Cancellation & Refund Policies

In the booking flow, it is highly recommended to display the carrier’s cancellation policy for the chosen trip and fare class to the user.

Cancellation policies are defined on a fare class level in the Distribusion API and communicated through fare_features that are provided in the /marketing_carriers/{marketing_carrier_id} or /connections/find response. Check our Features & Amenities guide for more details about how they work.

These fare features should be displayed to users during the booking flow, ideally as part of the search results. We recommend giving extra visibility to them in your flow, ideally separated from other fare features, to allow users to understand what cancellation rules apply to each fare class.

Note that after a booking is completed, the cancellation and refund policies that are valid for the booking should be checked using the /cancellation/conditions endpoint as described in the Cancel Booking steps of the flow.

Cancellation & Refund Features

Distribusion uses three standardized fare feature codes to communicate cancellation policies and provide the relevant information to be displayed to users.

Each carrier will have at least 1 of these 3 features, and will never allow more than 1 per fare class.

Besides that, 2 other useful features that could go alongside the 3 above are the ones that inform if the fares allow amendments.

Some carriers might have specific fare_features that include additional cancellation and refund details. Please take note of them from the list below:

For the full list of possible fare_features including fare names and descriptions check our Features & Amenities guide.

Custom Descriptions

Each cancellation/refund fare feature provides a carrier-specific description within the attributes array of the response, detailing the conditions whereby a customer can cancel a ticket.

Sample PREF Feature from Westbahn

 
        {
            "id": "WEST-PREF",
            "type": "fare_features",
            "attributes": {
                "code": "PREF",
                "name": "Partially refundable",
                "description": "If the ticket is cancelled within 15 minutes of purchase, the passenger is eligible for a full refund. Beyond this period, the ticket may be cancelled up to one day before the selected day of travel for a fee of 25% of the ticket price (minimum €4.99)."
            }
        }

Fare Conditions

SNCF and National Rail are among some of the carriers that work with the concept of micro-conditions. These are dynamic cancellation and refund policies that are set at a fare class level.

This content appears under the fare_conditions section in the /connections/find response.

 
{
            "attributes": {
                "code": "SSC_PR_SF_COM_SA_TGV",
                "description": "PARIS MONTPARNASSE 1 ET 2 - NANTES - Tarif STANDARD SECONDE\nTicket may be exchanged (with adjustment to the current fare) or refunded free of charge up to D-7.\nFrom D-6 and up to departure: €19 charge on TGV and 40% of the price (max €15) on Intercités.\nFrom 30 minutes before departure, ticket may be exchanged once and not refunded thereafter.\nFor children under 4 years old, ticket may be exchanged or refunded free of charge up to departure.\n",
                "title": "Tarif STANDARD SECONDE"
            },
            "id": "SNCF-5a6ab736591ff07ef-7cb4b3f3cbc324b55",
            "type": "fare_conditions"
        }

Displaying this information in your search flow is a requirement by SNCF and National Rail.