AirAsia MOVE has announced a partnership with Hopper Technology Solutions (HTS) to introduce more flexibility for its travellers. Specifically, the collaboration will see the company offering a “Cancel For Any Reason” (CFAR) option, which is a type of travel insurance.
As you can tell from the name, CFAR lets you cancel your flight and get a refund for any reason before the departure, even if it is a non-refundable fare. According to AirAsia, the option will be launching on its platform later this year, with the pricing still being kept under wraps.
The budget carrier has yet to reveal any details about how it will be implemented. If it is anything like HTS’ implementation with Air Canada, then we can expect CFAR to be a paid add-on option where flyers are able to cancel their ticket up to 24 hours before departure for any reason and get an immediate refund.
However, it does not seem like CFAR will be a cheap option; for example, buying CFAR insurance on a CAD881 (~RM3,095) Air Canada flight costs CAD227 (~RM797) per traveller for an 80% refund and CAD273 (~RM960) for a full refund, with the latter amounting to 30% of the fare. It is unknown if AirAsia also plans on eventually implementing HTS’ other features such as Price Freeze and Change For Any Reason.
(Source: AirAsia Press Release)
