Bookings’ page of the Air Canada website.
Hopper says that its ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ product generates an additional $40 per booking on average and that one in ten consumers given the option will add the product to their booking.
In addition to ‘Cancel for Any Reason’, Hopper Cloud also offers a ‘Price Freeze’ solution, ‘Flight Disruption Gauruntee’ and ‘Price Drop Gauruntee’.
“A cornerstone of Air Canada’s customer promise is to offer the best selection of flights at appealing fare levels,” commented Air Canada’s EVP of revenue and network planning Mark Galardo on Wednesday.
“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. 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”.
